CONGRATS TO THE "POINTERS," Point Loma High's perennially hot sailing team, who have just won the Interscholastic Sailing Association's National Doublehanded Championship for the third time in six years. After 40 races in two days (20 in A division and 20 in B), Point Loma won over Severn High School (Annapolis, MD) by a slim 10 points – an average of only 1/4 point per race. Milton Academy (Milton, MA) finished a distant third, 58 points adrift of PLHS. Full results here.
A Division was won by St Thomas Aquinas HS (Fort Lauderdale, FL) skippered by Sophia Reineke ’17 with crew Lobby Redmond ’20 and Brian Buckley ’17. Point Loma's Jack Egan ’20 sailing with Kenny Moats ’17 and Sean Caulfield ’19 won B Division by a commanding 27 points.
Members of the the Pointers winning team were A Div skipper Jack Reiter ’18 and B Div skipper Jack Egan ’20, with crews Remy Reynolds ’17, JD Schrady ’18, Diego Escobar ’20, Kenny Moats ’17, and Sean Caulfield ’19.
The 2017 series was hosted by MIT at their famously good sailing pavilion on the Charles River with a sweeping view of downtown Boston. Some 550 USA high school teams are members of the ISSA, and only the top 20 from regional elims qualify to compete for the historic Mallory Trophy.
It was a grey weekend in Boston, but that didn't stop the unprecedented live TV coverage that the organizers streamed to YouTube, which we ran here on SAILING ILLUSTRATED to the delight of many parents and HS sailing fans. Ken Legler, longtime and esteemed coach of the Tuft's University sailing team, and veteran US SAILING PRO and judge, provided almost non-stop, cogent commentary with shoreside cameras supplemented by an aerial camera on a well-flown drone. Other regatta organizers will find the production instructive and inspiring.