by Dave Parish

Special to the Sounder

The Orcas Island Sailing Team competed in the Interscholastic Sailing Association Doublehanded National Championship on May 15 to 16 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In this regatta, 20 high school sailing teams from all over the U.S. competed against each other in the waters of Tampa Bay. To qualify for the regatta, each high school team had to win its district championship, which Orcas did over the weekend of April 18-19.

While there are around 20 members of the Orcas Island Sailing Team, rules stipulate that each team can sail no more than eight sailors.

Sam Parish, Barrett North, Jake White, and Alex Waldron skippered the Orcas boats. Their crews were Annalies Schuh, Brittney Wachter, Annika Thomas, and Carly Temple-Wareham.

Orcas knew that this would be a tough regatta on several fronts. First, they were sailing against some of the most experienced high school sailors in the country. Second, they were sailing in unfamiliar boats. The Orcas sailors prefer strong winds, but the forecasters were predicting light and variable winds. The winds kept the course setters busy adjusting and resetting the course.

Sailing against the best high school sailors in the country, Orcas did quite well. They had many mid-fleet finishes and after two days of racing ended up in 19th place.