Sailing to Los Angeles

How long do you think it would take to sail a 14-foot-long sailboat that is about five and a half feet wide and just 200 pounds heavy all the way from here to Los Angeles? For KES student and Mahone Bay resident, Kat Lowe ‘23, she is hoping that it takes no longer than about five years. That will put her there in time for the opening of the 2028 Olympics on July 14.

 

 

Kat sails a very fast sailboat, called a 29er. This is a double-handed dinghy that can skim over the water however fast the wind is moving. It takes years of experience and a second set of hands to control such a bullet, and for that Kat has a long-time crewmate in Hailey Nichols. The pair are members of the Lunenburg Yacht Club. They have found much success, including a silver medal at the Canada Games this past summer. (Quick shout-out to Alex Graham ‘25 for his bronze medal in the 29er class!)

 

It takes hours of practice each week in the saltwater playground that surrounds Nova Scotia. Kat can be found planing over the waves from April until December. Most sensible people enter our waters in July and run away by August. Wetsuit or not, Kat clearly is made of something special. She does thaw in the warmth of Florida. Kat has been on a training camp for a week or longer in November, December, January, and February. All that time is getting her closer to the stars of Hollywood as she and Nichols were named to the 2023 Sail Canada Canadian Sailing Youth Squad, basically a youth national team. This will give her “access to coaching at European events, and World Championships as well as training opportunities with the Canadian Sailing Team”, according to Sail Canada.

 

 

With so much success in water, Kat surely must just sleep when on dry land. Along with excelling athletically, Kat pushes herself academically. There is no more impressive high school diploma than the IB diploma, and now that she is back from training, Kat is working overtime to prepare for her examinations in May. Each course is two-years long and has not only an exam that is based on those two years, but either an extended essay or a very involved independent project.

 

It is no wonder then, whether in our classrooms or representing Nova Scotia, and soon to be representing Canada, Kat Lowe is the exemplar of a King’s-Edgehill student.