This Saturday May 10th at 5:00PM there will be a Spaghetti Dinner held at the West Sound Community Hall. GREAT spaghetti, caesar salad, garlic bread, coffee, tea, and awesome desserts (including those sailboat cupcakes) all for only $12.00 per person. Tickets on sale at West Sound marina, Poppies in Eastsound, and from most of the high school sailing team. Come and hear the sailors talk about their recent trip to the National Championships in Austin Texas.

Patricia Moran-Hodge and I will be coordinating this event. The proceeds from ticket sales will go to the High School Racing Team.

Cheryl Jackson

Ten Schools and over one hundred and forty sailors came to Bainbridge Island to participate in the 2011 NWISA Team Race District Championships, April 30th thru May 1st. Boats arrived and were rigged Friday afternoon allowing teams to get in some practice before the event, filling all 12 FJ’s and 18 V15’s. A light easterly held steady until 6:00pm when the breeze shut off and teams returned to the dock.

Saturday began with light rain and cloudy skies but by 9:00am the clouds had cleared and the rain had stopped. The breeze filled in from the east not long after the sun came out and allowed the Varsity fleet to complete twenty three races and the JV fleet forty one. Winds ranged from 3-10 knots. At the end of racing Saturday the Bainbridge team had opened up a 1 point lead over Orcas and Sehome tied for second place.

Sunday brought sunny skies and the warmest temperatures to hit the Northwest in months. While the Puget Sound had no wind to speak of a thermal developed inside the harbor and allowed both Varsity and JV to complete a second round robin in 4-8 knots. The final four rotation for the Varsity fleet was then started and races were completed by 3:15pm. Tight competitive racing was observed on both the Varsity and JV courses. Congratulations to the Orcas sailors for winning the Varsity and to Bainbridge sailors for winning the JV fleet.

Thanks to all the Bainbridge High School Sailing parents who helped put this event together, donated chase boats and worked to keep things running smoothly. Also thank you to Eagle Harbor Marina and Bainbridge Island YC for providing the Varsity and JV rotation docks, Dick Rose head judge, Nick Taylor Varsity PRO, Greg Jackson JV PRO and the gang who manned all the mark set/safety boats that made this regatta happen. Thanks to Central Kitsap, North Kitsap, Port Townsend and Orcas for bringing boats!

Molly Jackson
Regatta Chair

Great news! This year our Orcas High School sailors, by winning the NWISA Double Handed District Championships, have won the right to travel to Austin, Texas to compete in the 2011 Mallory Championship for High School Sailing Teams. This National Championship will be held May 6-8. There are only 20 schools across the country that get to go to this prestigious event and our Orcas students are in! This is an a fantastic achievement for our local youth and for their coach Burke Thomas. We are pretty proud of them and what they've accomplished on the water.

This wonderful outcome has unfortunately put a sudden strain on the budget for Sail Orcas, who along with the Orcas Island Yacht Club and our supporters, are the primary sponsors for the High School Sailing Team. We now need to send two coaches/chaperones, and 8 varsity students across the country for four nights in hotels. And, don't forget about the airfare and meals. While some of the parents are able to pick up their part of the load, not all can and we have always given scholarships for certain kids. While in the past the volunteer coaching staff has helped fund some of these special events from their own pockets, times are different and, considering how much they've contributed already, we just can't ask for more from them now.

So, at this time, we are asking the local community to help financially to send the Orcas Team to the National Championships. One great way for you to do this is to become a contributing member of Sail Orcas. Sail Orcas not only supports the High School team, we also run one of the largest and most successful Junior Sailing programs in the state. In the summer our volunteers also run the Adult Sailing lessons program on West Sound. Become a supporting member of Sail Orcas and you will be eligible to use our two Cal 20s during the summer months and you can come take one the chairs at our Farmers Market booth anytime you like.

To contribute you can go to Support Sail Orcas. You can also send a check to:
Sail Orcas — PO Box 1226, Eastsound WA. 98245 which will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Fourteen Schools and over one hundred and fifty sailors made the trek to Orcas Island to participate in the 2011 NWISA Doublehanded District Championships April 15-17. Most teams arrived on Friday, which was cold and grey, with the remains of

a late spring snow still clinging to the top of Turtleback Mountain. Forty boats were quickly rigged and practice races were run late afternoon on West Sound in a shifty easterly.

Saturday dawned to overcast skies and a light westerly that refused to fill in, after holding on the water for a couple hours a cold northwest breeze filled in, bringing clearing skies. Fourteen races were completed in the Varsity fleet and twelve in the JV fleet in winds ranging from 4-18 knots. At the end of racing Saturday the Orcas team had opened up a 15 point lead over second place Bainbridge, with third place Sehome 24 points off the pace.

Sunday brought clearing and light northly winds with ten more races completed in Varsity and eight in JV before the wind shut off for the day. Tight competitive racing was observed on both the Varsity and JV courses. Congratulations to the Orcas sailors for winning both the Varsity and JV fleets.

Thanks to OIYC and Camp Four Winds for their help in hosting the regatta and all the Orcas parents who kept everyone well fed. Also thank you to Bob Toombs providing the Endeavour for Varsity rotation, Dick Rose head judge, Ian Wareham, Varsity PRO, Scott Boye JV PRO and the gang who manned all the mark set/safety boats that made this regatta happen. Thanks to Bainbridge, Bellingham, Central Kitsap, Friday Harbor and Port Townsend for bringing boats!

Burke Thomas
Regatta Chair

Light wind and overcast skies greeted thirty sailors Saturday morning April 2nd for the 7th Annual Orcas Cup. Racing was postponed on shore for an hour, with a light southerly filling in on West Sound around noon. One race was completed in a dying breeze and the sailors postponed on the water for over an hour. Race committee Ian Wareham and crew chased a fluky breeze all afternoon, with a light southerly breeze finally filling in around 3:00pm.

Six races were completed, with Seniors Jake White and Annalies Schuh putting in a strong performance in very tricky conditions to take home the cup. Taylor Smith and Lindsay grabbed second, two points ahead of Robin Gropp and Tika Zbornik.

The team has travelled to a regatta every weekend during March and it was nice to play on the home court for the Orcas Cup. The team travels to Central Kitsap for a regatta April 9&10 and then returns home for NWISA District Championships on West Sound April 15-17th. Fourteen schools are expected to participate at the District Championship with the winning school advancing to the ISSA National Championships May 7&8, at Austin Texas.

Nice job Orcas! Good sailing in shifty, trying conditions. I know that a few scores look to be incorrect — sorry Robin I'm pretty sure you took a bullet on one of those last races in Orcas 2B and Orcas 1B scores the last couple races do not seem right either adding to our score by 10 points..not a real big deal in light of Orcas 1 overall performance and that the boat was half full of water for both Jake and Taylor's final rotation. Again thanks team for all the help organizing and moving 27 sets of race sails and 12 boats!!!!! Be ready to practice Tuesday- Thursday this week.. and depending on the weather we may add a practice and team dinner in this Friday. -- Burke Thomas

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Saturday racing started at approximately 12:30 in blustery and shifty conditions. With 27 boats available the race committee assigned boats based on number of team members. All but one team had multiple boats to sail, many with three boats on the water during any given race. Thirteen races were sailed in breeze ranging from 5 to 20 knots. Because of the big shifts, many course adjustments were made and one race was abandoned after the start because of a 60-degree shift that allowed reaching to the weather mark from the start line. Saturday night two protests were heard, both were upheld. Sunday racers were on the water early with the first start at 10:00. Seven races were sailed in shifty conditions with wind ranging from 3 to 15 knots. The puffs brought some great planing conditions and more than a few capsizes. Racing ended about 1:45 with ten races in the two divisions for a total of twenty races. Congratulations to Orcas 1 for a dominating performance.

Thanks to Bainbridge, Bellingham, North Kitsap and Port Townsend for bringing boats to bolster the fleet. And thanks to Sail Orcas and San Juan Sailing Foundation for supplying a total of 21 boats. Thanks to Paul LeBaron for coordinating the accommodations and food. The burgers on the dock were especially welcome! Thanks to Randy Holt and Peter Risser, the markset boat drivers. In the shifting conditions they were working hard. Thanks to Steve Fogg for score keeping. And a special thanks to Brent Snow and Roche Harbor Resort for allowing us to use the facility. -- Scott Boye

It was a very wet day for 139 high school sailors from 15 northwest schools. Sailors arrived at Sail Sand Point in Seattle and were greated by steady rain and light south winds. 23 FJ's crossed the start line off the Sand Point Pier on Lake Washington for the first race at 10:50. The first 2 races in A-Division were sailed in a 3-5 kt South breeze that clocked hard to the West during Race 1A and back hard to the East during race 2A.

Mother Nature finally cooperated with the Race Comittee for the start of the first B-Division race. Settling from the South at about 5 kts. Sailors tacked and gybed their way around 4-leg windward/leeward courses with a downwind finish. 6 races in each division were completed by 4:00 and then the course was shortedned to squeeze in one more 3-leg windward/leeward course in each divsion for a total of 14 races, 7 each in A and B. The rain stopped falling around 2:00, after dumping over half an inch, and the sun even made a brief appearance bringing with it a bit stronger winds with puffs just over 10 kts for the final races.

No protests were officially heard, but North Kitsap 2 did retire after finishing in race 5B. The Race Committee noticed a lot of contact between boats and with marks and didn't see a lot, if any, spinning. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed at practices before the next NW regatta.

The event wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Sail Sand Point's fleet of 12 FJ's, facilities, and powerboats. Many more sailors were able to get on the water thanks to the UW, Bainbridge Island, Orcas Island and Central Kitsap and North Kitsap teaming up to provide another 11 FJ's.

Sail Sand Point's Morgan Collins, Andi Pistay, Kim Iorio, and Kathy Wade fed about 200 hungry sailors, coaches, and parents with a BBQ lunch. And races were ran by University of Washington sailors Glen Stellmacher, Jake Antles, Jordan Cutter, Molly Utter, Caylin Cordray plus Michelle Stitzer and Alex Jones.

On behalf of Sail Sand Point we hope to see you on the water again soon. And congratulations to Orcas Island on their victory. -- Burke Thomas