Oak Harbor duo nabs 6th in district regatta | Youth sailing

Published 9:53 am Thursday, April 30, 2015

An Oak Harbor High School pair placed sixth in the individual standings at the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association Doublehanded District Championship Regatta held in Penn Cove Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26.

Junior skipper Max Van Dam and freshman crew Dylan Angell led the Oak Harbor Sailing Club by recording the sixth-place finish. They placed in the top-10 seven times in the weekend’s series of races, including earning a third and a fifth.

Freshman skipper Jordan Wood-Pina and junior crew Matt Hallahan recorded Oak Harbor’s best race result, finishing second in Sunday’s first race.

Overall, Oak Harbor, coached by Erik Mann, placed 10th out of 16 teams for their first-ever top-10 finish in a varsity fleet.

“I am really proud of what our Wildcat sailors have done this year,” Mann said. “They have all worked really hard and shown amazing improvement. For a young team in its second year, we are doing amazingly well, and the future looks very promising.”

Thirty-one teams from 20 schools participated in the district championships. Bainbridge Island won both the varsity and junior varsity divisions, earning the right to represent the district in the national regatta in Annapolis. Bainbridge Island, however, turned down the invitation, and second-place Woodinville will travel to Maryland.

The Oak Harbor club was host of the district regatta, and “the community really rallied around this event to make it possible,” Mann said.

Sixty volunteers helped with the regatta, according to Mann.

“Special thanks goes to the Port of Coupeville for donation of the Coupeville Wharf facilities, the Town of Coupeville for donation of the launch ramp and boat storage areas, Camp Casey for working with us to house out-of-town competitors, the Coupeville Chamber of Commerce for assistance covering Port of Coupeville costs and coordination with local businesses, and Oak Harbor Youth Sailing for donation of on the water equipment and volunteers,” Mann said.

One regatta remains this season for Oak Harbor, a team race at Seattle’s Sail Sand Point May 2 and 3.

Oak Harbor Youth Sailing is offering several day camps throughout the summer for those who would like to learn to sail. Registration for the camps has begun and will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis through the mail. Information can be found at www.oakharboryouthsailing.org