The Duxbury varsity sailing team is off to a strong start with a 4-1 record against some of the toughest competition in New England.

The varsity season started last Wednesday at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School with a 3-2 victory over Portsmouth Abbey: a strong team and perennial finalist in the New England team race championship. It was important for the Dragons to get a win over them early in the season in the best-of-five series under cloudy skies and cold temperatures Sailing for Duxbury was Ian Ikeda, Meg Mackinnon, Alec Stewart, Alex Palfrey, Hanno Kite-Powell, Sydney Connor, Emily Shane, Aaron Klein and Kevin Coakley. The squad kept the momentum going on Friday with a home meet against BC High. With sunny skies and perfect sailing conditions, the teams finished five races with Duxbury putting on a dominating performance and getting the best of the Eagles.

This past weekend Duxbury went 2-1 at a tri-meet in Portland, Maine, facing off against two Maine teams and a strong team from Connecticut at Sailmaine. The tri-meet was structured so each team would sail a best of three series against one another. Duxbury started the day by shutting out both Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth, 2-0. However, the hardest competition of the day was in the last races of the day against Hotchkiss; a strong team and the defending New England champions. The Dragons put up a good fight in both races. Although the finishes were very close, the Dragons couldn’t pull off the victory and suffered their first loss of the season in the 0-2 loss. Competing in Maine for the Dragons was a strong team that included Ikeda, Mackinnon, Stewart, Palfrey, Kite-Powell, Connor, and Aaron Klein.

The junior varsity is also having a good start to the season with a 4-1 victory over the Abbey and a 3-2 victory over BC High.

“The team is very deep this year” says DHS sailing coach Chris Lash. “We have a lot of kids that can step into position and fill rolls where they are needed.”

The sailing team is lead this year by captains Ikeda and Stewart.

“This year the team has a lot of upperclassman leadership. We have a ton of kids that are willing to put in the hard work and are eager to improve. They are passionate about the sport and about making the team the best it can be,” said Lash.

The team has a very full schedule this year, sailing 18 head-to-head events against teams from all over New England. During the next five meets, Duxbury will face off against Dartmouth, St. John’s Prep, Hingham, Milton and Cape Cod Academy.