The Orcas High School Sailing Team is headed to the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA)’s National Team-Racing Championship after winning the NWISA Team Race District Championships over the weekend.

The team traveled to Sail Sand Point in Seattle to compete in the May 6 and 7 races. Saturday, May 5, brought very light shifty southeast winds and only three of the 62 scheduled races had been completed by 2 p.m. Spring’s sunny weather finally showed up in the afternoon. Forty-two 3-on-3 team races were completed by late Saturday. Orcas was very happy to have grabbed the lead with a 10 win and 1 loss record.

Two complete round-robins were completed by 3 p.m. on Sunday with Orcas and Olympia tied for first with identical 12-2 records. The final four gold round-robin would decide the regatta. Bainbridge handed Olympia a loss and Orcas grabbed a win against North Kitsap. In flight two, Olympia beat Kitsap and Orcas lost against Bainbridge, tying the two teams again with 13-3 records.

After two days of racing, and 61 races completed the regatta would be decided on the final race, Orcas versus Olympia. Orcas took to the offense early with some aggressive pre-start tailing, which helped Orcas get into a winning combination early. The team was able to sail fast and extend into a solid 1-2 winning combination for a decisive race win.

“The team worked hard and stayed focused, I am very proud of their accomplishment,” said Coach Hannah Tuson-Turner. “It was a whole team effort of both Varsity and JV to put us into position to compete at this level and now a great opportunity for the team to compete against the 12 best teams in the nation in Norfolk, Virginia on May 26-28 for the Baker Trophy National Championship.”