By Jay Cook
In a sport dominated by experience and wisdom, one group of greenhorn sailors is changing high school sailing on this side of the Navesink.
Coming up on its 10th year of existence, the Rumson-Fair Haven Sailing Team plans to tack into the spring season with a core unit of sophomore sailors who have led the Sailing Bulldogs to several competitive finishes in the first half of their season.
“I think they were one of the best sophomore squads in the district, so I would look out for them to be pretty strong when they’re seniors,” said Jack Swikart, former captain of the RFH Sailing Team.
A big portion of the squad is comprised of second-year sailors – nine to be exact – all who have seen their fair share of work early in the 2016/2017 season.
Through ten regattas, the Bulldogs have pulled in four top-four finishes; quite the remarkable number for a team competing against tough competition in the Two River area.
Christian Brothers Academy, Red Bank Regional High School, Red Bank Catholic, Ranney School and Trinity Hall all compete against RFH throughout the in-league races nicknamed the “Wednesday Racing Series.”
So far, the best finish of the year for the young Bulldog sailing team was at the SUNY Maritime Invitational on Oct. 8, where they held onto a second-place finish in a 15-team field.
Sophomore Patrick Modin noted that this was no walk in the park.
“It was still really interesting because the current in the East River came into play, so that made it really difficult,” the 14-year-old said.
Navigating through those waters, at that time, was cause for concern as Hurricane Matthew and its byproducts were pushing up the east coast. While these sailors did not see the brunt of the storm, Swikart said everything was considered prior to the race.
“We really weren’t sure about the weather that weekend; it’s the sort of thing where sailors want to get out on the water whenever it’s safe to do it,” he said. “The plan was if the storm was a little bit slow, we’d be able to get up there and run a couple races, and that’s the way it ended up playing out.”
Swikart, who also competitively sailed at the University of Pennsylvania up until December 2015, returned to his alma mater last spring to coach and help pass on the tradition of RFH sailing from a graduating senior class to a collection of freshman.
He also has a personal investment in the team; his younger sister Kate is one of those sophomore sailors.
“To see her picking up the sports that meant so much to me as a kid, it was nice to be able to help out,” Swikart said.
That willingness to aid such a young team is a true testament to his love for the sport, which is evident through the work he put in while creating the RFH Sailing Team back in 2007.
“When we started the team it was pretty unique, I think there were only three or four teams in the state of New Jersey at the time,” Swikart said. “Now, there’s a whole league in New Jersey.”
His interest in building the squad stemmed from his early competition at the national level, and then a harsh realization that the high school he was soon attending did not offer his favorite sport.
“A lot of my friends who were also starting high school at the same time were talking about the high schools having sailing teams, and I was a little disappointed to find out that RFH didn’t have one.”
After a few years of making the club relevant, Swikart and his teammates qualified for the National Championships in his senior season, quite the feat for such a young team.
While he now works as a local financial advisor, the sailing schedule permits him to come to meets, just like the SUNY Maritime Invitational, and not miss a day from work.
Sailors like Modin believe that sense of unity has created a strong marine culture at RFH.
“Most of our team, we’re not all from RFH,” Modin said, who attends the Marine Academy of Science & Technology (MAST) on Sandy Hook. “Some of the people are from vocational schools with no sports at their own high school so they come to RFH.”
Swikart knows that situation makes no difference on the water.
“They know that when the starting gun goes off, they’re ready to compete,” he said. “That’s something that characterizes a strong team.”
Photos courtesy Megan Modin
