IN RURAL WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA towns like Jefferson, (pop. 8,000) floodlights shine down on two things: coal mines and football fields, illuminating literally and emblematically, the town's lug-sole way of life. Except for a few car-topped canoes, duck boats, and the occasional aluminum skiff, boats seems out of place in Jefferson especially boats with sails.

Yet in the back parking lot of the local high school, outside the woodshop's double doors, a handful of students methodically rig Spectra lines on two spot-varnished International Fireballs in a cold September drizzle. Set against the low, verdant hills these snub-nosed dinghies are the proverbial fish out of water. This image is only enhanced by the fact that they were built inside the school shop. How did land-locked Jefferson-Morgan High School become the unlikely point of origin for a budding fleet of the handmade, hard-chined, 16-footers, and how has sailing begun to take root in the town's bituminous coal-laden soil?

Dave White's industrial technology classes built and sold Adirondack chairs for years. They'd created a full-scale production scenario, which turned a small profit and taught White's students everything from basic woodworking to managing a small business. While everything ran smoothly, building the chairs lost its luster for the students. So White mortgaged the success of his chair program and, with smoke and mirrors, convinced the school's administration to allow his shop classes to build something more challenging-a Fireball.

Left, Jefferson-Morgan High School industrial technology teacher Dave White reviews the rigging of a Fireball with some of his students. 

 In the fall of 1998, White, a sailor for four decades who used to race Fireballs, set his class to the task. None of his students had ever sailed before, but the idea of creating a boat, a vehicle that would move, immediately piqued their interest. Initially, they survived on this and blind faith, but when the first boat was finished in the spring of 1999, their enthusiasm surged.

With the help of a few of the school's English classes, press releases were sent to local newspapers and television stations. A flurry of media attention led to the donation of two old Fireballs, construction began on a second new boat, and White, with a handful of eager students, started making the three-hour drive to the northwest corner of the state where the students could learn to put their handiwork in motion on Lake Pymatuning. Jefferson-Morgan also made a formal regatta challenge to neighboring school districts, and to up the ante, the True Value Hardware store in nearby Dry Tavern, Penn., donated an 18-inch sterling silver trophy. White's high-school syndicate was established, and the True Value High School Challenge Cup was born.

In the three years since, more than 200 kids from Green County, the poorest in the state, have built two Fireballs, restored two, and started building a fifth. They've published a series of building and design how-to articles on the International Fireball Class website (www.fireball-international.com), and a handful of students have traveled to national and midwinter events. As word of White's program spread, other schools began to follow his lead. For the 2001 True Value High1 School Challenge Cup, the third annual event, five teams from four schools signed up. A fleet this size might be cause for concern in San Diego or Annapolis, but for White and everyone else involved, it was a triumph.

"We're in a coal-mining area," says White, "and the only boat most of these kids have ever stepped foot in is a john-boat to go duck hunting. Sailing isn't an every-day thing around here. When I first told them we were going to build a sailboat, they asked me, 'Have you spent too much time in the sun?' But we went ahead and chose the Fireball because it's a lightweight, fast boat that we could build with wood and repair if we needed to?'

Unfazed by the mind-splitting woodshop din and riding a final-prep adrenaline high on the day before the regatta, White, 47, doles out directions amidst a cacophony of pulsing sanders, saws, and surface planers. His enthusiasm is contagious, and he walks quickly from student to student, overseeing their work on a new boat in its early stages of construction. They don't treat him like a normal teacher; they talk to him like a peer When students get wise, he gives it right back. In his classroom there's an unspoken level of mutual respect.

The shop, an expansive three-room wing of the 475-student school, is a boat tinkerer's dream; it has just about every tool you'd ever need to build or repair all things that float. Just like any other day, students ebb and flow through the hallway door on the hour. But with the regatta less than 24 hours away, a few key builders and sailors have permission to work on the boats all day.

Mid-morning, White dons his jacket and steps into the rain to check the progress of the boats being rigged outside. He explains how to install a new 4-to- 1 reverse-purchase spinnaker launcher. The students install the hardware, though the device prompts a series of panicked questions. With the day winding down, a pep rally quickly approaching, and that night's home football game against the Trojans of California, Penn., on the minds of many, it's a tough time for a lesson in mechanical advantage. White attempts an explanation, but as the football team's volunteer videographer, even he can't resist adding his two cents to the impromptu pre-game rundown. In the end, everyone gets the gist: The pulleys make the chute go up faster.

A.J. Curtis knows he should be paying more attention. By tomorrow, he'll have to be intimately familiar with this system. Curtis is one of White's newest recruits, and will be sailing in the regatta tomorrow. However, Curtis is also the starting quarterback and is preoccupied with tonight's game.

One student without that concern is sophomore Josh Stockdale, one of the few boys in the group not wearing a varsity football jersey. He's clad instead in a imitation nylon flight jacket and only half-heartedly contributes to the pregame banter. Stockdale's an aspiring Naval Academy midshipman, who's good with his hands. He also excels in math and physics.

Stockdale started working on the Fireballs as a freshman when he finished a Science Olympiad project nine weeks ahead of schedule and needed something to fill his time. On his first day he discovered several critical measurement errors andfrom then on was hooked. "This is engineering in its finest form," says the 15-year-old, who spends after-school hours practicing with the University of West Virginia's fencing team. "The best part of this is the mechanical experience and just learning how to do this stuff. You really don't do something like this every day-building something on this scale. It's like putting a model together but a lot bigger:'

The strict measurement tolerances and high-tech building techniques have not only attracted students like Stockdale, but also gained the support of an educational community that might otherwise give boatbuilding short shrift. "Some of the bigger schools with more resources have design departments that focus on building houses;' says White, "but this is more of an exact science. You can make a mistake with a house and correct it with a shim, but you make a mistake with this and a $5,000 boat goes down the tubes.

"Before this project, we'd never used epoxies in class. But we proved the kids could handle it;' he continues. "In a normal woodshop you put things together with No.8 woodscrews and Elmer's Glue. The day of the industrial technology teacher making the sugar scoop and the half-moon table is gone:'

With the rigging finally complete, the defensive line lifts the two gleaming Fireballs onto a tandem trailer hitched to White's pickup and lashes them down for the drive to Lake Pymatuning.

Tucked away at the end of a series of tortuous dirt roads, Pymatuning Sailing Club is an idyllic site for the event. On thickly wooded land surrounded by a nature preserve, a camp-style clubhouse, outhouse, and storage building overlook the lake-a lake, incidentally, on which large powerboat traffic is prohibited, save for the club's three rescue boats. There's room for sailors to pitch tents and park campers, and the waterfront lawn and dock system provides space for rigging.

With five sailors, Jefferson-Morgan has the largest contingent, but sailors from Fox Chapel High School, in Pittsburgh, Canfield High School, in Canfield, Ohio and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Willoughby, Ohio, are also vying for the title. The regatta was originally conceived as an interschool competition, but because a few of the schools agreed to practice together during the preceding weeks, friendships formed and a few students decide to cross school lines and team up. On one of those teams is skipper Kristen Braman, a senior from Canfield, and crew Caleb Tom, a junior from Jefferson- Morgan. A member of Pymatuning SC, Braman has the advantage of sailing on her home turf In addition, she's probably the most experienced sailor in the event-she won the 2001 FJ Nationals. Tom, a Jefferson-Morgan builder for two years, started sailing last spring and spent the summer in Fireballs and attending the Pymatuning SC sailing camp.

In a cold, 18-knot northerly, all five teams struggle on the first day. But despite a slew of wipeouts, only one boat fails to finish both races. At the front of the pack with two firsts are Graham Schaefer and Matt Bliss of Cornerstone Christian. Braman and Tom earn a pair of seconds.

On Sunday morning, after a cold night, the sailors down juice and donuts while waiting for the wind to fill. White, excited about the close standings, gives the group a short, utilitarian final pep talk: "OK, guys, it's not quite as windy today," he says, more nervous for them than they are for themselves. "Just go out there and do your best?' Braman and Tom open the day with a 2-1 while Schaefer and Bliss take third in both races, leaving the title hanging on the final race.

Neck and neck at the first jibe mark, Braman and Tom make a smooth jibe and maneuver inside Schaefer and Bliss. They take the lead and hold it to the end. In addition to another title to top off her winning season, Braman, after a weekend of exchanging ideas with Tom, has also gained a new appreciation for the hands-on aspect of the sport. "I think it'd be really cool to build a boat;' she says. "I've been in a boat all my life, but I don't really know how they're put together Now, I want to learn how to make them:'

The other Jefferson-Morgan sailors don't fair as well, but they finish in high spirits and learn a few new things in the process. "This isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be;' says Curtis, who crewed for Sarah Steward of Fox Chapel High. "I was more sore after sailing than I was after Friday night's football game. But if anything, I think I'm now going to understand more about what's going on while we're building?'

Below, The 2001 True Value Challenge Cup came down to a final race duel between Schaefer and Bliss (12842) and Kristen Braman of Canfield High School and Caleb Tom of Jefferson-Morgan High School. Schaefer and Bliss led for most of the regatta, but Braman and Tom won the final two races and took first place by one point.

With a new boat in its infancy there's plenty more building to do, and Curtis will have the chance to do so with some practical experience under his belt. Schaefer and Bliss have caught the bug and started building a boat at Cornerstone Christian, and together with Braman and Tom, the foursome plans to compete in the 2002 Fireball Worlds in Tampa, Fla., in March. Confident that they'll make a strong showing, White hopes that their presence will help build interest and expand the program to even more schools, making the High School Challenge Cup bigger and better.

In the meantime, White plans to keep his classroom running in the same style, exposing students, teachers, administrators, and parents to new ideas one day at a time. "I think I see these kids in a different light than some of their other teachers do;' he says, "and I think they kind of appreciate it. Yeah, they can be ... something... sometimes. But I try to be a little loose with them. When they come down to the woodshop, they have the freedom to move around, the freedom to be themselves. And shall we say, I'm not that far from them. I've been there, and I know what they're like. I'd much rather spend a day out in the rain rigging a boat than sitting in the classroom doing paperwork. And at the end of the day, I feel good about it:'