Orcas wins Island Cup

The 20 best Northwest high school sailing teams from as far away as Hood River, Oregon converged on Orcas Island April 13 and 14 for Northwest District Interscholastic Sailing Association’s annual Islands Cup Regatta.

The regatta rotates location each year between high school teams from Island, Skagit and San Juan counties. The teams arrived Saturday morning ready to take on strong winds and a 100 percent chance of rain forecasted.

Mother Nature did not disappoint. For the next six hours, teams battled each other out on the choppy waters of West Sound in the wind-driven rain. At the end of Saturday’s racing, Orcas held a slim 4-point lead over Gig Harbor with a pack of other teams all within striking distance of the cup.

On Sunday, sailors arrived to no rain, and a brisk west wind, racing started promptly at 9:30 a.m. and for the next five hours the lead changed back and forth between Gig Harbor and Orcas, but in the end, Orcas held on for the regatta win.

“Today was some of the best racing I have seen on West Sound,” said coach Burke Thomas. “This was a big win for the Vikings, and I am very proud how we battled all weekend.”

Thomas extended a big thank you to the Orcas Island Yacht Club and volunteers for providing the venue.

Complete scores are at: https://scores.hssailing.org/s19/islands-cup-2019/