Sirine Benali

Originally born in Paris, France, Sirine moved to the United States when she was three years old. She now resides in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA and loves living close to the ocean so it was only natural that she started sailing. She began in Optis at the age of 8 and started racing at 10. After three years of competing in Optis, she then graduated to 420s. She is excited to start racing with her varsity high school team again next spring.

This is her second year at Oakcliff. Last year, she did the Inshore Acorn Program and gained experience trimming the jib on a Swedish Match 40. Her skills were put to the test in a Grade 4 and Grade 3 match racing regatta. After that, she started doing bow on a J35 in Marblehead. This year she did Oakcliff’s Offshore Acorn program in which she sailed the Marblehead to Halifax race, placing 4th in her fleet. She hopes to gain more experience offshore and would like to do longer races.

Outside of sailing, she is very passionate about helping those in need and is going into her third year interning at a non-profit organization called Partners in Development. This August, she hopes to tie her passion for helping others with sailing by volunteering at Sail to Prevail, another non-profit that helps people with disabilities learn how to sail.