Spring sports got underway this past week on Orcas, including the Sailing team taking to the waters of West Sound for practices. The weather has been anything but spring-like, snow on the ground and temperatures hovering in the 30s have made practices a challenge, but as the saying goes “island kids are tough” so the team practiced all week anyway.

Saturday, March 4, the team traveled to North Regionals in Anacortes to kick off its spring season and was greeted with snow, sleet and cold, cold winds.

“The team layered up with warm clothing and rallied to show immense physical and mental toughness in very trying conditions* said coach Hannah Tuson-Turner. The results did not reflect the temperatures as the two Orcas boats placed first and second out of 14 boats in the first race, setting the tone for the day and battling among themselves for the top spot. Sixteen races were completed before the 4:30 p.m. stop time was reached, with Orcas Vikings 2 edging out Orcas Vikings 1 for the regatta win.

“This win puts the Orcas team into a really solid position going into the Combined Division Regatta at Sail Sand point next weekend,” said Tuson-Turner. “I am very excited to see the team working hard at improving their skills to this spring!”

Complete results can be found at http://scores.hssailing.org/s17/nwisa-north-regionals/.