High School Racing

West Coast Sailing and Zim Sailing Stepping Up – Again

Kurt Hoehne Community, High School Racing, West Coast Sailing 0 Comment

West Coast Sailing and its sister Zim Sailing have agreed to sponsor hight school sailing for the coming years. This, combined with their recent sponsorship of college sailing, puts them front and center for dinghy sailing for the foreseeable future. Dinghy sailing has picked up participation, and this type of support helps the many young and enthusiastic sailors take it to new heights moving forward. Needless to say, these companies deserve our support. -KH

Here’s the press release:

Zim Sailing & West Coast Sailing Announce Multi-Year Sponsorship of High School Sailing

The Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) is excited to announce a new five-year sponsorship agreement with Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing. These are two of North America’s leading suppliers of boats, parts and equipment, both owned and led by active supporters of high school sailing.

As Official Supplier of the Cressy Championship, Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing will provide ILCA boats and sails for use at the regatta. In addition to providing equipment, both companies have created a unique cash contribution campaign based on the ecommerce platforms of Zim and WCS for contribution directly back to High School Sailing. Furthermore, athletes and teams can continue to enjoy existing discounts as well as a reduced price on branded screen-printed sails. This provides support directly to the member schools and athletes, in addition to generating funds to support the operations of High School Sailing.

“It’s very exciting to  welcome Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing as sponsors,” says Tim Hogan, president of ISSA. “High school sailing is among the fastest-growing segments of the sport, and this sponsorship will help us continue to expand and serve our member schools. In addition to providing boats to our singlehanded championships, the discounts for our teams and sailors allow their funding and focus to be on what they do best; providing amazing opportunities to sail!”

Zim Sailing, founded by Steve Perry in 2008 in Bristol, Rhode Island, provides one-design sailboats, parts, accessories, and services to the North American market. They manufacture popular scholastic dinghies (including the FJ, C420, 420E, and ILCA) while engaging in grassroots youth development of yacht club junior sailing programs, community sailing and youth racing. Zim Sailing is seen at regattas around the country, providing charter boats and onsite support.

West Coast Sailing, founded in 2005 in Portland, Oregon by George Yioulos, is one of North America’s leading marine retailers, focusing on the dinghy racing and small keelboat market with an emphasis on e-commerce fulfillment and industry leading customer service. Yioulos, a former Marin Catholic High School sailor, brought West Coast Sailing and Zim Sailing under common ownership in 2021 – with the goal to expand support for sailing in North America.

“High School Sailing changed my life – it set me on a path to College Sailing, and then the last 17 wild years in the sailing industry.” said Yioulos. “The support of the community, the coaches, sailors and volunteers to make High School sailing happen year round – is awe inspiring. Being able to give back to ISSA – is immensely gratifying to us all .”

For sailors, programs and supporters of High School Sailing, this is an opportunity to work with a valued sponsor for all boats, parts, equipment, and apparel needs. Programs can set up accounts for easy online ordering with discounted pricing at these links for Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing. Individual student athletes can take advantage of 15% off apparel and accessories purchases to get the gear they need to get on the water at a great value. Knowledgeable sailors are on hand to provide support and answer questions. More information can be found online at Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing.

Contacts:

Zim Sailing

info@zimsailing.com

(401) 237-6117

West Coast Sailing

info@westcoastsailing.net

(503) 285-5536

Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association

info@hssailing.org

Keelboat Qualifier This Weekend

Kurt Hoehne High School Racing, Youth Sailing 0 Comment

On September 28th and 29th, the Corinthian Yacht Club, Seattle Sailing Club and the J/80 fleet will host the NW District’s Keelboat Qualifier.

There is a recognized need to connect young sailors with keelboats and those currently sailing keelboats in order to strengthen the sailing community. The Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (NWISA) has long hoped for this partnership and started talking to the J/80 fleet at JFest.

There are approximately 50 High School teams that compete under NWISA, typically on double handed dinghies. Teams that have keelboat racing experience will fill out a resume in the hope of being selected as one of the seven teams to participate in the Keelboat qualifier.

Teams will be asked to attend a Clubhouse discussion Friday night with owners/team. An on-the water 2 hour session with the owner/team will take place Saturday morning. The teams will rotate through all of the J/80s transferring via coach boat. The team that scores the lowest points after completion of the round-robin will travel to Florida in December and compete in Interscholastic Sailing Association’s Keelboat invitational at St. Petersburg Yacht Club, where the top ten teams across the country will sail on J/70s.

PNW High School Rankings

Andrew Nelson High School Racing, Youth Sailing 0 Comment
PNW High School Rankings
High school sailing is the best. Jan Anderson photo.

2019-2020 NWISA Pre-Season Prognostications

School is in session, which means it’s time to talk High School Sailing. I’m once again putting out my pre-season predictions ahead of the first NWISA regattas later in September. Olympia proved Last Year’s Pre-Season Rankings mostly correct when they went out and absolutely crushed it (as predicted). Unranked Sehome snuck in and disrupted things a bit after they took 2nd place at Fleet Race Districts, but other than that the rankings held up pretty well. I’m glad Sehome proved me wrong and I hope some other unranked teams do the same this season.

In order to better quantify my predictions, I’ve developed a high-point scoring system with point values assigned to NWISA championships and qualifiers.  The NWISA Fleet Race and Team Race Championships are most heavily weighted (worth 5 points each), while the smaller Fall Championships/Qualifiers (Girls, Keelboat, and Singlehands) are each worth 3 points. Runners up receive the remaining points. Here is how last year’s predictions compared with end of season results using this formula.

Heading into the Fall Season the NWISA conference is looking more competitive than ever before. A lot of talent that has been percolating for years is finally maturing. Orcas was really the only team that graduated most of its varsity squad. I expect the top of A-Fleet to look very similar to last year, with most of the same players returning- just faster and more experienced. If anything I think the depth of the conference will make it more difficult to predict the outcomes this year, and there’s not one super dominant team like we had last year. Here’s my best guess…

#1 Gig Harbor High School (Gig Harbor, WA)

GHHS will have a target on their back all season. The Tides have arguably the best one-two punch in the conference with skippers Axel Stordahl (‘20) and Dayne Hall (‘22). This is a team which is 80% intact from last year’s Cinderella run. They came tantalizingly close to qualifying for both spring national championships last year, and that memory is going to keep them hungry all year. Graduated is varsity crew Ripley Morris and utility player Peter Ryalls who was injured for most of the spring season. Both were part of the winning keelboat team last fall. However, Axel and Dayne will still have plenty of options in the front of their boat and a solid supporting cast when they get in a keelboat. Carlos Rivas is a very key and versatile piece of the puzzle this year. He’s turning into one of the best crews in the district, but he is also capable of grabbing the tiller when needed, like he did last year during Team Race Champs.

Prognostications: Look for strong performances in Keelboat Quals and Fleet Race Championships. They could win the Team Racing Champs too, but they are going to have to rely on a lot of 1,2, X combos to pull it off. It wouldn’t be the first time a team has won it like that.

#2 Bainbridge High School (Bainbridge Island, WA)

It’s a toss up for 2nd place between Bainbridge and Sehome, but if you put emphasis on the spring championships, then Bainbridge gets the nod. The Spartans are heading into this season with the most talent they’ve had in several years. These sailors aren’t new additions, rather they’re all returners who are now upperclassmen primed for a breakout year. Skippers Max Doane, Zach Cooper, and Dane Petrakis are as good a trio as you’ll find in NWISA. It’s unclear which two will be in the varsity spot for fleet racing, but they’ll be a real force when it comes to team racing. Barrett Lhamon and Lindsay Campbell are versatile players who can both transition easily between skipper and crew roles. Both crewed in the spring championships last year, but Lindsay will likely skipper some Fall regattas, including Girl’s Champs. Coach Susan Kaseler has been saying “one more year” for several years now. If she’s waiting on another NWISA Team Racing Championship to retire, then this may be her year. It’s her favorite event and she really pushes team racing hard in the spring.

Prognostications: I would not be at all surprised if Max Doane wins Singlehands in the full rig, although if Eric Anderson (Ballard) elects to sail the full rig it’ll be a real battle between those two. Team Racing Championships are theirs to lose, but the Spartans could certainly podium at Fleet Race Championships too.

#3 Sehome High School (Bellingham, WA)

This is a team full of young talent that peaked at just the right time last year. They’ve been on my radar for awhile, and have become scary-good very quickly. Leading the charge is a boatload of female talent. Emma Powell and Natalie Serbousek are going into their junior years and will likely be sailing together again. Sammy Farkas is currently leading the NWYRC Laser Radial standings and has already sailed several national and international championships. Now a freshman, Sammy will join her friends Emma and Natalie in the varsity role (as an 8th grader last year Sammy could only sail JV regattas). Add any number of talented female crews, like Natalie Werner or Casey Malone, to the mix and you’ll have an all female team ready to make boys cry all season. This may be the last year to beat Sehome before they reach true dynasty status. You’ve been warned.

Prognostications: Sammy is the favorite to win Singlehanded Quals in the Laser Radial. The team is a shoe-in for the Girl’s Champs, and will be a real force at fleet racing districts again next year. However, their team racing game probably needs another year or two to really develop.

#4 Olympia High School (Olympia, WA)

The Bears absolutely dominated last year. A team goal was to represent NWISA at every national championship/invitational and they almost did it. Varsity A-Fleet skipper Owen Timms was a big reason for that success, however he has since graduated and is now off to sail with at George Washington Univ. Some might expect Oly’s star to fall after the loss of such a key member, plus varsity crews Evan Krug and Kevin Hicks, but coach Sarah Hanavan has a crop of talent ready to continue the OHS legacy. Skipper Sam Bonauto and crew Peter Kelleher who sailed opposite of Owen last year have established themselves as a real force, a pair capable of placing top-5 in any given NWISA fleet. Skippers Erin Pamplin and Ella Hubbard will likely be working to earn the other varsity skipper spot. When they put three boats on the water, they’ll be more than able to hold their own in team racing.

Prognostications: Oly’s strongest events are most likely Girl’s Champs, which they are hosting (home field advantage never hurts!), and Team Race Champs.I think they also have a good shot at placing in the Keelboat Quals. It’s an event they’ve won in the past, and they are one of the few teams that actively train for it.

#5 Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA)

The nucleus of Miles Williams, Abbie Chipps, and Sam Kimmel helped put Roosevelt on the map. They’ve been sailing at Sail Sand Point together for several years, with Miles and Abbie starting in Optis. The team has grown steadily the last few seasons and blossomed into a real contender. Miles is one of the fastest skippers in the conference, and Sam is capable of cracking the top-5 in B fleet. Abbie is one of the top crews in the district and has been honing her skills as a skipper in the Laser this summer, which may be put to use when it comes time for Team Race Champs. The Rough Riders scraped together enough sailors to field a full team racing roster last spring, a first for RHS, but they still lack the roster depth of some of the more established teams.

Prognostications: This team could win Fleet Race Championships if they catch fire. As previously mentioned, roster depth will make it difficult to get on the podium in the other disciplines.

Honorable Mention: Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

There’s a high probability we’ll see Erik Anderson on the podium at Singlehands and he’ll have a solid B-Fleet opposite him all season. They could make a late season push similar to the run Sehome made last year. I wouldn’t count them out of Fleet Race Champs or Keelboat Quals.

Honorable Mention: Lincoln High School (Portland, OR)

The Cardinals have the deepest roster in the Portland area and have two pretty quick pairs. Depending on who emerges as their third skipper, they could be a threat at Team Race Champs. We may also see senior Casey Pickett do well in Singlehands. This is a group with keelboat experience (Area L Sears winners), so watch out if they elect to do Keelboat Quals this year.

Ed. Note: Sailish loves to post results, photos, insights, and just funny stuff on the high school sailing scene, but we need help to get material. Competitors and organizers – send stuff! Parents, it’s a great way to be engaged and solidify the scene for the future.

Mallory Cup Last Weekend

Kurt Hoehne Dinghy Racing, High School Racing, Youth Sailing 0 Comment
Mallory Cup Last Weekend

There was a national championship in Seattle last weekend, the Mallory Cup. It was the doublehanded high school championship, and it was a big deal sailed from Sail Sand Point on Lake Washington. If we get more info or photos from the regatta, we’ll run ’em. In the meantime, here’s a scene setter and a brief recap courtesy of the Interscholastic Sailing Association.

We haven’t been able to locate any sailing photos yet, but this photo by Sandy Skeel of the mothership Maris Pearl tending to the fleet of 420s on Lake Washington.

Saturday, May 11:

The 2019 ISSA Fleet Race National Championship (Mallory Trophy) was hosted out of Sail Sand Point in Seattle, WA this weekend. Thank you to our PRO Jonathan McKee, regatta chair Nino Johnson, and the many other volunteers who donated their time to help run this regatta.

Saturday began with clear, sunny skies, warm temperatures, and a shifty ESE breeze 5 knot that averaged around 5 knots. Courses were adjusted to variable winds. Around 3pm the wind lightened considerably, causing a postponement of race 4B until a 8 knot SW wind filled in. Course was moved to account for new wind, then moved again for race 5B as the wind moved further south. Wind died around 5:45pm, at the end of race 5B, and the decision was made to postpone further races and then eventually call racing for the day. 10 races total were completed on Saturday, 5 in each division. Four protests were heard, 3 resulting in DSQs and 1 being dismissed.

After racing, sailors, coaches, and volunteers were treated to a banquet dinner and raffle that couldn’t be beat. Thanks to Seth Muir and Erin Timms for putting on the dinner, and to guest speaker Helena Scutt for providing an inspirational talk geared towards these top young athletes.

Sunday, May 12:

Sunday was the beginning of a new weather pattern, with overcast skies and cooler temperature. The wind was decidedly southerly, and at 8:30am the decision was made to have the course south, around Sand Point, and into better breeze. Coaches and substitute sailors were loaded onto the Maris Pearl, a tugboat that served as a rotation dock, and moved to the day’s new course location. Races were sailed in an 8-10 knot S breeze until around 1pm when the clouds began to lift and the wind died down. The course was moved back to the location of the previous day to take advantage of a shifting 5-7 knot ESE breeze. Around 3:40pm the wind lightened considerably and moved south, causing an abandonment of race 15A and the postponement of 15B. As per the SIs, no races were to be started after 4pm, so Sunday ended with a total of 18 completed races, 9 in each division. One redress hearing was heard, but was dismissed.

After a total of 28 races, 14 in A division and 14 in B division, Point Loma High School took home first place, followed by Severn School in second place, and Christchurch School in third. Congratulations to those sailors and to all of the sailors that made it to the 2019 ISSA Fleet Race National Championships! Thank you to our PRO, regatta chair, race committee, and judges, as well as all of the parents, coaches, sailors and volunteers who helped make this a great regatta!

Team Trials in Eagle Harbor

Kurt Hoehne High School Racing, Youth Sailing 1 Comment
Team Trials in Eagle Harbor

You probably get tired of hearing me say it, but youth and high school sailing in the Pacific Northwest is where it’s happening folks. Leave it to “kids these days” and their very supportive parents to remind us what a great sport we have.

Last weeked at Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island there was a highly competitive and full fleet of high school kids whipping their boats around, working as a three boat team and doing things with their boats most big boat sailors can’t even imagine.

Andrew Nelson, the NW Youth Sailing Director with The Sailing Director, reported the following: “Scores and a regatta summary can be found at the link below…
https://scores.hssailing.org/s19/2019-nwisa-team-race-championships/
It was a 3 on 3 team racing regatta, so any combo of 10 or less points wins. Olympia was a slight favorite going into the regatta, and after day one there was pretty much a four way tie between Olympia, Gig Harbor, Bainbridge, and Orcas.”

NOTE: I would love to have some dinghy boots on the ground reporting from youth events – so any of you young sailor-writers, coaches or parents who want to send something after big events, please email them to me and I’ll do my best to get them posted.

Photos by Jan Anderson. If you want to get excited about kids sailing, here’s the rest of them.


2018-2019 High School Sailing Preview

Andrew Nelson High School Racing, Youth Sailing 0 Comment
2018-2019 High School Sailing Preview

Andrew Nelson of The Sailing Foundation has kindly offered this preview up (with some bold predictions) for the upcoming high school racing season. Yep, even though some of the schools’ bureaucrats might not even know it, these schools have exceptional athletes in a program that allows boys and girls to compete with and against each other, often with the full and enthusiastic participation of their families. So, even if you don’t have a kid in high school, take a good look at the excitement being generated by the next generation of sailors. 

Last year’s NWISA Team
Race District Championship. Photo by Jim Skeel.

By Andrew Nelson

Kids are heading back to school and the fall high school sailing season is just around the corner. Fall includes a few smaller regional regattas, the singlehanded “Cressy” qualifier (our only Laser event), a new NWISA Girl’s Championship, a keelboat regatta, and a Fall Championship (mostly for bragging rights). All of this happens in the span of seven furious weeks between mid-September and early November.

My not so totally arbitrary “Top-5 Power Rankings” are below. We’ll see how my predictions hold up over time, and I hope there are some spoiler teams out there that prove me wrong!

#1 Olympia High School

OHS finished up a stellar spring season last year with a trip to the Mallory (HS Fleet Racing Nationals), while just barely missing out on also representing the NWISA conference at the Baker (Team Race Nationals). Although their B-Fleet skipper Max Miller graduated last spring, the core of their team remains intact. Look for senior Owen Timms to be out in front of A-Fleet this year. Sam Bonauto (2021) and Erin Pamplin (2020) will be duking it out for the second varsity skipper spot, and when the three skippers unite for team racing they’ll be a formidable squad. OHS has a deep roster which also includes plenty of talented returning crews. One thing we didn’t really see last year were consistent skipper/crew pairings. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Oly move towards a more stable system of pairs as the season progresses.

Predictions: 1st Place- Team Racing, 1st Place- Cressy Qualifier (Laser), 2nd Place- Fleet Racing

#2 Orcas Island High School

OIHS cleaned up last year, earning a spot to both the Baker and Mallory spring championships. Like Olympia, they graduated a key member of their team, Maggie Toombs, last spring. However, they will have two veteran skippers leading the charge this year- Seniors Ronan Rankin and Dominick Wareham. They’ll be surrounded by a supporting cast of experienced crews including seniors Millie Kau and Emma Freedman. When it comes down to performing under pressure, there’s nothing like having a bunch of experience on your side. With more than half a dozen seniors set to graduate in 2019, this is the time for OIHS to cash in on their years of hard work and practice.

Predictions: 1st Place- Fleet Racing, 4th Place- Team Racing

#3 Bainbridge Island High School

BIHS is always a contender. Coach Susan Kaseler has more district championships under her belt than anyone else, and she’s been at it since before any of her current sailors were even born! By BIHS standards it might have been a bit of a down year last year, placing 4th in Team Racing and 5th in Fleet Racing at the NWISA Championships. A new generation will take their turn at the helm this year, including skippers Max Doan, Dane Petrakis, Zach Cooper, and Lindsay Campbell. They’ve all be sailing Lasers regularly this summer and are a fast group. I expect coach Susan will have some hard decisions to make about who to put in the varsity spot. This depth is a great problem to have and will make BIHS a tough opponent in team racing.

Predictions: 2nd Place- Team Racing, 2nd Place Cressy Qualifier (Laser), 3rd Place- Fleet Racing

#4 Capital High School

This team surprised me more than any other team last year. They were my “bracket buster” so to speak. I love it when teams prove me wrong and Capital did just that by placing 4th at Fleet Racing and 7th at Team Racing during the NWISA spring championships. Capital and Olympia both sail out of OYC, and Sarah Hanavan coaches both teams. Clearly this is an example of how the success of Olympia has rubbed off on Capital. Oly and Capital will have a chance to tune up against each other all year, and you can bet by April there will be some seriously competitive practices. Capital has a big crop of juniors and only graduated one sailor last year. This team will be in the hunt this year, and as we were reminded last spring, anything can happen at district championships. They’re going to get their shot either this year or next!

Predictions: 3rd Team Racing, 5th Fleet Racing

#5 Gig Harbor High School

I’m going out on a limb for GHHS. This team has had a lot of talent percolating and now the stars are aligning. Axel Stordahl, Dayne Hall, and Peter Ryalls have all been working very hard this summer and are constantly near the top of the FJ fleet. Crews Ripley Morris and Carlos Rivas have been a big part of this success, and have been very dedicated. They’ve also added depth to their roster and will now have more than enough eligible sailors to field a capable squad at team racing events. Like Oly and Capital, GHHS has had a chance to spar regularly with another very successful team, Charles Wright Academy, over the past few seasons. Recent (like really recent) CWA alumni, Alyosha Strum-Palerm, will be at practice again this fall, not as a sailor, but as the coach. Not so long ago another 19 year-old coach, Stasi Burzycki, led the North Kitsap High School team to nationals, surprising a lot of people in the process. We’ll see if Alyosha and GHHS can make a similar Cinderella run.

Predictions: 4th Place Fleet Racing, 5th Place Team Racing

 

If any of you high schoolers want to get a word in edgewise, send me your own predictions, race reports or team updates. Sailish is committed to covering youth sailing in the region, but we can use all the sea boots on the ground we can get. Oh, and for the teams not mentioned, prove Andrew wrong. He’ll love it!

 

 

 

NWISA Team Racing Districts

Kurt Hoehne Dinghy Racing, High School Racing, Uncategorized 0 Comment
NWISA Team Racing Districts

We’re a little tardy getting this out. The NWISA Team Racing Championships were held the weekend before last, and Burke Thomas reports that “there was lots of good 3 on 3 team racing.” It sure looks like it from these pictures borrowed from The Dome Studio’s Facebook Page. Where was this kind of racing when I was a kid? I’d highly recommend looking at these photos if you want to get excited about the next generation. The Orcas High School Vikings were the big winners in the Team Race Championship and the Gig Harbor High School Tides were the JV Team Race Districts.

Click to enlarge any picture.

Team Race Championship

Saturday, May 5:

Sailors were greeted with clear skies, northerly breeze, and flat water. Racing got underway about 20 minutes late, but then four flights of varsity sailors cranked through the qualifying round by mid-afternoon. The top four teams met in the first final round, and the remaining seven teams sailed a number of races in the consolation round before wrapping up around 7pm.

Sunday, May 6:

Warm sunny weather prevailed for the day, but the winds were light. After an initial postponement ashore, racing continued in an attempt to complete another final round. Unfortunately there was not enough breeze to finish those races before the time limit.

Final Results

# School Team Rec. Skippers Crews
1 Orcas Orcas High School Vikings 13/0 Ronan Rankin ’19 Miette Woolworth ’21
Dominick Wareham ’19 Millie Kau ’19
Maggie Toombs ’18 Ronan Kau ’19
Landon Carter ’21
Levi Moss ’19
2 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 11/2 Max Miller ’18 Kevin Hicks ’19
Owen Timms ’19 Evan Krug ’19
Erin Pamplin ’20 Ciara McClanahan ’19
Isabelle Stokesberry Miles-Paulson ’18
3 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 8/5 Cedric Keneipp ’19 Ajax Robinson ’21
Lera Anders ’18 Leila Jones ’20
Emma Powell ’21 Peyton Nienaber ’18
Mallory Hood ’18
4 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 7/6 Olivia Mitchell ’18 Banning Jones ’19
Sophia Kasper ’18 Hunter Johnston ’20
Zach Cooper ’20 Sophie Crandell ’18
* 5 OES Oregon Episcopal School Aardvarks 5/5 Claire Siegel-Wilson ’18 Gavin Waterson ’21
Megan Waller ’20 Justin Zhou ’21
Ronan Waterson ’18 Chris Reekie ’19
** 6 Charles Wright Charles Wright High School Tarriers 5/5 Alyosha Strum-Palerm ’18 Nicholas Lee ’20
Jack Corddry ’19 Carson Schauer ’19 *
Hayden Flaskerud ’20 Demetri Lord ’19 *
b 7 Capital Capital High School Cougars 5/5 Annie Buelt ’20 Caroline Hurley ’20
Orion Bird ’17 Ann Li ’20
Joy Brennan ’20 Zachary Cowan ’20
8 North Kitsap North Kitsap High School Dogfish 4/6 Nathan Grundmeier ’19 Anna Schroeder ’18
Cole Fox ’18 Sam Davenport ’21
Anna Sherry ’19 Isabelle Loverich ’19
9 Anacortes Anacortes High School Seahawks 2/8 Liam Patrick ’18 Anna Morrow ’18
Christopher Warmuth ’18 Satone Haratani ’19
Lauren McClintock ’20 Carson Lindholm ’20
10 Nathan Hale HS Nathan Hale High School Raiders 1/9 Anna Wohnoutka ’18 Zoe Plattner ’20
Reilly Hearne ’18 Jack Rovner ’20
Margot Watts ’19 Riley Kapp ’21
Colette Royer ’18
11 Oak Harbor Oak Harbor High School Wildcats 0/10 Jordan Wood-Pina ’18 Aiden Wright ’21
Jenny Danielson ’20 Virginia Blatto ’18
Willa Weinsheimer ’20 Lenika Aguilar ’18

JV Team Race Districts

Summary

Saturday, May 5:

Pat Mitchell and his crew from the Bainbridge Island program ran 55 races on a sunny day with northerly breeze. Three flights of FJs and a flight of V15s kept the silver fleet busy rotating all day.

Sunday, May 6:

Sunny warm conditions unfortunately did not also provide very much wind. Just a few races were completed before the time limit at 3pm.

Rankings

Note: Preliminary results; teams ranked by winning percentage.

# School Team Rec. Skippers Crews
1 Gig Harbor Gig Harbor High School Tides 8/0 Perham Black ’18 Nolan Loverich ’21
Ryan Squires ’18 Emily Smith ’21
Axel Stordahl ’20 Von Zimmerman Naomi ’21
* 2 Lincoln OR Lincoln High School – Portland, OR Cardinals 8/1 Casey Picket ’20 Ella Notdurft ’21
Pierre Carr ’18 Ethan Stein ’20
Anisha Arcott ’18 Jack Pederson ’20
* 2 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 8/1 Ella Hubbard ’22 Hatcher Cox ’21
Sam Bonauto ’21 Peter Kelleher ’22
Ian Connolly ’21 Rizley Cox ’20
* 4 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 6/3 Max Doane ’20 Parker Hutchinson ’20
Lindsay Campbell ’20 Camden Lee ’19
Dane Petrakis ’21 Gus Beer ’19
Parker Hutchinson ’20 Trevor Royset ’21
Camden Lee ’19 Noah Maher ’19
Chase Van Derrick ’21
Jack Bennett ’21
* 4 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap High School Cougars 6/3 Niko Twilla ’18 Becca Sharpe ’18
Tyler Nolasco ’19 Jeffrey Scholfield ’23
Cormac Burke ’22 Kyra Bowlby ’19
Andre Alvarado ’20 Lilyan Coleman ’21
Claire Jablonski ’19 Cormac Burke ’22
Claire Jablonski ’19
Cody Kmecheck ’18
6 Roosevelt Roosevelt High School Rough Riders 5/3 Miles Williams ’20 Abbie Chipps ’21
Van Senseney ’19 Gus Rindal ’21
Sam Kimmel ’20 Emilia Garcia-Bompadre ’19
7 Inglemoor Inglemoor High School Vikings 5/4 Zach Liang ’18 Tian Marchello ’20
Alden McGonagle ’21 Johnny Satterlee ’19
Erik Anderson ’21 Annelisa Ayars ’20
** 8 Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic 4/5 Aaron Danziger ’21 Ace Burton ’20
Conrad Miller ’21 Mikaela Lee ’18
Daniel Duyvestein ’21 Lauren Watt ’20
b 9 Bellingham Bellingham High School Raiders 4/5
10 Squalicum Squalicum High School Storm 2/6
11 Oak Harbor Oak Harbor High School Wildcats 2/7 Thomas Buys ’22 Liam Chapman ’22
Ben Servatius ’22 Cooper Billiter ’22
Quentin Vazquez ’21 Artemisia Wangler ’21
12 Kingston Kingston High School Varsity 1/7 Morgan Chandler ’20 Ian McConkey ’21
Annelise Pardee ’19 Andre Alvarado ’20
Noah Pluska ’19 James Huffman ’23
Santiago Portillo ’18 Viktor Taylor ’23
Viktor Taylor ’23 Unknown Sailor5 ’17 *
Unknown Sailor5 ’17 * Claire Jablonski ’19
* 13 Ingraham Ingraham High School Rams 1/8 Alex Hubbard ’19 Everett Rendon ’21 *
Aragorn Crozier ’20 Kira Blumhagen ’21
Max Kauffman ’18 Bridget Boyle ’18
* 13 North Thurston North Thurston High School Rams 1/8 Joey Koval ’20 Jasper Navarro Hummel ’22
Macy Bergford ’18 Lindsey Graham ’18
Ellie Davis ’21

Olympia Team Race Regatta – Orcas Vikings Win

Kurt Hoehne High School Racing, Racing 0 Comment
Olympia Team Race Regatta – Orcas Vikings Win

Last year’s NWISA Team
Race District Championship. Photo by Jim Skeel.

If anybody says ever says “watching sailboat racing is like watching grass grow,” just tell them they’re watching the wrong kind of sailing. No, I don’t mean everybody run out and watch re-runs of two 40-knot foiling America’s Cup cats. In fact I mean quite the opposite. Team racing is out of the “mainstream” racing and is done mainly in the college and high school ranks, and it’s quite the spectacle. As two three-boat teams race on extremely short courses, the points are constantly being recalculated in the head and the teams do whatever it takes to have their teams points come out on top. That means slowing down the other team, sometimes circling back to do it. It means very aggressive use of the rules, and several of the rules have been adjusted to allow for that. Boat handling skills are high demand (imagine circling back on your competition, sitting on one boat’s air to set up for leebowing another. Or perhaps going downwind claiming leeward on one boat, gybing to claim starboard on another. Then doing that 30 times in the next two minutes. That’s what it’s like. It’s way more tactically complex and interesting to watch (way more confusing) than 40 knots on foils. And, surely, it’s a lot more interesting for the sailors.

It’s great to see our high schoolers enjoying this kind of racing.

Anyway, that’s a long way to share stories from last weekend’s Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (NWISA) Olympia Team Race Regatta. First we have a quick report from the NWISA web site (here’s the original along with the results), followed by a special report by Maggie Toombs, a varsity skipper with Orcas. We don’t have any photos from the event, but if any of you spectators were taking pictures, please send them to me and I’ll add them to this report.

This coming weekend’s events include the NWISA Islands Cup at Roche Harbor and the silver fleet is at the Mt Baker Open.

From the NWISA Site

Saturday, April 7:

Wind! Rain! And lots of team racing!

A low pressure system off the coast of Washington brought with it high winds and April showers, making for challenging but great conditions for getting off many races. The most notable challenge was the draining of Capital Lake at low tide each day, creating a river like current in Budd Inlet. Saturday saw a complete round finished with 36 races. One redress request was granted. Other than a brief yet strong 20+ knot squall that knocked a number of competitors down, the sailors handle the conditions well, and managed to have engaged team racing.

Sunday, April 8:

The rain and wind did not let up, but the racing continued swimmingly!

After a scrumptious breakfast at the Olympia Yacht Club, competitors sailed to Port Plaza (the regatta venue) and races were under way before 10:30am. Due to the redress granted Saturday, race 13 (Round 1) was re-sailed, prior to the beginning of Round 2. While the wind was just as strong, and the rain endless, the weather was “better” in terms of no sudden squalls or puffs, making for efficient races and rotations (the 300 yards to the start line from the rotation dock helped too!). The 2nd Round was completed before the cut off time, and after coaches discussed, all teams agreed to see through the completion of 1 top 4 round, and 1 bottom 4 round – making for a satisfying end, of a rigorous but awesome weekend of team racing.

Congratulations to Orcas, Sehome and Olympia for placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Thank you to Bainbridge and Sail Sand Point for bringing travel boats.

Thank you to the wonderful race committee who braved the conditions, especially Casey Pruitt, PRO. Thank you to all the OYC members and Parent volunteers who provided food, warm drinks, and shelter!

Lastly, thank you Norm Smit for being the head Umpire, and prior to the event training up volunteer umpires. The interscholastic sailing community would not be as successful without volunteers and professionals like you.

Maggie Toombs’ Report

The Orcas sailing team has done it again, traveling to Olympia for a win this past weekend. We were faced with heavy rain and heavier, shifty wind on Saturday morning, fighting to stay warm with an abundance of tea and adrenaline.

This weekend was a different style of racing, called ‘team racing.’ This means we race each team 3 on 3, using rules and maneuvers to get into stable combinations. The goal is to cross the finish line, with the combination of our scores less than the combination of the other team’s scores. We practice team racing together and push each other to our limits, so we felt very prepared and communicated well this weekend.

As racing went on, we were quickly realized to be one of the stronger teams on the water.

As we went head-to-head with the other strong teams, our communication, boat speed and teamwork proved to help us into the first place spot. We finished one ‘round robin,’ similar to a bracket where we race each team once. Coming back on Sunday morning, we were again faced with the same wind, and even more rain. As our faces began to freeze off, we began racing again. After finishing a second round robin, we broke into the top half and the bottom half of the teams, racing each other in a ‘final four’ lineup.

We raced the other 3 top teams, and managed to finish strong with a nail-biter against Olympia’s varsity team. We secured our top spot with 17 wins out of 18 races this weekend, and with a bit of skill and careful observation. We look forward to our next regatta in Roche Harbor this weekend. For full results of this weekend, go to

https://scores.hssailing.org/s18/olympia-team-race/.

Quartermaster High School Ranking Regatta

Kurt Hoehne High School Racing 0 Comment
Quartermaster High School Ranking Regatta

    Racers waiting to rotate into boats, parents and spectators. All enjoying a new venue.

    Those interscholastic kids were at it again this past weekend. The Orcas Vikings won both the gold and silver divisions. Check out the Jan Anderson’s photos to get a sense of this great event (full gallery here) and see the scores below. Support your local high school sailing team!

    • Host: Bellarmine/Charles Wright/Gig Harbor
    • Date: 
    • Type: District Champ Qualifier Regatta
    • Boat: CFJ
    • Scoring: 2 Divisions

    Summary

    Saturday, March 17:

    Sailors from across the district made the trek to Dockton Park, which is located on Vashon Island. This was the first time we’ve used this venue for high school sailing and it worked great! For the third regatta weekend in a row there was no rain, just a few threatening clouds that passed harmlessly by. Racing started on time at 11am on Saturday in a 5 knot SEerly breeze. The breeze built as the day went on and straightened out to a more true South direction, although there were still a lot of shifts. Some big puffs rolled in near the end of the day with gusts into the mid teens. Racers completed 6-8 races in each fleet on Saturday on W3 and W4 courses.

    Sunday, March 18:

    Competitors arrived on Sunday to glassy conditions and fear of postponement. However, a small SE zephyr trickled down the hillside and filled in across the course by 10am. Racing started on time at 10:15 with Gold B Fleet. The wind was lighter and much shiftier compared to Saturday. Winds of 3-8 knots and ranging from SE-SW kept the race committee busy moving the marks most of the day. Despite those challenging conditions, racers completed nearly a half dozen races in each fleet just before the time limit. By the end of the regatta Silver sailed 10 races in each division. Congrats to Orcas Island for their victory!

     

    A big thank you to ALL the Narrows Race Team volunteers! Especially Mary Hoeksema and Donna Squires on food, Jessica Corddry and Terry Pentimonti on scoring/registration/housing, Eric Stordahl on boat transportation/organization, Margaret Paterson for organizing the water taxi, and PRO Casey Pruitt for running races. Big thanks also to Gig Harbor Jr. Sailing, Tacoma Yacht Club, Quartermaster Yacht Club, and The Sailing Foundation for their supporting roles. This was truly a collaborative effort on their part.

    All photos by Jan Anderson with help from Skip and Mocha. There are lots of great ones at her smugmug site.

    Score summary Gold

    School Team A B TOT
    1 Orcas Orcas High School Vikings 54 50 104
    2 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 91 29 120
    3 Friday Harbor Friday Harbor High School Wolverines 25 119 144
    4 Gig Harbor Gig Harbor High School Tides 111 37 148
    5 Charles Wright Charles Wright High School Tarriers 65 97 162
    6 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 103 83 186
    7 Ingraham Ingraham High School Rams 72 116 188
    * 8 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap High School Cougars 99 95 194
    * 9 Capital Capital High School Capital Varsity 110 84 194
    10 Nathan Hale HS Nathan Hale High School Raiders 93 123 216
    11 Roosevelt Roosevelt High School Rough Riders 90 128 218
    12 Oak Harbor Oak Harbor High School Wildcats 96 130 226
    13 North Kitsap North Kitsap High School Dogfish 123 106 229
    14 Bellingham Bellingham High School Raiders 148 102 250
    15 Anacortes Anacortes High School Seahawks 127 125 252
    16 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 147 112 259
    17 Port Townsend high Port Townsend high School Red Hawks 180 163 343
    18 Inglemoor High School Vikings 161 187 348
    19 Kingston Kingston High School Varsity 203 209 412

    Score summary Silver

    School Team A B TOT
    1 Orcas Orcas High School Vikings 27 50 77
    2 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 1 44 49 93
    3 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 1 41 58 99
    4 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 2 75 32 107
    5 Ballard Ballard High School Beavers 80 40 120
    6 Bellarmine Bellarmine Lions 81 64 145
    7 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 2 118 63 181
    8 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 3 74 119 193
    9 SAAS Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences Cardinals 91 103 194
    10 Squalicum Squalicum High School Storm 117 84 201
    11 North Kitsap North Kitsap High School Dogfish 95 118 213
    12 Roosevelt Roosevelt High School Rough Riders 69 145 214
    13 Port Townsend high Port Townsend high School Red Hawks 110 119 229
    14 Kingston Kingston High School Varsity 126 120 246
    15 Oak Harbor Oak Harbor High School Wildcats 138 120 258
    16 Bellingham Bellingham High School Raiders 146 118 264
    17 Anacortes Anacortes High School Seahawks 1 138 138 276
    18 Anacortes Anacortes High School Seahawks 2 151 190 341

    Last Weekend’s High School Racing, Regattas around the Region

    Kurt Hoehne High School Racing 0 Comment
    Last Weekend’s High School Racing, Regattas around the Region

    As Burke Thomas says, “I wish we had high school sailing when I was a kid.” He should know, as the Orcas Coach and longtime driver of scholastic sailing, he can take credit for a lot of it. If you’ve got a kid, grandkid, nieces or nephews or friends with kids, make sure they know about the opportunities. These young sailors are having a blast.

    About 250 high school sailors were racing against each other last weekend, and my guess is they don’t appreciate how special that is, and certainly not when scribes like me highlight it. If any of you high schoolers (or parents or coaches) would like to write up a report on any of these regattas, or take videos or pictures, I’d love to run it here on sailish.com. Just get in touch and we’ll get it done.

    In District Regatta, Sail Sand Point

    At Sail Sand Point in Seattle, the In District Regatta at Sail Sand Point had great racing Saturday, but was skunked on Sunday. Here’s the report:

    Summary – Gold Fleet

    Saturday, March 10:

    Racing got underway at 1130 Saturday with 16 teams taking to the water in Gold fleet. Since both A division and B division sailed at the same time, 32 boats were on the starting line. Gold fleet sailed two races in light air of under 5knts NNW. Silver fleet then rotated into the boats and a start was attempted as the breeze died. The first start was abandoned and Silver fleet waited about 15 minutes for the wind to fill. Once the breeze filled, Silver fleet completed two races in wind building from 3knts. As the day progressed, wind built slowly to about 10. Both fleets sailed 6 races each for a total of twelve races on Saturday. Racing ended as the sun dipped below the hill to the west of Sail Sand Point.

    Sunday, March 11:

    Sunday’s attempt at racing started with some high cloud cover that dissipated, leaving clear blue skies over the entire Puget Sound area. The breeze never materialized despite the race committee at one point setting a course in a localized parking lot thermal and mustering Gold fleet to the starting area. After waiting three long hours with no wind, the committee abandoned racing for the day.

    Thanks to Sail Sand Point staff and volunteers for hosting another well orchestrated and competitive Combined Division Regatta, and to RC for running races. Big thanks to all the schools, programs, sailors, coaches, and parents that made the journey to Seattle for a beautiful early spring weekend.

    Congratulations to NE Seattle’s own Nathan Hale High School for taking the top spot in this year’s Gold fleet!

    Score summary

    School Team A B TOT
    1 Nathan Hale HS Nathan Hale High School Raiders 57 47 104
    2 Orcas Orcas High School Vikings 69 46 115
    3 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 1 68 68 136
    4 Charles Wright Charles Wright High School Tarriers 19 142 161
    5 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 57 118 175
    6 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 2 97 80 177
    7 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 1 73 109 182
    8 Lincoln OR Lincoln High School – Portland, OR Cardinals 73 122 195
    9 Roosevelt Roosevelt High School Rough Riders 77 120 197
    10 Gig Harbor Gig Harbor High School Tides 122 80 202
    11 North Kitsap North Kitsap High School Dogfish 131 80 211
    12 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 2 126 105 231
    13 Friday Harbor Friday Harbor High School Wolverines 181 51 232
    14 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap High School Cougars 139 105 244
    15 Capital Capital High School Capital 130 155 285
    16 Anacortes Anacortes High School

    Summary – Silver Fleet

    Saturday, March 10:

    Racing got underway at 1130 Saturday with 16 teams taking to the water in Gold fleet. Since both A division and B division sailed at the same time, 32 boats were on the starting line. Gold fleet sailed two races in light air of under 5knts NNW. Silver fleet then rotated into the boats and a start was attempted as the breeze died. The first start was abandoned and Silver fleet waited about 15 minutes for the wind to fill. Once the breeze filled, Silver fleet completed two races in wind building from 3knts. As the day progressed, wind built slowly to about 10. Both fleets sailed 6 races each for a total of twelve races on Saturday. Racing ended as the sun dipped below the hill to the west of Sail Sand Point.

    Sunday, March 11:

    Sunday’s attempt at racing started with some high cloud cover that dissipated, leaving clear blue skies over the entire Puget Sound area. The breeze never materialized despite the race committee at one point setting a course in a localized parking lot thermal and mustering Gold fleet to the starting area. After waiting three long hours with no wind, the committee abandoned racing for the day.

    Thanks to Sail Sand Point staff and volunteers for hosting another well orchestrated and competitive Combined Division Regatta, and to RC for running races. Big thanks to all the schools, programs, sailors, coaches, and parents that made the journey to Seattle for a beautiful early spring weekend.

    Congratulations to NE Seattle’s own Nathan Hale High School for taking the top spot in this year’s Gold fleet!

    Score summary

    School Team A B TOT
    1 Nathan Hale HS Nathan Hale High School Raiders 57 47 104
    2 Orcas Orcas High School Vikings 69 46 115
    3 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 1 68 68 136
    4 Charles Wright Charles Wright High School Tarriers 19 142 161
    5 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 57 118 175
    6 Bainbridge Bainbridge High School Spartans 2 97 80 177
    7 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 1 73 109 182
    8 Lincoln OR Lincoln High School – Portland, OR Cardinals 73 122 195
    9 Roosevelt Roosevelt High School Rough Riders 77 120 197
    10 Gig Harbor Gig Harbor High School Tides 122 80 202
    11 North Kitsap North Kitsap High School Dogfish 131 80 211
    12 Sehome Sehome High School Mariners 2 126 105 231
    13 Friday Harbor Friday Harbor High School Wolverines 181 51 232
    14 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap High School Cougars 139 105 244
    15 Capital Capital High School Capital 130 155 285
    16 Anacortes Anacortes High School

    Also last weekend, Seattle Yacht Club held its Promotional Regatta. We don’t have a report or pictures, but here’s the score summary:

    School Team A B TOT
    1 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 1 9 7 16
    2 Port Townsend high Port Townsend high School Red Hawks 1 16 20 36
    3 Kingston Kingston High School Varsity 1 41 51 92
    4 Everett Everett High School Seagulls 39 59 98
    5 Ballard Ballard High School Beavers 61 41 102
    6 Central Kitsap Central Kitsap High School Cougars 70 33 103
    7 Unregistered-NWISA Unregistered-NWISA 1 50 54 104
    8 Olympic Olympic High School Trojans 74 32 106
    9 Port Townsend high Port Townsend high School Red Hawks 2 39 69 108
    10 Bellingham Bellingham High School Raiders 2 39 72 111
    11 Bellingham Bellingham High School Raiders 1 51 62 113
    12 Kingston Kingston High School Varsity 2 64 58 122
    13 Squalicum Squalicum High School Storm 70 61 131
    14 Olympia Olympia High School Bears 2 80 62 142
    15 Ingraham Ingraham High School Rams 51 96 147
    16 Oak Harbor Oak Harbor High School Wildcats 81 73 154
    17 Port Angeles Port Angeles High School Roughriders 89 90 179
    18 Unregistered-NWISA Unregistered-NWISA 2 111 90 201

    Lest we forget our neighbors to the south, Hood River Valley hosted its Sunday small boat series, and here’s the scoring summary:

    School Team A TOT
    1 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 4 8 8
    2 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 5 13 13
    * 3 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 1 15 15
    * 4 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 2 15 15
    5 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 6 18 18
    ** 6 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 8 27 27
    ** 7 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 7 27 27
    8 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 10 30 30
    9 Columbia High School – WA Columbia – WA 2 37 37
    10 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 9 38 38
    11 Columbia High School – WA Columbia – WA 1 41 41
    12 Hood River Valley Hood River Valley High School Eagles 3 46 46