By Newt Cutcliffe

This year the high school Pacific Coast Championship Regatta was held by St. Francis Yacht Club which is overlooking the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. This venue proved to be very challenging with a huge factor being the current. For most of the regatta, we faced massive amounts of down course current which highly affected our strategies for each race. The teams that were able to get to shallower water with less current always came back with great finishes. However the teams that were forced into the faster current towards the middle of the bay didn't bring back their best results, but they quickly adapted to the currents of the bay and by the next rotation everyone was able to restrategize and bring back some excellent finishes.

The first few races were sailed in relatively light wind and big current. For then the key strategy was to get into less current, even if it means being in a cloud of bad air from other boats. Throughout the day the wind gradually picked up until many boats were seen upside down, this gave all of us a true San Francisco experience, as these conditions are what make the San Francisco Bay a world famous venue. Sailing in the big breeze is nothing we're not used to here in Santa Barbara and most of us brought back some great results in the windier races. The following day, the wind didn't show up until after lunch, but eventually it picked up to a near perfect 12-14 knot breeze. It was in these conditions that everyone performed at their best. In the end our final results were Laguna Blanca in 15th place, Dos Pueblos in 14th place, and Santa Barbara High School nearly qualifying for High School Nationals in 6th place. For some it was the last high school sailing event, as many seniors will be graduating this spring, and are moving on to collegiate sailing and beyond. We had great coaching from Ty Reed during the regatta and everyone brought back a lot of new knowledge and skills from this regatta, (especially regarding sailing in big currents!) and everyone's eager to put these new assets into use in the future.

Gold Results

Silver Results

Photos