Submitted by the Friday Harbor high school sailing team
Five members of the Friday Harbor high school sailing team spent April 28 and 29 waiting for wind at Seattle’s Sail Sand Point facility, for the district championships. When racing actually happened, Friday Harbor’s skipper Per Black, and Zoe Calverley, Emmett Carrier and Leah Black were the winning boat in “A” division, recording first-, second-, seventh- and first-place finishes for a total of 11 points. Leah Black, Addi Kessler and Carrier took turns skippering the team’s “B” division boat. After one race, which Per Black and Calverley won by an astounding distance, Burke Thomas, the Orcas coach emeritus, was heard on the dock wondering “where is Per hiding his motor?!?” While some racing occurred on Sunday, the winds were even lighter than Saturday, resulting in many started but unfinished races. Friday Harbor combined A and B division scores placed the team in 11th place out of the 20 competing schools.
By finishing as the low (winning) boat in “A” division at districts, Per Black completed what can only be called a “perfect” season, as the Spring Street International School senior won his division in every regatta that the team competed in this season. Per Black will sail for Bowdoin College next year.
In high school sailing, both A and B divisions must complete the same number of races. In a dramatic twist at the end of the day, the race committee decided that with the light winds it could not complete two required “B” division races in the allotted time, necessitating that it discards two results from the “A” division races. With this decision, Orcas High School moved up in the standings, leapfrogging two teams to finish in second place and earn a trip to nationals. The Orcas team did an outstanding job all weekend, staying close to the top in nearly every race. Orcas’ “A” division was skippered by Maggie Toombs and crewed by Emma Freedman. This duo recorded scores of 7, 8, 3 and 16. Dominick Wareham, skipper, and Mille Kau, crew, were the low (best) boat in “B” division finishing with three, second-places and one, fourth. The Friday Harbor team wishes Orcas good luck at nationals in Corpus Christi, Texas.
