Ballard High School is now the 17th ranked high school sailing team in the nation, and the 2nd ranked team in the Northwest. The team flew to Cleveland, OH for four days and raced in shifty, unpredictable conditions. We were plagued by hordes of jetskiiers and cargo ships at the beautiful Historic Coast Guard Station on Lake Erie while the wind varied from 5kts to gusts of 22kts. The welcome received from The Foundry was lovely and warm, though they incorrectly cited Ballard High School as being from Louisville, KY. Everyone asked, somewhat incredulously, what water could the team possibly sail on? And where were their accents? Olympia High School, the 1# ranked team from Washington, and assured everyone we were indeed from the Northwest.
Erik Anderson, Johnny Vaughey, Sam Airhart sailed hard and consistently in A fleet and took a top ten finish. This was the last high school regatta for seniors Erik and Johnny. They’ve been members of the team since its onset and have a passion for sailing the team will miss. Though they’re graduating the team, they will still be around CYC as instructors and coaches for our summer program. Catie and Meimei sailed competitively in B fleet and got a 3rd place in race 4B- of the highest place finishes in by a NWISA team at a championship doublehanded fleet racing event. Coach Annie Sorensen, Commodore Shelagh Hansen, Debbie Anderson, Roy Peterson, Sebastian Dougherty, and Nancy and David Vandervort joined them as support and chaperone. Thank you to members of CYC and greater Ballard community for their generous donations to the high school racing program, this couldn’t have happened without you. The program is growing and stay tuned for great things to come.
