ORLEANS — This year’s sailing season did not go exactly the way Coach Alexis Mathison and her team would have liked. The Nauset High School team dropped its last five regattas to end the regular season at 3-7. But no matter — hope is abundant for next year: four of the sailors who competed in the Cape and Islands Championship Regatta, held last week at the Hyannis Yacht Club, were freshmen.
The Warriors finished 12th out of 14 entrants on a day that evoked mid-March more than mid-May, but the team gained valuable experience that can be put to good use in future competitions.
“This team has a lot of talent and a good amount of it will be returning,” said Mathison, standing next to the Orleans Town Cove just before a recent practice. She will be losing only three seniors — captain Jessie Swain, Gigi Hopkins-Lisle, and Sam Covell — a relief, as a much larger contingent graduated last year.
Swain will head to U.C. Santa Cruz this fall, where she will be a member of the Banana Slugs’ sailing team while pursuing a major in marine biology. She is looking forward to the prospect of performing in a more moderate climate on the West Coast. “I can’t wait to do a lot of sailing without a dry suit,” she said.
“Jessie will be greatly missed,” said Mathison. “She is such a positive leader on the team.”
Swain, who crewed for her entire career, recently tried skippering and won two intra-team races in practice. Coach Mathison planned to have her in the skipper position for the first time on May 27 at the Girls Championship Regatta off the coast of Nantucket.
As for next year, sophomore Cam Long, who just completed his second season as a starter, has a positive outlook. “We’ll be missing three, but I look forward to building something special next year,” he said.
Long, who like Swain lives in Orleans, pointed to the team’s first home regatta versus Sandwich as the kind of experience he would like to have more of in 2026. The team was coming off a loss and dropped the first race against the Blue Knights but then “focused and climbed back to win.”
If all the underclassmen come back as expected, Coach Mathison will have 10 returning sailors next year, including junior captain Wesley Kaser. That veteran lineup, and a coaching staff that boasts a total of over 30 years of experience, bodes well for a strong 2026 season.
