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.

34 Youth Sailors took to the tricky waters of Port Townsend Bay this past weekend July 17th and 18th.  The competitors ranged in age from 9 to 17, and were either in Optis, Laser (Full Rig and Radial) [...]]]>

Eliza and Britz laugh while charging it to another first place in the V15s ...

34 Youth Sailors took to the tricky waters of Port Townsend Bay this past weekend July 17th and 18th.  The competitors ranged in age from 9 to 17, and were either in Optis, Laser (Full Rig and Radial) or Vanguard 15s.  The is the first time that Port Townsend has hosted a non-high school youth regatta.  Port Townsend was recruited to be a regular venue on the NW Youth Circuit all signs point to higher participation next year.

Visiting families all commented on how sweet sailing out of the NWMC in PT was.  Thanks to nice weather, good conditions (though sometimes with the big current they were marginal), good food, great spectating, being in PT, and the new facility, everyone there was really psyched.

There was a wedding taking place on the Compass Rose, but due to flexibility of the wedding folk and the sailors, everyone peacefully coexisted and both the sailors and the wedding crowd enjoyed each other’s presence.  The sailors were on a postponement, but were already onshore and eating lunch on the upper deck while the short ceremony took place.  They even arranged chairs around the circle for the elders.  After the bride and groom kissed, the upper deck gallery applauded loudly.  The wedding guests loved that as well as the beautiful backdrop of sails jutting up from the beach.

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On the water, the conditions were good but sailors got a real lesson about sailing in current, as did the race management crew in trying to make marks not walk off out into the Strait.  Eventually one mark was placed within 50 yards of the shore for shallow enough water to make it stick.  This made for great spectating.

Despite the regatta organizer seeing only a moderate tide both days, at times there were 2 knots of current flowing through the course at very odd angles.  This proved to be tough for the Optis, which can only sail a few knots.  Nothing like sailing in PT!  The participants became better sailors for it.

Port Townsend sailors not only enjoyed themselves, but sailed very well.  Highlights include Eliza Dawson and Britz Grant winning the 5 boat V15 fleet, Chloe Dawson getting second out of eight in the Optis, and Cody Kowalski getting fourth out of 14 in the Laser fleet.  These kids are on the up and up and are seriously starting to become a force to be reckoned with.

Many thanks to the army of parental volunteers, the competitors, as well as the NWMC, the YMCA, PTSA, West Marine and so many others who made this event possible.  We are putting ourselves on the map one step at a time.  If you did not get a chance to come down and see this event, please do for the next one, have some good food, and enjoy the good kid energy.

Erik Coburn, Coach, Port Townsend Youth and High School Sailing Team

The Port Townsend High School Sailing Team just celebrated the end of the season with a BBQ and awards ceremony at Fort Townsend State Park.  It was a great season with PT continuing to make strides in the district.  We basically were finishing in the middle [...]]]>

Our Port Townsend High School Sailing Team

The Port Townsend High School Sailing Team just celebrated the end of the season with a BBQ and awards ceremony at Fort Townsend State Park.  It was a great season with PT continuing to make strides in the district.  We basically were finishing in the middle of the fleet very solidly all season long.  We also had many great races by each competitor from our youngest to our veterans.  This bodes very well, since we had only one senior, Team Captain Jackson Delagarza, and one junior, Team Captain Cooper Parish.  The rest of the team is very young yet still very good and especially promising.

The team is comprised of 16 sailors and is coed.  It also is comprised of both middle-schoolers and home-schooled kids.  While all sailors were deserving of recognition, awards went as followed:

Most Valuable Sailor: Darby Flanagan (Fr.)
Team Captain: Jackson Delagarza (Sr.)
Team Captain: Cooper Parish (Jr.)
Up & Comer: Eliza Dawson (8th)
Sportsmanship: Cody Kowalski (Fr.)
Most Valuable Crew: Britz Grant (Fr.)

Now summer is upon us and we begin yet another “season” of sailing – more on this later as Eliza Dawson and Olivia Gibbons just won the latest youth regatta .  We try to fill the whole year with either regattas, practice, video analysis, chalk talks, boat work or time off.  It is not a long period of time the sailors are not actually sailing.  As a result of this their learning curve is very high, which is necessary to compete in high school sailing (and as they move on, college sailing).  Some of them have literally done a few hundred starts and mark roundings this year.

Now that we have developed a competitive HS team the next step towards winning the district (HS) lies with our sailors competing over the summer.  This past weekend Eliza Dawson and Olivia Gibbons won the V15 division convincingly through consistency down at Vancouver Lake, WA.  Out of 7 V15s, they posted finishes of 2, 1, 3, 1, and 3.

Port Townsend is also a new stop on the Northwest Youth Circuit, hosting approximately 100+ youth sailors July 17th and 18th. Volunteers are needed in many capacities, from helping with the regatta to housing people (backyard space for a tent is fine!)  Please e-mail erik _ coburn at hotmail dot com

Things look very bright for youth racing here in Port Townsend.  We have a group of great kids who love to sail and compete.  Even if you cannot help out with our home regatta, please come on down and watch!  It will be run from the Northwest Maritime Center.

Best regards,
Erik Coburn
Coach, Port Townsend High School Sailing Team
720.635.0205

“This bodes well for us for the more rigorous upcoming spring season,” reported coach Erik Coburn. “I think we were all surprised a bit. Consistency won us the regatta. These kids have [...]]]> A young sailing team representing Port Townsend High School upset 10 other teams to win its only regatta of the fall season.

“This bodes well for us for the more rigorous upcoming spring season,” reported coach Erik Coburn. “I think we were all surprised a bit. Consistency won us the regatta. These kids have been working hard and deserved the win.”

The regatta was hosted on Oct. 24 by Sail Sand Point on Lake Washington in Seattle. Six sailors represented the PT program – now in its third year – led by junior skipper Cooper Parish and freshman skipper Cody Kowalski. Sailing teammates were Olivia Gibbons, Mackenzie Ginther, Emily Bufford and Milo Stiemle.

In light winds under cloudy skies, the young sailors bested 10 teams from around the Pacific Northwest, including perennial powerhouses Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap. Only five points separated the top five schools.

The sailing team is a program of the Northwest Maritime Center sponsored by the Jefferson County YMCA and Port Townsend High School as well as many local businesses.

Many members of last year’s PTHS team graduated in June – with some now sailing at the collegiate level – so this season is considered a rebuilding year, noted Rob Sanderson, waterfront programs manager for the Northwest Maritime Center.