Antilles wins Team Racing Championship

The High School sailing season came to a close with the Baker Team Racing Championship as the top 12 schools across the USA raced in Club Flying Juniors on May 27-28 in Norfolk, VA.

Under beautiful blue skies and moderately warm temperatures on the Elizabeth River, variable winds on day one led to multiple delays while the committee adjusted the course and waited for the wind to full in. Twice they were sent ashore for lengthier postponements. Despite the difficult conditions, the committee ran 27 races on a digital N course. Racing finished at 6:30pm under the threat of lightning on the horizon.

Difficult conditions continued on day two with erratic oscillations covering every compass point except due east. Wind velocity varied unpredictably up and down from 0-15 mph with higher gusts reaching into the lower 20 mph. range. Shortly after sailing commenced, amidst a concert of constant postponements, course shifts, and outright relocations, the committee chose to go to Baker format “Plan C, Option 1”.

The remaining 3 races of the first 30 races of the initial round robin were completed constituting complete rounds for each of the two embedded divisions. The teams were seeded into Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Gold Round 1, four out of six races of Gold Round 2, three out of six of the Silver Round, and four out of six races of the Bronze Round were completed before races were abandoned shortly before 2:00 due to an approaching thunderstorm.

Because Gold Round 2, Silver Round and Bronze Round were not completed, they were discarded, with only one race retained as a tiebreaker sail-off. Ranking was determined using the Gold Round finishes for the first four places, and results of the first 30 races for places 4-12 per the SI’s, Format Options, and rules.

Final ranks resulted in Antilles High School (St Thomas, VI) taking the title. Sailing for Antilles was skippers Sam Morrell ’17, Teddy Nicolosi ’19, and Christopher Sharpless ’19 with crews Caroline Teare ’17, Ryan Hunter ’17, and Robert Hunter ’18. Finishing second and third was Point Loma High School (San Diego, CA) and Milton Academy (Milton, MA).

Event details – Results – Facebook

Competing schools that advanced from their District qualifiers to represent their respective Districts at the National Championship:

Northwest (1): Orcas High School (Eastsound, WA)
Pacific Coast (2): Point Loma HS (San Diego, CA); Newport Harbor HS (Newport Beach, CA)
New England (2): St. George’s School (Middletown, RI); Milton Academy (Milton, MA)
Mid Atlantic (2): Christchurch School (Christchurch, VA); Mamaroneck High School (Mamaroneck, NY)
South Atlantic (2): Ransom Everglades (Miami, FL); Antilles School (St Thomas, VI)
Midwest (2): Grosse Pointe South High School (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI); St. Ignatius College Prep (Chicago, IL)
Southeast (1): Clear Falls High School (League City, TX)

Winners of events held earlier in the school year
• Cressy Singlehanded Nationals – October 29-30, 2016
Radial Rig – Saint Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) – Sophia Reineke ’17
Full Rig – Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, MA) – Henry Marshall ’17
• Mallory Doublehanded Nationals – May 12-14, 2017
Point Loma High School (San Diego, CA)