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