Jennifer Chen is an 18-year-old Chinese-Canadian competitive sailor from Victoria, British Columbia, chasing a place in Canada’s national high-performance sailing program.

Raised on the waters around Vancouver Island, Jennifer has spent most of her life racing dinghies, studying wind shifts, and sacrificing almost everything for the chance to compete at the highest level. Fiercely driven, sarcastic, intelligent, and stubbornly independent, she seems fearless on the water—but beneath the confidence is a young woman terrified that being very good may not be good enough.

A new racing season is beginning. National-team selections are looming. Rivals are getting faster. Expectations are rising.

And for perhaps the first time in Jennifer’s life, sailing may not be the only thing capable of changing her future.