SILVERDALE – The Bainbridge High School sailing team brought home fourth-, fifth- and ninth-place finishes on Saturday, March 5, in the first regatta of the 2016 Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association spring season.
Sailors in 20 teams, representing more than a dozen high schools, sailed in this fleet racing regatta, hosted by three Central Kitsap County schools on Dyes Inlet in Silverdale.
Fleet racing involves two sets of races with the scores of the “A” Division boat and the “B” Division boat from each team combined.
The Bainbridge Gold team combination of A boat skipper Caelan Juckniess, sailing with alternating crewmembers Camden Lee and Daniel Rentz — along with Karl Anderson and Kat Smith who traded off as skipper and crew in the B boat — placed fourth.
Bainbridge Blue team A boat skipper Blake Bentzen and crew Quinn Ring combined with B boat skipper Sophia Kasper and her crew Sophie Lewis to place fifth.
The Bainbridge “Stripe” team of A boat skipper Olivia Mitchell and crew Amanda Gilmore, paired with B boat skipper Harry Saliba, sailing with alternating crew members Sophie Crandell and Roark Coggon, placed seventh.
The sailing in Silverdale began with beautiful racing conditions with eight knots of wind in mild winter weather.
After just a few races for each of the A and B Divisions, the wind dropped and became increasingly shifting and frustrating for the racers. Each division was able to complete only four races before racing was cut short due to the diminished winds.
The Silverdale regional regatta included the schools in the southern and western portions of the Northwest District. Saturday’s race was a qualifier to determine the distribution of teams among the Gold (varsity) and Silver (junior varsity) fleets at next weekend’s district-wide fleet regatta to be held at Sail Sand Point in Seattle.
This first regatta was sailed after Bainbridge had only a handful of days practices on the water the week before.
Head Coach Susan Kaseler made a point of pairing experienced skippers with less-experienced crew to jump-start the season and bring everyone quickly up to speed.
