by DAVE PARISH
Special to the Sounder
On Sunday, April 19, the Orcas Island Varsity Sailing Team won the Northwest District of the Interscholastic Sailing Association Doublehanded District Championship held in West Sound on Orcas Island.
After two days of sailing, 20 races, and light to moderate shifty winds, the Orcas High School Sailing Team won decisively: 18 points in front of the second place team, North Kitsap.
“I was really proud of our kids,” coach Burke Thomas said. “Because of the flukiness of the winds, these have been some of the hardest sailing conditions I’ve seen for a while.”
By winning this regatta, Orcas’s team will represent the Northwest District in the Interscholastic Sailing Association High School National Doublehanded Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida on the weekend of May 8 to 10.
High school sailing does not have as many levels of competition as sports such as baseball or basketball. In essence, the Orcas Island Sailing Team just won “state,” beating the best high school sailors in the district, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, and is now going on to the next level of competition to meet the best sailors from around the country.
Early in the first day of racing Orcas established itself as the team to beat. In its first six competitions, raced by skippers Sam Parish and Barrett North, and crews Annalies Schuh and Jake White, Orcas earned three firsts and three thirds in the ten-boat fleet, putting Orcas in first place. The North Kitsap and St. Mary’s (from Portland) teams were second and third. While Orcas continued to hold on to first, North Kitsap and St. Mary’s fought vigorously over second and third places. By the end of the first day of racing, though, North Kitsap pulled to within two points of Orcas, and two other teams, Bainbridge Island and Lincoln, also from Portland, made themselves known and claimed third and fourth places respectively.
Orcas re-established a commanding lead early on the second day of racing. After two races, they pulled out in front of North Kitsap by 11 points. In the next five races they continued to out-pace North Kitsap and finally beat them by 18 points. In the end, North Kitsap, Bainbridge, and Lincoln were within 5 points of each other, earning second, third, and fourth places respectively, pushing St. Mary’s to fifth.
Orcas also “fielded” two JV teams, which took sixth and twelfth places out of fourteen teams.
“Our JV sailors improved significantly this weekend,” coach Chris White said. “The larger fleet provided the experience this young team needed to build confidence for next year.”
To help the varsity team get to Florida, visit www.sailorcas.org.
