Spartan Sailors 8th in Nation

by Christine Brown

The BHS Sailing Team, as Northwest district champions, traveled to the 2015 ISSA Baker Trophy Team Racing National Championship in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend, capturing 8th place. According to co-captains Will Brown and Josh Rentz, the team had set a goal of breaking into the top 10 nationally.

A highlight for the team was winning Saturday against St. George’s School, a private high school from Rhode Island. Brown said, “After that race, we knew we could be competitive at the national level in team racing.” St. George’s School ended the regatta in 4th place, losing a tie-breaker for 3rd.

Conditions were challenging both days, with light winds and vertical chop on Lake Michigan, which Coach Susie Kaseler described as “washing machine” waves. On Saturday, the race committee managed to hold 52 races, not quite making it through one full rotation of 66 races. Sunday’s weather was cloudy with no wind, and racing moved farther out on Lake Michigan in pursuit of wind. The race committee found a few puffs early on, and Bainbridge sailed in the first very slow race. The wind died, and the team bobbed on the water for several hours until the wind built enough to continue the rotation. The race committee finished the initial round robin but had no time for the usual Gold, Silver, and Bronze rounds. Instead, they ran a best-of-three sail-off between the two teams tied for first. Shorecrest Preparatory School and St. Thomas Aquinas, two private school, cross-state rivals from Florida, contended for the championship, with Shorecrest coming out on top.

Varsity 8. Front Nick Dresl, Nicole Sanford, Josh Rentz, Hannah Harrison; back Staci Burzycki, Jackson McCoy, Blake Bentz, Will Brown.

Sailing for the BHS varsity team were seniors Josh Rentz, Will Brown, Stasi Burzycki, Jackson McCoy, Hannah Harrison, and Nick Dresel, as well as juniors Blake Bentzen and Nicole Sanford. Coach Kaseler said, “The success of these representatives of the sailing team at the Baker National Championship was greatly dependent on the work ethic and support of the entire team. Any victory or defeat belongs to the team as a whole, and not to the representatives alone.”

Sailors on the BHS team this season also included seniors Lucas Burzycki and Francine Brownell; juniors Caelan Juckniess, Karl Anderson, Cole Garthwaite, and Zach Mellin; sophomores Elizabeth Rolfes, Harry Saliba, and Kat Smith; and freshmen Christoph Webber, Olivia Mitchell, Quinn Ring, Sophia Kasper, and Sophie Crandell.

Stasi Burzycki, WIll Brown, Jackson McCoy, Nick Dresel (in boat)

Brown commented that community support for the team has also been a key component in the team’s success in reaching Nationals. The team’s participation in the ISSA Baker Trophy Team Racing National Championship was supported by a generous grant from the Port Madison Yacht Club.

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