LATEST

NEWS

FREQUENTLY ASKED

QUESTIONS

Northeastern Sailing is composed of around 40 dedicated and motivated student-athletes across all academic years and disciplines. ​We compete in both Fall and Spring seasons, sending sailors to anywhere from one to seven regattas a weekend, in locations from Maryland to Maine. Though most of our regattas are open events, we also have a competitive Women’s team that competes in many women’s only events, as well as the open ones. Our practices are on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons, from September to the end of October, and from late February until the end of April. We sail in MIT’s new fleets of 420s, FJs, and occasionally Tech Dinghies. ​Originally called “Northeastern Yacht Club” at its inception in 1940, the Northeastern Sailing Team is one of the oldest college sailing teams in the country. Because of our unique 78-year partnership with MIT, we have practiced out of the MIT Sailing Pavilion since our team was established, and continue to call the Charles River home. With the progression of sailing as a collegiate sport, Northeastern became an active member of the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA), one of the most competitive conferences in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA). The Boston area itself is the center of New England College Sailing, hosting 6 of the top 15 teams in NEISA, such as BU, BC, Harvard, and MIT. Exposure to the top level of competition has helped us become a more competitive team, and our growth has not stopped there! In our Fall 2017 season, we qualified for the New England Match Race Championship and the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship—both firsts in our team’s history. In this same season, our Women’s team was ranked 15th in the country by the Sailing World Coaches’ poll. In 2022 our Women’s team qualified for the ICSA National Championship for the first time in team history and qualified again in 2023. Our hard work, in both practices and year round off-the-water training, has made us extremely competitive with the top teams in the country. ​​A Course Change In December of 2012, we received an endowment that would change our program forever. Thanks to a selfless donation from Pieter Eenkema van Dijk, we are now able to afford the salary for a long-term, high-caliber head coach. We hired Jonathan Farrar, an Olympic-level coach, whose location in Boston is a perfect match for our program. The endowment and coaching position came at a perfect time for Northeastern, as we had been rising in New England rankings consistently over the past decade, but lacked a consistent and prominent coach to bring us to the next level. Now, with better sailing prospects coming in each year to supplement our talented team, we move forward with renewed determination, strengthened stability and heightened goals.

  • Northeastern continues to grow rapidly in popularity and reputation The school’s world renowned co-op program allows you to gain work experience as an undergrad, providing you with a valuable advantage in the job market Just like the school, the sailing team has made massive strides the past few years, qualifying for more and more of the biggest regattas in college sailing We compete in NEISA, the most competitive district in the country, against teams like Yale, Boston College, and Tufts About a third of the regattas in NEISA every season are in the Boston area, keeping travel times short We have a world class head coach whose sailing knowledge is boundless and who cares strongly about helping our team succeed The Charles River is a stunningly picturesque venue that offers amazing facilities and opportunities to sail year-round, even in the off season We are a very close-knit team that spends lots of time together, where you are certain to meet fantastic friends and make lifelong memories Eight seasons of competition, fun, and learning! 

We hold recruitment ​meetings in September and March before each season. After the meeting, students try out on the Charles at a practice.

Most recruits that we take do have previous sailing and racing experience and tryouts have been more and more competitive each season. However, some of our crews had never sailed before college and made the team because they picked things up quickly at tryouts.

Absolutely! Fill out the contact form so you can meet with one of the sailors from the team. We are happy to have prospective students come down and watch a practice, or visit campus to meet the coach and team.

​​If you have sailing experience, fill out our recruitment form if you haven’t already to get in touch with Coach Farrar. If you have already been in touch with Coach Farrar, let him know that you’ve been accepted! If you have a sailing resume from high school, you can pass that along when he responds. We’ll keep in touch with you as the season gets closer and update you on tryout schedules.

Either way, stay tuned for announcements about recruitment meetings, and come by our table during Spring or Fall Fest to learn more about the team.

We practice three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3:30 to sunset. We also have team workouts once a week, and team members are expected to attend everything their schedule permits, including a minimum of 2 practices.

Most regattas are two-day events on Saturday and Sunday. We send four sailors in two boats for most regattas, and sailing is typically from 9:30-4 (ending earlier on Sundays). Many regattas are local – on the Charles where we practice, on the harbor at BC, or nearby at Tufts. We also travel to places from Vermont to Maine to Maryland during the regular season, with some postseason regattas taking us as far as Florida.

Almost all of our sailors are attending regattas at least every other weekend. Top sailors are competing every weekend while in season.

In the fall, from the beginning of September-mid November, although most regattas are finished by the end of October. In the Spring, we sail from the end of February through April and sometimes into the beginning of May.

The numbers vary, but we usually have between 25 and 30 active sailors each season.

Many of our sailors compete while on co-op. There is no requirement to do so, but if it fits your schedule, there are no regulations against sailing while you are working. The ICSA does limit each sailor to 8 seasons of competition, so sailors who are on the team for 5 years have to take two seasons off from competition.

EXECUTIVE

BOARD

Lucia Loosbrock

President

loosbrock.l@northeastern.edu

TBA

Vice President

TBA@thedenkers.com

TBA

Treasurer

TBA@northeastern.edu

TBA

Officer

TBA@northeastern.edu

TBA

Secretary

TBA@northeastern.edu

Aidan Boni

Captain

boni.ai@northeastern.edu

TBA

Officer

TBA

TBA

Officer

TBA

TBA

Officer

TBA

PHOTO

GALLERY