Gaucho Regatta Lives Up to Windy Tradition
All Three Local High School Sailing Teams Qualify for the Pacific Coast Championships

Year after year the local installment of Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association Sponsored High School Sailing (PCISA) has lived up to a long tradition: plenty of wind, swells and chop. The Gaucho regatta was held this last weekend, March 15-16, co sponsored by the UCSB Sailing team, the SBCC Sailing team, the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and the Santa Barbara Youth Foundation. Twenty-nine high schools from all over California, and one from Hawaii descended on the Santa Barbara harbor with Gold and Silver fleet teams; 4 to a team. Wind was only an issue when it exceeded 30 knots. The first races Saturday started with the Gold fleet on a race course in front of the yacht club, only to be blown out and quickly relocated East of Stearns Wharf. Carnage was common as gusts swept through the fleets, picking off the unaware and unprepared. Capsizing was a right of passage for many, with a few holding tight to finish some very fast, intense races.

Sunday was nearly a repeat of day one, but with wind shifts, sudden lulls, and complete changes in wind direction that turned high powered events into drifting duels. The wind changed directions to cover all four cardinal points of the compass. The race committee, entirely staffed by UCSB and SBCC sailing team members, quickly reset the courses, time-and-time again. A few safety boats worked full time to assist with capsize recoveries and equipment repairs. Several boats were de-masted or disabled due to other equipment failures in the high wind conditions. There was one major constant: all the high school sailors were fully engaged and two great days of very competitive sailing was enjoyed.

The Gaucho Regatta was the 4th event in a year long series held from Newport to San Francisco. All three local high schools were on deck and in the thick of the competition. Competing from Dos Pueblos High School were Sky Adams, Spenser Branch, Hanna Vincent and Hunter Yegendorf. From San Marcos High School; Willie McBride, Carly Shevitz, Cody Shevitz, Andrew McNary and Brittany Hirsch. And from Santa Barbara High School, Oliver Toole, Travis Benton, Paul Heffernan and Garrett Tesman. San Marcos finished the Gaucho in a very solid 4th place with ten top-10 finishes, of which Willie McBride and Carly Shevitz had two 'bullets' and one 2nd. Santa Barbara came in 9th with eight top-10 finishes; including two 2nd place finishes by the team of Oliver Toole and Travis Benton. Dos Pueblos finished 26th in what might be best described as an "expansion season" with two seniors recently departed. The cumulative totals from this regatta and the prior three this year yield the top 20 teams to compete in the Pacific Coast Championships, April 19-20 in San Francisco at the Treasure Island Yacht Club. In the end, all three local high school teams qualified for an invitation with Santa Barbara in 9th place, San Marcos in 10th and Dos Pueblos in 16th overall, and all are practicing and preparing for the trip.

Complete race results can be seen here and a large photo album of the event can be viewed by clicking here.


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