Salem High School Sailing Team

Salem High School Partners with Sail Salem to
Launch B North Division Sailing Team

Salem High School has inaugurated a new sailing team this 2023 Spring season. The Witches have become members of the B North Division of the Massachusetts Bay League. They will race against fellow high schools Beverly, Pingree, Landmark, Wayland, and Concord Academy. The new coach is Schuyler Ward, who grew up sailing on Cape Cod at Chatham Sailing School.

Establishing a Salem High sailing team has been a long-term dream of Sail Salem’s founders and the City of Salem. It took several years to raise sufficient funds to purchase a fleet of boats that the students could use in partnership with Sail Salem. Two entities took the fundraising lead; the New York-based Cosel Family Trust and CSL Americas of Middleton, Massachusetts.

Cosel Family Trust donated funds in memory of Michael and Andrew Cosel. Michael Cosel’s grandchildren—Andrew Cosel’s niece and nephews—participated in Sail Salem for many years. CSL Americas was a supplier to the former Salem Power Plant, now the Salem Harbor Power Station. The combined financial support enabled Sail Salem to purchase International 420 sailboats and secure the facilities required to get children on the water at little or no cost.

Sail Salem is providing Salem High School with the use of boats at no cost. During the summers, Sail Salem uses these boats to introduce the sport of sailing to thousands of children from Salem and its surrounding North Shore towns.