SEATTLE – Twice the competition, twice the triumph. The Bainbridge High School Sailing Team split ranks to compete in two different venues with huge success.
Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center on Lake Washington was the scene for silver Fleet Racing, and the Bainbridge sailors dominated the standings with a team (BHS Blue) finishing in first and team (BHS Gold) in third in a fleet of 22 boats.
Wind began light and built steadily throughout the day to about 12 mph on the Sunday of the Seattle regatta, but that didn’t phase the kids at all. Freshman skipper Dane Petrakis with his crews Laine Pickell and Noah Maher achieved a super consistent record of high finishes in the B half of the BHS Blue, ensuring their victory. They were 3-2-1-2-2-2-1.
Also earning excellent results were sailors Max Doane, Jack Bennett, Lindsay Campbell, Parker Hutchinson, Camden Lee and Gus Beer.
At the Islands Cup, sailed on April 14-15 at Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, each school was to send its best sailors, for this regatta will stand as the elimination regatta to determine the national championship representatives from the Northwest.
All the sailors were very excited to be sailing in a location new to them against the best high school sailing has locally to offer.
It was unfortunate that the wind was very light for most of the regatta, and very inconsistent in direction, in a few cases reversing the order of finishes.
The trouble didn’t end there. A further factor of difficulty was presented by erratic currents and swirls in the water, making it difficult to get or maintain a lead.
In this regatta, Bainbridge’s outstanding sailors were Olivia Mitchell and her crews Hunter Johnston and Banning Jones. They earned a very consistent 2-1-4-1-5-1-10 and were the first among the B half boats. Being that consistent and at the top of the fleet in those variable conditions is very difficult, team officials said.
The delegation to Islands Cup finished fifth overall among 16 entries. The rest of that delegation included Sophia Kasper and Zach Cooper.
These high scores in both events show that BHS has great depth and serious skills, and it will be very exciting to see how they progress as the season looks now for champions to send to national events.
Team racing events are coming in Portland and Bellingham, and the Bainbridge sailors will compete in the regatta that will determine the Northwest representative to the national team racing championship, should there be no wind for the scheduled elimination regatta later in May.
