The last two beautiful sunny weekends there were two great high school sailing events held down [...]]]>

Darby Flanagan, Olivia Gibbons, Eliza Dawson, Serena Vilage and Cody Kowalski receiving their 2nd place trophy at the District Champs held at the Center for Wooden Boats May 4 -5. Photo by Scott Wilson, the Bellingham Coach.

The last two beautiful sunny weekends there were two great high school sailing events held down at the Center for Wooden Boats. May 5th – 6th the NWISA Doublehanded Districts were held and May 11th – 12th the Mallory Cup, Doublehanded Nationals, were sailed under beautiful conditions.

For the Doublehanded Districts on the water, dictated by persnickety winds, were 14 Flying Juniors and 14 Vanguard 15s manned by NW high school sailors. For the Port Townsend team it was a well sailed, but at the same time difficult event. After Saturdays racing they were in second place behind the Bainbridge Island team, but early Sunday they took the lead and at one point were ahead by 11 points. Then by the 30th race they were tied with the North Kitsap team and by the end, after 32 races, they were behind by 3 points and that had them taking 2nd place in the 14 boat fleet.

The sailing conditions made the management and sailing of the course a challenge, with breeze that oscillated from Southwest to West and back again. The Northerly, a favorite on the lake, didn’t show itself until Sunday and even then it flirted with the Westerly. In addition to the shifts, the breeze on Saturday came and went, sometimes only managing to be an elongated puff.

Racing ran from approximately 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Saturday and again on Sunday until just before 3:00 PM. With A division sailing V-15s and B division sailing FJs and both fleets on the water, it was a long weekend for the sailors but their focus and enthusiasm never waivered. Congratulations to North Kitsap High School for qualifying for the Mallory Trophy!

Last weekend at Nationals everything seemed to come together to make for perfect racing conditions and a well-run event. A number of the Port Townsend team came down to help out with the event and to watch the sailing. The favored Northerly wind was present at 8-12 knots both days, which made for great racing. With the combined effort from coaches, alumni and sailors from the NW teams the event was a great success.

Twenty teams from across the Nation showed up to compete. An entire rotation of 20 races in each division was completed by early afternoon on Sunday. It turned out the 4 out of the top five teams were from California, with congratulations going to the Point Loma High School team on winning the regatta and becoming the National Champs. The North Kitsap team came in 18th.

One-hundred twenty-three high school sailors from around the northwest converged on the Maritime Center for the Port Townsend high school sailing team’s home regatta. Port Townsend took second place behind North Kitsap. “Our sailors [...]]]>

PT sailors Cody Kowalski and Chloe Dawson won three races at the Port Townsend Open. Photo by Mike Dawson

One-hundred twenty-three high school sailors from around the northwest converged on the Maritime Center for the Port Townsend high school sailing team’s home regatta. Port Townsend took second place behind North Kitsap. “Our sailors did a great job on the water with our varsity team proving we are a strong contender to go to nationals and the JV guaranteeing future possibilities.” said coach Sugar Flanagan.

Next weekend the team travels to Bellingham for Team Race Districts, then the following weekend is Doublehanded Districts in Seattle. Both are qualifiers for Nationals, which will be held this year in the pacific northwest on Lake Union.

Port Townsend High School sailors dominated the Central Kitsap regatta in Silverdale this last weekend April 14 & 15. Sailing two-person Vanguard 15s, the varsity team took first place in a [...]]]>

PTHSST sailors Eliza Dawson and Olivia Gibbons ahead of the pack in the Central Kitsap Regatta April 15. Photo by Sugar Flanagan

Port Townsend High School sailors dominated the Central Kitsap regatta in Silverdale this last weekend April 14 & 15. Sailing two-person Vanguard 15s, the varsity team took first place in a highly competitive ten boat fleet. The varsity line-up was composed of skipper Eliza Dawson with crew Olivia Gibbons and skipper Cody Kowalski sailing with Serena Vilage. Port Townsend won more races than any other team taking first in nine out of the fourteen races. Most importantly, this was a District Qualifier. According to Coach Sugar Flanagan, “This was some really impressive sailing. It’s the first step toward being qualified for Nationals!”

Port Townsend junior varsity sailors claimed a 4th place finish just two points behind third-place Portland. Winds were light on Dyes Inlet next to the old-town Silverdale park where the regatta was held, but sun breaks and mild temperatures made for pleasant conditions.

Next Saturday April 21 the team hosts the Port Townsend Regatta at the Northwest Maritime Center. Races will be held from 10:30 to 5:30 in Port Townsend Bay just off of the downtown waterfront. Good viewing can be had from the NWMC pier and the public is invited to watch the action.  The team is supported entirely by donations, if you would like to contribute please contact Coach Flanagan at 531-0356.

The Port Townsend High School sailing team’s excellent season continues April 21 with a “home” meet centered out of the Northwest Maritime [...]]]> ‘Home’ race is April 21st on Port Townsend Bay

Eliza Dawson and McKenzie Ginther cross the finish line in first place at the Orcas Island Cup Regatta. Photo by Sugar Flanagan

The Port Townsend High School sailing team’s excellent season continues April 21 with a “home” meet centered out of the Northwest Maritime Center.

The teen sailors placed third of 23 teams during their sunny Westsound competition at the Orcas Island Cup Regatta on March 24-25.

“We have a great group of kids who sail FAST and have fun,” said coach Sugar Flanagan.

The previous weekend the team endured frigid conditions and snow showers at the Lakewood Regatta on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham. Port Townsend placed first in four of the eight varsity races, and scored a first and a second in junior varsity racing. On March 10 the team took second place at the Willamette Sailing Club Regatta in Portland.

Article picked up from the Port Townsend Leader after being reminded of it in a post from the Northwest Maritime Center. Sugar mentioned that five members of the sailing team arrived at the Orcas regatta on the ALCYONE which is a pretty stylish way to go anywhere.

On March 3rd, the Port Townsend High School Sailing team competed in a season “kick off” regatta hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club. Sixteen races were sailed in shifty and gusty winds ranging from 5-18 knots. Port Townsend finished towards the back of the fleet in the first few races. Rather [...]]]>

On March 3^rd, the Port Townsend High School Sailing team competed in a season “kick off” regatta hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club. Sixteen races were sailed in shifty and gusty winds ranging from 5-18 knots. Port Townsend finished towards the back of the fleet in the first few races. Rather than allowing this to foretell their position in the regatta, team members chose to learn quickly and apply the lessons to the next race. Maintaining this philosophy of foreword thinking and constant learning, the team quickly positioned themselves towards the front of the fleet where consistency and calm nerves then paid off.

Only during the car ride home did sailors learn the combined score and results.

Cody Kowalski and Serena Vilage took home the gold winning 1^st overall in the “A” fleet. Eliza Dawson and McKenzie Ginther took home silver with a 2^nd overall in the same fleet. Darby Flanagan and Chloe Dawson took home silver winning 2^nd overall in the “B” fleet. Team members Shawn Huston, Miguel Salguero, Jack Pokorny, and Olivia Gibbons, eager to race against the toughest competition, opted to trade off racing in the varsity rather than junior varsity fleet. All sailed well, finishing every race in conditions where many boats capsized. Olivia Gibbons, skippering her first away regatta, impressed many with several top five finishes.

In High School fleet racing, scores from the “A” and “B” fleet boats determine the winning school. Combined “A” and “B” fleet finishes when added together, placed Port Townsend High a comfortable 14 points ahead of the nearest competition, out of a fleet of 17, winning the regatta with one team and take 6^th place with the other.

Coach Barnett said, “It was a very well sailed regatta. We all face challenging moments when it would have been easy to doubt ourselves and stop trying, fortunately everyone trusted in their abilities and focused on sailing.  It paid off. This win belongs to everyone on the PTHS team; including the few sailors who couldn’t join us this weekend.”

Practice for the team started mid February, and despite cold temperatures, high winds and downpours of rain, the team can be seen sailing three afternoons a week off the Boat Haven Marina. Support for the team comes from the Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend High School, Port Townsend Sailing Association and the much-appreciated volunteer coaches.

70 high school sailors gathered at the Northwest Maritime Center to wrap up the season under surprisingly sunny skies Saturday and Sunday. The wind cooperated as well – at least on Saturday, allowing the Race Committee to bang off 18 [...]]]>

Photo by Joel Goldstein from the NW Maritime Center's blog Stem to Stern

70 high school sailors gathered at the Northwest Maritime Center to wrap up the season under surprisingly sunny skies Saturday and Sunday. The wind cooperated as well – at least on Saturday, allowing the Race Committee to bang off 18 races on Saturday over the course of about 7 hours. Sunday was to be less windy so the R/C, made up of three generations of the Daubenberger family made the best of Saturday. As it turned out, this was a good thing to do as only 2 races would be completed on Sunday.

Out of 17 teams, Port Townsend High School fielded three of them, posting finishes of 2nd, 4th and 15th. Orcas Island won the event, and Bainbridge Island rounded out the top three. The locals have been practicing at the regatta location for two weeks and it seemed to show, as they had a knack for the shifty conditions and cross-course current.

Port Townsend has shown vast improvement this season and should be a contender in the District next year. The team is already planning a busy summer schedule of the NW Youth Racing Circuit and plenty of practices. Some will be attending such high profile clinics as the WIND Clinic held down in the Columbia River Gorge in August.

The team loses a valuable skipper in Cooper Parrish to graduation, but otherwise remains in tact and is quite young, made up mostly of sophmores and a freshman and a junior. Coaches Erik Coburn and Sugar Flanagan are already excited for next year, as well as the sailors.

The High School Sailing Team put forth another good effort at Team Race District Qualifiers finishing 4th out of 7 varsity teams.  We did not field a JV team.  The event, sailed on Eagle Harbor [...]]]> Another report from Coach Erik Coburn. The final district qualifier will be May 28th and 29th in Port Townsend.

The High School Sailing Team put forth another good effort at Team Race District Qualifiers finishing 4th out of 7 varsity teams.  We did not field a JV team.  The event, sailed on Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, was conducted under sunny skies and light 5 – 8 knots of breeze this past Saturday and Sunday.  As the first day’s round robin concluded the team went 3-3 which included an upset of Orcas Island.  The next day the team went 4-2 in the round robin with an upset of Sehome (Bellingham) and North Kitsap (Pouslbo) but fell to Orcas and Bainbridge.  The overall 7-5 record put the team into the final 4 winners bracket, but dropped the 3 races to Sehome, Orcas and Bainbridge.

The fourth place finish in team racing, in addition to the 4th place at fleet racing districts solidified the team’s 4th place ranking over the season, out of about 12 active teams.  Many did not field varsity teams in team racing because the format requirs 6 sailors per team.  Team racing is 3 doublehanded boats from one team versus 3 from another team, and the team with the lowest total score wins.  It is much akin to match racing, but more exciting as there are multiple winning combinations, and it’s often not clear who is winning until the very end of the race which makes for exciting finishes.

With 2 of 3 district qualifiers behind them, the team shifts focus to winning its home event on May 28th and 29th which is the season closer.  Next year Port Townsend is making a goal of being the best team in the northwest.  The next district qualifier is singlehands raced in Lasers and Laser Radials which is sailed over Labor Day weekend in the windy Columbia River Gorge.

Erik Coburn

We went up to Doublehand District Champs with the high school team and had a good showing.

Varsity got a 4th out of 12 and we displaced one of the perennial powerhouses by 27 [...]]]> A quick update on our sailing team from coach Erik Coburn. As always, your financial support helps make it possible.

We went up to Doublehand District Champs with the high school team and had a good showing.

Varsity got a 4th out of 12 and we displaced one of the perennial powerhouses by 27 points over 24 races. We were 10 points out of 3rd. The 1st place team was head and shoulders above everyone but we had the youngest team by far, with two sophs vs all seniors in the top 5 teams besides us. We had a weird protest that had we won we might have tied for 3rd on points but I hadn’t figured out if we would have won the tie breaker. Dick Rose was the committee so no arguing with him!!! No worries anyway because only the winner goes to Nationals.

JV was good – we got a 3rd out of 14, including 4 bullets in all of his 4 races Sunday

All in all, probably the best showing by PT in 5 years and I think we are only going to go up. All the powerhouse teams are taking notice, asking the age of my sailors and acting concerned when I tell them they are young, didn’t grow up doing youth circuit, etc. We have built a good culture and it should get better.

Despite having to cancel two of three practices last week due to high winds, the Port Townsend dinghy sailors made a strong showing on Bellingham’s Lake Whatcom, under partly cloudy skies and a reasonable steady 6 to 10 knot breeze.  It was nice for the team to compete in some [...]]]> By Leslie McNish

Despite having to cancel two of three practices last week due to high winds, the Port Townsend dinghy sailors made a strong showing on Bellingham’s Lake Whatcom, under partly cloudy skies and a reasonable steady 6 to 10 knot breeze.  It was nice for the team to compete in some better breeze than they had experienced at two of the previous regattas.  Since it resembled what the team often practices in, they were more comfortable sailing in it.  The regatta was sailed in 13′ Flying Juniors (FJs) and 14′ Alphas.

In the 16 boat FJ ”A” division senior Cooper Parrish and Olivia Gibbons battled it out among the district’s best as that was the most competitive division and managed to get a first place in one of his six races.  In the FJ “B” division, his teammates Cody Kowalski and McKenzie Ginther used three perfect port tack starts to put themselves immediately in the lead of those races.  They would not look back, winning three of six races.  “I could see the pin end of the line was clearly favored.  I wasn’t sure I was going to do it the first time, but things fell into place.  Then I pulled it off again and again,” said Kowalski, a sophomore who is team captain.  PT placed 6th out of 16 in FJs.

Meanwhile in the 11 boat Alpha fleet, freshman Eliza Dawson and her crew Emily Bufford tied for first in ”A” Division and Shawn Huston and Chloe Dawson sailed well to help PT finish 3rd in the Alphas.  Miguel Salguero showed his work paying off by helping Huston and Kowalski finish strong, crewing a total of 4 races, including a first in his final race with Kowalski.

The team hopes to keep the momentum through the week as they travel to San Juan Island next weekend where they are likely to face about 25 other teams.

PT sailing team members Shawn Huston and Mackenzie Ginther going for a mark rounding in boat #1

The hardy young sailors have begun their season despite cold temperatures, high winds and downpours of rain.  While coaches have had to wisely call off a few practices due to gales, the team has managed [...]]]>

PT sailing team members Shawn Huston and Mackenzie Ginther going for a mark rounding in boat #1

The hardy young sailors have begun their season despite cold temperatures, high winds and downpours of rain.  While coaches have had to wisely call off a few practices due to gales, the team has managed to compete in two regattas which took place in Seattle.  Both events ironically turned out to be light air affairs.
 
The team’s first event was held under sunny skies at the Seattle Yacht Club on Portage Bay.  Despite fickle winds, Port Townsend sailors managed to finish in 10th and 11th place out of 15 in the more competitive “Captain’s Fleet.”  The following weekend, held at Sail Sandpoint on Lake Washington was sailed in a light, shifty southerly with steady rain.  Port Townsend’s sailors finished 3rd, 7th and 13th out of 23 competing teams.

“This bunch of kids is starting to see the results of all their hard work at practices with some good results on the race course.  Their success comes from maintaining a positive attitude no matter what the conditions are,” said Coach Erik Coburn.

Thanks to the Northwest Maritime Center and the local community the team is starting the season with the boats in great shape and with new sets of sails!  Local businesses – Admiral Ship Supply, Shipwrights Co-op, Haven Marine, PT Rigging, Carl’s Building Supply, Alcyone Sail Training plus individuals Scott Flickenger, Richard McNish and Susan Moffat all sponsored a sail, that combined with other contributions made it possible for the team to get 6 new sets of sails.

Keep an eye out on the water in the afternoons to see the boats and their youthful crews, with white new sails, practicing. This season the team will be hosting a 2-day high school regatta May 28-29 and a summer youth regatta August 6-7; both are being held at the NWMC.