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2019 Year In Review

What a year we've had - it's been one of memories made, as well as new beginnings! Below you'll find a snapshot of what we have accomplished and where we are looking to grow. Your support, both financial and with volunteer hours, has been instrumental in our success this year, and we hope you will consider us in your giving plans for the end of 2019 and into 2020.

2019 in review

Our OIHS sailing team graduated six seniors in June, after taking the Bronze Medal in both the NWISA fleet and team race District Championships in May. Our team was selected for the 2019 NWISA Sportsmanship Award - a prestigious distinction awarded by their peers. These sailors learned to sail through the Sail Orcas junior summer sailing lessons at OIYC and joined the OIHS team in the 7th grade; they will all be greatly missed. Several of them plan to continue their sailing careers at the collegiate level, so Orcas sailing (and sportsmanship) will continue to "pay it forward" and enrich other programs.

We are developing the next cohort of young sailors through Steve Verno's efforts to develop a middle school sailing team. He has been organizing practices with our remaining OIHS sailors (most who had been crewing for graduating seniors) and our up-and-coming middle school sailors. Steve has engaged interested adult racers to participate in the practices, as well as traveled with the young sailors to six regattas and the WIND clinic this summer.

Sail Orcas has accomplished the goal of funding the first and second phases of the dinghy floats project, through the generous support of our friends, OIYC, the Vincent J. Coates Foundation, and the GiveOrcas spring 2019 campaign! We now have two safe, eelgrass-friendly floats that support our programs.

Our summer sailing program was a tremendous success. ln addition to the junior sailing programs that help to instill a lifetime love of sailing and nature with school age kids, we had overwhelming response to a woman's sailing program and our Tuesday night "open to all racers" Laser races (23 community members came out!). Sail Orcas was also selected to receive funding to support several sailing scholarships for next year's programs from the Orcas Rotary club.

Sail Orcas is excited about the year ahead. Several priorities include funding a staff sailing coach to oversee our middle school, high school, and summer programs; and replacing the outboard engine on one of our coach boats.

Every donation is tax deductible; check should be made payable to Sail Orcas and mailed to PO Box 1226, Eastsound WA, 98245. Thank you for your support - we are grateful for it!

All the best from the board of directors,

Burke Thomas, Diane Jarecki, Ken Machtley, Betsy Wareham, Steve Verno, Bob Brunius, David Kau, Justin Wolfe, Les Zorb, Vaughn Ploeger, Chis Wolfe

Orcas Vikings Win Island Cup

NWISA District Champ Qualifier Regatta

The 20 best Northwest high school sailing teams from as far away as Hood River, Oregon converged on Orcas Island April 13 and 14 for Northwest District Interscholastic Sailing Association’s annual Islands Cup Regatta.

The regatta rotates location each year between high school teams from Island, Skagit and San Juan counties. The teams arrived Saturday morning ready to take on strong winds and a 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast.

Mother Nature did not disappoint. For the next six hours, teams battled each other out on the choppy waters of West Sound in the wind-driven rain. At the end of Saturday’s racing, Orcas held a slim 4-point lead over Gig Harbor with a pack of other teams all within striking distance of the cup.

On Sunday, sailors arrived to no rain, and a brisk west wind, racing started promptly at 9:30 a.m. and for the next five hours the lead changed back and forth between Gig Harbor and Orcas, but in the end, Orcas held on for the regatta win.

"Today was some of the best racing I have seen on West Sound," said coach Burke Thomas. "This was a big win for the Vikings, and I am very proud how we battled all weekend."

Thomas extended a big thank you to the Orcas Island Yacht Club and volunteers for providing the venue.

Complete scores are at: Results

New Dingy Float Construction

Sail Orcas is excited to announce that our priority mission for facilities in 2019 is to replace our aging floats at the base of the OIYC pier. This has been a multi-year undertaking that began design and permitting in 2015. The new, fully permitted floats will feature a nonskid, environmentally friendly grating that will protect our local eel grass and provide a safe, clean platform for our students and programs for years to come. The new floats are a major undertaking for us, and this season we are asking for your financial help. Please consider joining us in making a contribution to the floats.

Your donation is tax deductible; check should be made payable to Sail Orcas and mailed to PO Box 1226, Eastsound WA, 98245. Alternatively you could use the online donation form and your credit card: Fund the Floats

NWISA SAIL SANDPOINT COMBINED DIVISION REGATTA

March 9th and 10th

Ten Sailors from the Orcas High School Sailing Team travelled to the SSP combined division regatta march 9&10 in Seattle. The regatta features a schools A & B divisions boats competing in the same fleet and racing against each other at the same time, pitting 32 boats against each other on a very crowded start line. Orcas had qualified teams at the regionals March 2nd into both the gold and silver divisions for the combined division regatta, giving all sailors an opportunity to race every race.

Saturday saw a 5 knot northerly breeze fill the race course on Lake Washington by 11:30 am,the breeze continued to build through out the after noon, 6 races were completed in gold and 4 races in silver. The racing started at 11:30am and continued until 6:30 pm, when darkness and freezing temps forced the competitors off the water. Sunday brought warmer temperatures but little wind, with just 3 races completed in a very light and shifty North East Wind. Getting off the starting line in a 32 boat fleet is no easy task and teams that could do that had a huge advantage on the first beat by being up the ladder from the big wind shadow created by the 32 boats.

The orcas team improved on their starting tactics throughout the weekend and were able to grab a very respectable 4th overall in the gold fleet and 3rd in the silver fleet. Complete results can be found here:

Gold Div Silver Div

NWISA NORTH REGIONAL ICE BREAKER REGATTA

MARCH 2 at ANACORTES WA

Eight Sailors from the Orcas High School Sailing Team, traveled to Anacortes on March 2nd to kickoff the NWISA spring sailing season. The eighteen teams competing at the north regional, were greeted at the 10am competitors meeting, with sunny skies and a very cold NE 12 wind. The Windward-Leeward race course was set outside Sail Sand Point Regatta the jetty at Seafarer’s park in Fidalgo Bay, with the pier providing excellent viewing for spectators.

The wind on the race course was streaky, making it hard for teams to get off the start line,the Orcas team had to shake off a little winters rust in their first race but as the wind built through out the day, the Vikings team just got stronger, completing 10 races by the 5 pm stop time and clinching a solid regatta win.

News and Views

Where's Waldo

Eighty youth sailors from around the region came to Westsound in late October to race in the annual two day team racing “Trick or Treat Regatta”. Many thanks to the many volunteers from Sail Orcas who help make this a fun annual tradition. Pictured here is Team Where’s Waldo and a Team of Pirates from the Caribbean.

San Juan County, Washington

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