Sailing: Newport Harbor claims world supremacy

OXFORD, England - Who better than a school nicknamed the “Sailors”

to win an international sailing event?

Newport Harbor High, fresh off the U.S. High School Team Racing

Nationals May 20-21 in Norfolk, Va., went to England and won the

International High School Racing Championship Regatta July 4-5.

“It was a lot of fun and I was glad to be a part of it,” Coach Billy

Uniack said. “The English people loved us. They were actually very happy

that we were victorious.”

Sixteen teams sailed the two-day regatta in Laser IIs, a two-person

boat, on the Farmoor Reservoir.

The Newport Harbor team was comprised of three skipper-crew

combinations: team captain senior Tyler Haskell, seniors Paige Thompson

and Scott Hogan, junior Amy Halvorsen and sophomores Meredith Potter and

Gary Grimes.

Playing in someone else’s backyard, Newport had to play under some

different rules, which took some time to get used to.

In international competition, the skipper and crew positions are

rotated between the pairs after each race, unlike back in the states,

where skippers and crew stay the same.

Also, the British’s starting sequence was tough to get used to, but

one Newport figured it out, the Sailors aced the last nine races and

qualified for the semifinals.

“It took a while to get our heads on straight,” Uniack said. “But once

we did, we were fine.”

In the semifinals, Newport took on the defending champions and heavy

favorites, Sevenoaks, from southeast London.

With three boats on each side, points are awarded for how each boat

finishes. The school with the lowest score is the winner.

In the best-of-two race competition, both Newport and Sevenoaks were

tied in points. Newport advanced on the tiebreaker rule by winning the

final race.

“That was our toughest challenge by far,” Uniack said. “Once we got

past them, we knew we would win.”

And win they did, easily handling the Irish championship team from

Scull, Ireland. In both races, Newport finished 1-2-3.

According to Uniack, the win sealed the Sailors’ varsity team record

as the best for any high school in history. They won every competition

they entered, except one.

The winning races include the Anteater Regatta, Rose Bowl Regatta,

Gaucho Regatta, Pacific Coast Championships, West Coast Baker Qualifier,

Mallory National Championship Trophy and the Baker National Team Racing

Championship. They were runner-up in the Cardinal Regatta.

“We are the first team to win both national races,” Uniack said. “This

is an incredibly talented group of kids who are extremely dedicated to

what they tried to accomplish. We were on the water Wednesday, Thursday

and Friday as well as the weekends and the extra hours they spent

preparing the boats also have to be taken into account.”

Following the competition, the team toured London for three days,

before heading back to America, where they were greeted with a tremendous

ovation at LAX.

“If they wanted to, anyone in this group can go very far in this

sport,” Uniack said. “Whether it’s college, or Olympics or even the

America’s Cup. Anything’s possible with this group.”