Sailing: Double crown for Newport Sailors
NORFOLK, Va - Newport Harbor High’s sailing team clinched the
double crown of high school sailing last weekend in Norfolk, Va, by
winning the Baker Trophy for the national championship in team racing. It
became the first team in the 30-year history of high school sailing to
capture both the fleet racing and team racing national championships in
the same year. During the previous weekend in Long Beach, Newport won the
Mallory Trophy, the national championship for double-handed fleet racing.
Harbor’s championship team racing team was made up of three skippers:
seniors Tyler Haskell and Scott Hogan, and sophomore Cary Grimes; three
crews: senior Paige Thompson, junior Amy Halvorsen and sophomore Meredith
Potter; along with two crew alternates: sophomore Kelsey Cochran and
freshman Ryan Marshall. They were coached by Billy Uniack, former Boston
University sailing team standout.
Similar to the America’s Cup, which involves a match race of one boat
against another, team racing features three boats from one team racing
against three boats from another. The three team members collaborate to
achieve a final winning combination (first, second, sixth or better;
first, third, sixth or better; or second, third, fifth or better). To
win, competitors must effectively employ speed, tactics and boat handling
skills. Frequently a skipper must compromise his or her position in order
to assist other team members to improve their position in order to gain a
winning combination of finishes. This makes the racing unpredictable,
exciting and very challenging.
The Newport Harbor team swept the first day of sailing on Saturday
without a loss, besting all 11 other teams from around the country. On
Sunday, the championship field was narrowed down to four top teams:
Newport Harbor, Coronado, Tabor Academy (Ma.) and Jesuit (La.). Each team
then sailed against the other twice.
Thunderstorms that had rocked the Midwest last week rolled into Norfolk
to create unstable weather conditions. The rain, thunder and lightning
held off until racing was over each night. But the daytime conditions
ranged from light to very breezy winds on Saturday to very light wind
conditions on Sunday, so light that the wind was shifty and appeared on
the water in patches. While positions in the race changed hands many
times, Newport’s only loss came once to Jesuit on Sunday. Newport was
able to prevail twice over second-place Coronado. In the last race on
Sunday between rivals Newport and Coronado, Newport gained the lead at
the start. The race was hard fought and close, but Newport never gave up
the winning combination, finishing second, third and fourth for a total
of nine points, to Coronado’s first, fifth and sixth places for a total
of 12 points. This race sealed Newport’s victory.
At conclusion of the championship regatta, Newport Harbor was victorious
with only one loss throughout the two-day regatta. Coronado was second
with three losses, and Jesuit was third with fives losses. The top two
teams have been invited to represent the United States in the
International High School Team Racing Championships in England in July.
This is the third year in a row the Sailors have captured the Baker
Trophy for team racing. Newport Harbor has dominated high school team
racing nationally since 1993, winning five times and placing second
twice. Seniors Hogan, Haskell and Thompson have participated in a
national victory en each of their four years at Newport Harbor (1997:
Mallory first, Baker second; 1998: Mallory second, Baker first; 1999:
Mallory third, Baker first; 2000: Mallory first, Baker first). No other
team in the history of the sport has captured both titles in the same
year.
The seniors will move on to sail for some of the country’s most
prestigious colleges. All were recruited by and have committed to attend
Dartmouth (Hogan), Georgetown (Haskell) and UC Santa Barbara (Thompson).
Fellow senior Jennifer Porter, who contributed to the team’s success over
the past four years but did not attend this year’s championship regattas,
will sail next year at Stanford.
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