The
2002 Mallory Doublehanded High School National
Championship regatta, hosted by The San Francisco
Yacht Club, was held this weekend at
Treasure
Island
Sailing
Center
in
San
Francisco
Bay
.
Twenty teams from around the nation qualified to participate in the
regatta. Each of those teams had
to compete in their respective districts to earn the right to sail in the
nationals.
The
Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association (schools from
California
and
Hawaii
)
once again made a strong showing.
Coronado
High
School
(
Coronado
,
CA
)
won for the second year in a row. Point
Loma High School (
San
Diego
,
CA
),
Newport
Harbor
High
School
(
Costa
Mesa
,
CA
)
and
Santa
Barbara
High
School
(
Santa
Barbara
,
CA
)
claimed the second, third and fourth places.
Schools from
New
England
,
Milton
Academy
(
Milton
,
MA
)
and
Tabor
Academy
(
Marion
,
MA
)
earned fifth and sixth, respectively.
The
regatta was sailed in two-person CFJ sailboats which were generously loaned to
the event by the Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation, The San Francisco Yacht
Club, St. Francis Yacht Club and Robert Louis Stevenson School.
The regatta organizers are profoundly grateful to those organizations
for allowing their boats to be used at this event.
Coronado
High
School
skipper Mikee Anderson (12th grade) and
his crew members Lauren Usrey (10th
grade) and Tinja Anderson (10th grade)
won the A division, while
Point
Loma
High
School
skipper Adam Roberts (9th grade) and his crew members Graham Biehl
(10th grade) and Danielle Richards (11th grade) won the
B division.
This
regatta was the first time that a high school national championship was held
at the
Treasure
Island
Sailing
Center
,
and conditions could not have been better. The
facility itself allows for great sailing - generally consistent breeze, with
flat water and little tidal effect. In
addition, spectators can easily see the entire course and watch the sailors
from start to finish. Wind
ranged from 8-22
knots, and 16 races were held in both A and B
divisions.
Using 3-legged windward/leeward courses, each race lasted approximately
15 minutes. With some shifty and
gusty conditions, lead changes were frequent.
The
continued success of the
Pacific
Coast
schools was again impressive. However,
the
New
England
schools are showing a
resurgence.
High school sailing continues to grow dramatically, with new teams
joining in each of the seven districts. In
fact, this year the
La
Porte
High
School
team (
La
Porte
,
TX
)
qualified for the nationals in their very first season.
More than 3,000 young sailors participate nationwide, many of whom have
never sailed before. Information
about high school sailing can be obtained on the Interscholastic Sailing
Association web site - www.highschoolsailingusa.org.
Many
volunteers are required in order to host a successful event.
On behalf of the sailors. Regatta Chair
Ted
Gazulis
wants to express his thanks
to the following people for their contributions:
PRO's Matt Jones and
Kers Clausen, Dockmasters
John Gutenkunst and
Jamie Sherman, Chief Judge Tom Roberts
and his exceptionally strong judging crew of Don Becker, Carissa Harris, Jay
Kehoe, Lynn Olinger, Vickie Sodaro and Casey Woodrum,
Registration Chair Jill Mantz
and Food Chair Camille Dibble. Also,
special thanks to the sailing teams from
Stanford
University
and the
University
of
California
-
Berkeley
for their help on site as well as their willingness to talk with the high
school sailors about the world of collegiate sailing.
Detailed
results follow. For further
information and photographs, please contact
Ted
Gazulis
at tgazulis@hotmail.com.