Nearly ten centuries ago, Vikings sailed through the rough waves and the scorching sun. Now, twelve Whitman Vikings are doing the same thing.

This year has been the sailing team’s most successful yet. They finished in the top spots at many regattas which used to be dominated by Annapolis teams and rose eight spots in the Maryland sailing league rankings to become the seventh best team in the state.

The team’s impressive record includes finishing seventh in the two largest high school regattas in Annapolis this fall. Another big victory was at a St. Mary’s regatta last spring, where the team finished third, making them the highest finishing team outside of Annapolis. However, the team missed qualifying for states this year because their overall rank for the season was not high enough.

“Maryland has the most competitive league in the country because of the Annapolis high schools that we compete against,” president Harris Cram said.

Another regatta, the Lawrence White Trophy, was not the team’s best performance on paper, however, it was the team’s favorite. It was the first time the Vikes had competed outside of the Maryland league, and the first time a team from the D.C. area had competed at a national level. The Vikes met many top high school teams with multiple championships to their name and gained valuable experience, Cram said.

The team is mostly student run, but it receives coaching and equipment from D.C. Sail, an organization which hosts regattas in Maryland during the fall and spring.

The team competes in two types of racing: fleet racing and team racing. In fleet racing, whoever crosses the finish line first wins. In team racing, two teams with three boats each compete and the combined scores of the boats determine the team’s place.

Although the Vikes didn’t meet their goal of qualifying for regionals or states this year, they are already making changes to qualify next season.

“We are bigger than we ever have been, so that’s good. As for results, we did better than we did last year,” captain Julien Guiot said. “Next season we hope to improve by getting on the water earlier in the year and practicing longer.”

Although they’re a small team, the bonds between members are what makes them so successful, Guiot said. Along with Guiot, captain Kai Johnston and Cram help lead the team.

“I enjoy the combination of physical and mental exertion, and the feeling of liberation that I’ve never encountered anywhere else, and a union with nature,” Johnston said. “When I’m sailing it’s just me, the wind, the water, and the boat, and I can forget about everything else.”