After losing five seniors – most of the group that competed in last May’s Interscholastic National Team Racing Championships in Massachusetts – to graduation, sailing coach Susan Kaseler acknowledges that “as a whole, this is a fairly inexperienced team.

“Some are totally new to sailing, while some have a racing background.”

But Kaseler put her emphasis on “team,” rather than “inexperienced,” as the sailors open their competitive season on Saturday with the Kickoff Regatta at Port Angeles.

“Everybody is as important as everybody else,” she said. “Everyone is responsible for our results because we all help each other train. We are training everybody to do every job.

“I don’t care what kind of experience someone has had. What is important is that they’re willing to be very wet and very cold. They need to have desire and guts to do it well, plus a sense of fairness.

“They’ve been out in snow, out in wind and out in no wind, working really hard to learn the sport.”

One of the most important lessons to learn is that in sailboat team racing, the race isn’t necessarily to the swift, but to the smart.

In team racing, both schools enter three boats. The winning boat in each race scores one point, second place two, and so on. Low score wins. With 21 possible points, 10 becomes the magic number and the positioning of all three boats is critical.

Tactics become supremely important. Boats may use the rules of the road to force the other team’s boats to tack away, or insert themselves between the wind and other boats to gain a few seconds’ advantage.

“Team racing is not about going fast,” said Kaseler. “You have to have absolute control of your boat, to learn how to stop it and power it up again. And you have to have an awareness of your team goal and of what the other team is doing.”

Each race, therefore — typically there are half a dozen or more — becomes a series of split-second decisions. It’s not uncommon for races to be determined within a few yards of the finish line.

“That’s the neatest thing,” Kaseler said. “One person doesn’t lose the race, the whole team loses the race.”

Bainbridge sailors also compete in “double-handed” or “fleet” racing. Used commonly in multi-school events, teams enter a single boat in each of several “fleets” and the first boat across the line is the winner. Some dual meets may also employ double-handed racing, with each school’s boats all competing as individuals.

“Double-handed is mostly about making the boat go fast,” said Kaseler.

Both types conduct national championships in May. Bainbridge will compete for the single berth in both events allocated to the Northwest district, which comprises more than a dozen teams.

While Kaseler noted that the district championships – double-handeds are April 27 and 28, while team racing is contested the following weekend – are the team’s goal, she added that “winning is secondary. High school sports are about participation. And self-policing is the key to sailing. We have a set of rules that we have to obey without a referee blowing a whistle.

“Sailing emphasizes sportsmanship and honor. That’s what makes it such a great sport for kids.”

The team includes senior co-captains Emily Bruns and Brittain Mason, fellow seniors Kacey Hamilton and Blaine Ness and juniors Ernest Bizzell and Katie Upton. Sophomores are Marina Boleda, Michelle DeBeauchamp, Abe Edholm, Peter Jowise, Makai Magnuson and Stuart Stringer.

Freshmen include Logan Best, Anna Corke, Jenny Erickson, George Fleischfresser, Molly Jackson, Garrett Linrothe and Peter Mann.