Where Character Meets the Coast: How MDI High Sailing Builds Confidence, Teamwork and Grit
Jul 07, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Bar Harbor Historical Society.
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND—Competitive high school sailing isn’t just about wind.
It’s not just about luck.
It’s about perseverance and intelligence and communication and commitment that doesn’t just happen in the regattas.
Early in the season they get up, go to school. At 2:15 p.m. the team gets their stuff and heads to the boats.
Early in the season those boats can be full of snow.
But they get them, put on dry suits, shovel the snow out of the boats, rig them up, rinse off the outside, and take off to practice in those frigid Maine waters.
“That’s a lot,” long-time sailing coach John Macauley said. “That’s not throwing your book bag” and just heading home from school.
This year’s team was a force. Seniors Alex Donahue, Stani Mays, Rhythm Murawala, Charlotte Stanley, Eliana Welch and Porter Graham ended the season with huge sails. They were joined by Juniper Macko, Kiran Hannah, Antonia Burns, Landon Heniser, Kitty Saltysiak, and Harriet Henkel.
“It’s a level of commitment,” Macauley said of the work that happens all year. “They do it with pleasure.”
This year that MDI High School Sailing Team won its final regatta at home— the Pen Bay League Series.
The sailors weren’t done.
They won the Boothbay regatta.
Earlier in the season—because they sported a larger team—they competed at an all-girls regatta in Boston. On the first day, the MDI girls qualified for the Gold Fleet. The next day, they finished in the top half of the Gold Fleet. That same weekend, the rest of the MDI team took second at the Maine State championships.
“Although it is nice to win as a team (and we do our best), we celebrate individual victories as well and aim for inclusion,” Macauley said.
For the future, he hopes to engage more students-sailings along the coast of Maine north of Portland.
“Most importantly, MDIHS Sailing must continue to provide students with an experience like no other; the empowerment that goes hand in hand with being able to handle a boat on the ocean in almost all conditions is formative to say the least,” Macauley said. “I want every sailor to come away from the experience with an enhanced sense of accomplishment and self confidence that will serve them well later in life.”
This next year is expected to be a building year for the high school team which graduated six seniors on the 12-sailor team.
Many of the sailors spend their summers working at the MDI Community Sailing Center.
The MDI High School students don’t just race for the school team. They also race throughout the year. The MDI Community Center’s 2025 Fall Sailing Team of seven junior sailors (grades 7-12) headed to the boats and water every day after school in September and in October.
According to the sailing center, “The last race was an all girls event on October 25th “The Becton Cup” at Maine Maritime Academy. With 12 boats racing skipper Rhythm Murawala and her crew Eliana Welch took 4th place! We look forward to starting up again in April of 2026 with the MDI High School Sailing Team.”
The kids, Macauley said, are consistently smart, great humans who manage their academics, training, and competition like pros.
They deserve news stories and acclaim, not because they’re so exceptionally skilled—which they are—but because they are an exceptional group of humans.
Sailing, he advocates, helps builds those skills in kids and adults. Sailors are outside, dealing with weather, existing within the weather, problem solving, using athleticism, balance, brains, and guts to thrive.
That’s the kind of thing he’d love to see more and more of.
But it’s also the sort of thing that deserves applause and cheers and recognition.
Sailing is about teamwork. Sailing is about communication and trust. Racing is about working toward a common goal. Together.
“I started assistant coaching in the spring of 2014 at the suggestion of my youngest daughter Madeleine, who was on the team at the time,” Macauley explained. “I grew up sailing, and I missed it. The most compelling part has always been just being on the water and being part of the maritime community. Some walk in the woods to connect with the planet. I get into a boat. That feeling of being connected is invaluable.”
PHOTOS
All photos (except for the one from Chris Popper) courtesy of Mike Newman.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about sailing for the high school or for youth on MDI, you can contact John Macauley at jbmacauley3@gmail.com.
Mount Desert Island Community Sailing Center’s team
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