Nine members of the Orcas High School Sailing Team competed at the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Associations Port Townsend Open Regatta on Saturday May 9.  This was the last NWISA regatta of the spring and Mother Nature came through with a   moderate northeast wind and summer like temperatures. The regatta was sailed right off the city waterfront, with historic old town and the fantastic Northwest Marine Center as the backdrop. The 20 boat fleet got started racing at 10:30 a.m.  Fourteen races were completed by 5:30 p.m. stop time. Orcas had a solid first set of races, combining both good boat speed and course tactics putting them at the top of the standings where the team battled Port Townsend and Friday Harbor the rest of the day to for first place, strong finishes in the last four races ensured the win.

The team competed very well at the last three weekend regattas leading up to the Port Townsend open, giving the sailors the confidence needed to grab the gold this weekend.  For complete Orcas spring regatta results including the Port Townsend Open go to http://scores.hssailing.org/schools/orcas/s15/. The team will continue to practice the rest of the school year on West Sound preparing for the summer North West Youth Racing Circuit, which includes a two day regatta on West Sound July 25 and 26. For more info, visit www.nwyouthsailing.org/nwyrc.html.