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Students from Mercy and UDJ formed the combined team as a member of the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) and compete against other high school teams from across Michigan and the Great Lakes region.

There are no gender distinctions for most regattas with exception of the women's national championship held in the fall which the Mercy girls competed in 2018 and 2019.

While team members compete as students of their respective schools, the MUDJ Sailing team itself is formed as an independent student-run group.

The program runs in two seasons, fall and spring and consists of competing in regattas on weekends and training during the week.

For training, MUDJ participates with the Community Sailing School at Pontiac Yacht Club which provides professional coaches and all the requisite equipment. Practices are two days a week after school on Cass Lake and regattas are generally on the weekends, mostly Saturdays, but sometimes travel for the weekend is required.

There is no requirement to attend every regatta or every practice. You can go at your own speed, but once you get the hang of it you'll likely be begging for more chances to get on the water.

Make no mistake, when we race, we race to win. But there's more to sailing than racing. The majority of the sailors on our team (and really most high school teams) join with little or no prior experience. Through the program at the Community Sailing School at Pontiac Yacht Club, students are taught everything they need to know to safely sail and compete.

People learn through our weekday practices on the water, where members develop the skills and confidence needed to enjoy themselves and handle the boat with confidence. Plus you'll be with friends and meet a ton of new folks from other schools. It becomes a kind of family.