Spring prep preview / Oak Harbor sailing

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Seven returning sailors will fill the nucleus of this spring’s Wildcat sailing team.

Among the veterans are co-captains senior Austin Hauter and junior Jordan Wood-Pina.

Also back are seniors Matthew Dixon and Shawn O’Connor, junior Dylan Angell, sophomore Piper Fisher and Coupeville seventh-grader Atlas Iverson.

The key newcomers, according to coach Erik Mann, are junior Lenika Aguilar and a trio of freshmen, Jenny Danielson, Ella Langrock and Willa Weinsheimer.

“We have been building a core group of sailors over the last few years who have gotten close but never won a regatta,” Mann said. “We hope to sail well enough to place in the top three in at least one regatta this season, and hopefully win one.”

Regardless of the outcome of the regattas, a successful season will be one where “our team has fun, each individual continues to build their skill level and our veteran sailors pass their knowledge to the younger sailors,” Mann said.

The Wildcats go to Sand Point in Seattle this weekend for the Combined Division Regatta.

Oak Harbor hosts the Island Cup at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 8 and 9, with a field of about 30 schools and 150 sailors from Washington and Oregon.