Twelve sailors from the Orcas High School Sailing Team traveled to  the annual North West Interscholastic Sailing Association Kick-Off regatta at Seattle Yacht Club on Saturday, March 7. Thirty-four teams and 170 sailors participated in the one-day regatta, making it the biggest NWISA kick-off ever.

The sailors were greeted with sunny skies and light variable winds, which made for some tricky racing the first three races. A moderate northerly wind finally prevailed, and the race committee was able to run nine excellent races before calling it a day around 5 p.m.

The Orcas teams found the sheer volume of 34 boats on the starting line a handful to manage but showed steady improvement as the day progressed.

The three Orcas teams finished the day in 15, 17 and 23 places overall. Complete scores can be found at http://scores.hssailing.org/s15/kick-off/.

Next up for the team is the North Regional Regatta in Bellingham March 14.