The Bainbridge High School Sailing Team took first place in both the varsity and the junior varsity divisions in the Bridgetown Team Race Regatta.
Ten teams competed in the “Varsity” division and eight teams in the “JV” division at the regatta, sponsored by the Willamette Sailing Club in Portland, Ore. on April 20-21. The winds were fickle on Saturday, and the strong river current made it difficult to judge mark roundings with several boats incurring penalties for touching a mark.
On Saturday, several races were abandoned as the wind either died or shifted between the north and south.
One last leg of a race, designed to be upwind, began as downwind, then became upwind at the halfway point. Boats right next to each other were sailing downwind in opposite directions — something BHS Coach Susie Kaseler said she had never seen before.
Good sportsmanship was the order of the day, however, as few protests evolved into hearings and boats voluntarily took their appropriate penalties.
A total of 18 races took place on Saturday and 52 races were sailed on Sunday, which completed a single round robin in both fleets.
Despite the challenging conditions, the Spartans’ varsity team, sailing in 420’s, went undefeated and won all nine races. Representing BHS as varsity were captains Lea Fetterman, Nate Greason, and Max Popken at the helm and Hannah Harrison, Nels Challinor, Carissa Block and Maxsena Butler as crew.
The JV fleet sailed in two fleets of FJs, with Bainbridge-1 taking first place and Bainbridge-2 placing sixth.
Connor Juckniess, Will Brown and Blake Bentzen were at the helm for Bainbridge-1 with Charlie Snapp, Olivia Moeller and Natalie Godfrey as crew. Bainbridge-2 was represented by Lucas Burcycki, Josh Rentz and Jackson McCoy at the helm with Nick Dresel, Caelan Juckniess and Johanna Rosenboom as crew.
Bainbridge had 22 sailors attending the regatta, and several sailors had an opportunity to sail for other teams.
Olympia, which placed fifth in the varsity fleet, sailed with two BHS sailors, Erik Appleberry and Olivia Mitchell, in crew positions.
BHS sailors also sailed for Lincoln on Saturday, and two sailors, Nels Challinor and Cole Garthwaite, made a great contribution to the Port Townsend/Kingston junior varsity team, which took second place.
Bridgetown Team Race Regatta
VARSITY RESULTS
First: Bainbridge, 9-0
Second: North Kitsap, 7-2
Third: Port Townsend, 6-3*
Fourth: Lincoln, 6-3*
Fifth: Olympia, 6-3*
Sixth: Wilson, 3-6*
Seventh: Orcas, 3-6*
Eighth: Sehome, 3-6*
Ninth: Central Kitsap, 2-7
10th: Friday Harbor, 0-9
JV RESULTS
First: Bainbridge-1, 6-1*
Second: PT/Kingston, 6-1*
Third: Portland-2, 5-2
Fourth: Woodinville, 4-3
Fifth: Lincoln-JV, 3-4
Sixth: Bainbridge-2, 2-5 *
Seventh: Portland-1, 2-5*
Eighth: Portland-3, 0-7
*tie broken when tied schools meet
