PCISA Singlehanded Pacific Coast Championship

PCISA Singlehanded Pacific Coast Championship

Over the weekend of 9/27-28 our High School ILCA (formally the Laser) Sailors,

heading down to Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club for this year’s installment of the High School

Singlehanded Pacific Coast Championship. Up for grabs at this event are the coveted

berths for the High School Singlehanded National Championship aka the Cressy trophy.

Sailors are split into one of three fleets for this regatta and subsequently the nationals.

They are ILCA6 (Laser Radial) Girls, ILCA6 Boys, and ILCA7 Open. Each division

qualifies only two sailors to the Nationals field of twelve. This year, SBYSF had a record

eight sailors in attendance at the Pacific Coast Championships from SMHS and DPHS.

Saturday’s forecast and reality were dismal at best. Sailors rigged in the parking lot and

following a team and competitor’s meeting hit the water. A slow tow got them to the

racecourse, and we were greeted to 0-2 knots of wind and heavy current. Sailors

practiced the art of the postponement while we waited for raceable conditions. After

nearly three hours under AP a light southerly wind filled, and racing commenced.

Saturday’s racing was all about not rolling a double-digit finish in preparation for most

racing to be completed on Sunday.

Sunday’s conditions were perfect with a moderate west breeze filling promptly around

1230. After a brief postponement, racing commenced with wind in the 10-14 knot range.

The challenge was how many races could the Race Committee hammer out before the

3:30pm time limit. With little downtime between races, an additional seven races were

sailed to bring the race count to ten.

We would like to extend a massive congratulations to SBYSF Sailor and SBYC

Member, Taylor Escola, who won the PCISA Singlehanded PCCs for the second year in

a row! Our repeat champion has punched her ticket to the Cressy Trophy hosted by Old

Dominion University in early November! This will Taylor’s second time representing

SBYSF, SBYC, and SMHS at the Cressy finals. We had many other standout

performances including in the ILCA6 Boys Fleet Sam Wells (4 th ), Emerson Wadell (10 th ),

Dylan Seawards (12 th ), Ryan Wells (15 th ). In the ILCA6 Girls Fleet Emma Edwards (7 th )

and Savannah Zollett (9 th ).

Singlehanded High School Nationals

Singlehanded High School Nationals

Author- Taylor Escola

Three weeks later I headed to Norfolk Virginia for the High School Singlehanded Cressy

Nationals, which was hosted at the Old Dominion University. There are 6 districts in the United

States for Highschool sailing and each district takes the top 2 sailors in their fleet to a National

Championship. The night I got home from the qualifier I started researching the wind and venue

for Old Dominion. All the items I read and people I spoke with said similar things…” it’s either

nuking or a drifter.

This regatta consisted of top Male ILCA 6, Female ILCA 6 and Open ILCA 7 from around the

US. The practice day was met with 20 knots of wind and only a handful of sailors went out to

practice. My friends from Corona Del Mar and San Diego decided to practice for 30 minutes to

tune the boat and make sure nothing was going to break before racing.

Saturday morning the first start was at 10:15am and the wind was unstable and light. After

every 2 races the sailors were able to go talk to their coaches, the coaches were staged in

shallow water on a dock so when the sailors would go to their coaches we had to hop in the

water and walk our boats up to the dock, my mom was my coach this weekend, kind of fun

watching her wade out in the water. After getting off a few races for the day, we ended with an

on-the-water postponement until racing was called for the day.

Sunday was the last day and was met with better wind, which was around 10 knots and lots of

wind shifts, making decisions and timing incredibly important. There were shifts favoring the

right side of the course, but the left had more breeze so you either had to hope the right would

fill in or hope the left would get some shifts. At the end of the regatta, I placed 7th in the Nation.

Last year, my friend Tate Christopher from Mater Dei qualified as Sophomore & Junior, each

year finishing mid fleet, he qualified his senior year and won 1st overall. This year he is sailing

for the College National Championship representing Tulane. Also, sailor Mikey Sentovich from

Corona Del Mar qualified last year as a Junior and finished mid fleet, this year he won the

National Championship as a Senior. I’m holding out hope for next year, my final year!

U.S. Youth Championship

U.S. Youth Championship

Author- Taylor Escola

Last month, I was fortunate to compete (ILCA 6) in the U.S. Youth Championship in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida. This regatta brings all the top U.S. youth sailors together, and the winner

will represent the United States at the upcoming Youth Worlds, held in Portugal in December.

The ILCA 6 fleet had a total of 63 participants with male and females combined. Having

become friends and competing against most of the sailors, I felt confident in my performance

going into the regatta, especially if the forecast was to hold for the usual south Florida wind.

My mom and I left Santa Barbara early Thursday morning, no easy way to fly there, it takes a

full day and is kind of exhausting. We watched a couple movies on the plane and lots of people

watching.

The following day, I arrived at the venue around 9:00am on Friday. The first thing to do was

check in at Registration. After checking in, we unloaded my charter boat. It’s nice to charter a

boat as it’s usually new and picked up at the regatta’s location, no towing or parking trailers!

Unfortunately, it was not a long day on the water, but rather on land as we were met with rain

and lightning storms, making it unsafe to sail on the racecourse. The breeze at the Lauderdale

Yacht Club was perfect with steady mid-teens and puffs into low 20’s but offshore on the

racecourse, it was determined to be dangerous. We made the best of the day dialing in the

charter boat and catching up with other sailors from around the country.

The Lauderdale Yacht Club area had extreme King Tides mixed with torrential rains…. Getting

around Lauderdale was a bit tricky as many Uber drivers wouldn’t drive during the high tides as

the saltwater overflowing on the streets would cause severe corrosion to their cars. A couple

times we had to wade through knee deep water to get to a safer street for an Uber pick-up.

The next day was Race Day 1. Saturday the report time at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club was

8:00am and the first warning was at 10:30am. My dad and I checked weather and wind 100’s of

times, we hoped for a good breeze until midafternoon at which time it would shup off. The tow

out of the harbor was 30 minutes and as soon as we turned at the jetty, we were met with no

wind. We did not get any races off this day and were on the water for almost 8 hours. The sun

was out, and all sailors baked in the sun waiting for a start.

Sunday the report time was moved up to 6:30am, the Race Commitee thought there would be

more wind in the morning, which is traditional in South Florida, before the sun heats up and

sucks the pressure out. We stayed out on the water for 9 more hours and were only able to get

1 race off, which was under 5 knots. The Race Committee was getting nervous as lots was to

determine on the results of this regatta and who would represent the United States at the Youth

World Championship in Portugal.

Monday, we had to get 2 races off to make the regatta official. Report time was again at

6:30am, I have never dreamed of rigging my boat for a race before breakfast. There was slightly

better wind, however we only got 2 races off, which did make the regatta official…. But barely,

after 4 days of scheduled sailing and only getting 3 races off. This regatta was difficult in all

aspects, with no throw outs and light shifty breeze, the scores were all over the place. I am glad

to have raced at this regatta even if the conditions were not what I had prepared for going into

Youth Champs. Overall, I finished 34th and 9th female. Congratulations to my friend /

competitor Louise Martin out South Carolina, she is representing the United States at the Youth

Worlds. Based on my age…I’ve got 2 more tries at this regatta and Youth Worlds, next year is

being held in Long Beach!

SCYYRA Perry Series Wrap Up

The SCYYRA Perry Series is the Southern California Club 420 circuit of regattas. This series spans four two-day events across four unique venues. The list of names engraved on the Perry Series Perpetual Trophy is a who’s who of doublehanded sailing in Southern California’s history. Named after legendary sailor, Dave Perry, past winners included College All-Americans, College Sailors of the Year, Olympians, America’s Cup Sailors, and more. Over the past three years, Team SBYSF has had immense success at the Perry Series. Winning the 2022/23 Perry Series and following that up with a 2nd place overall at the 2024/24 Perry Series.

This year, we are incredibly proud to announce that Team SBYSF sailors, Carly Kieding with crew Julia Getter, have won the 2024/25 Perry Series Perpetual Trophy! The girls battled hard over the four-event series to win the overall by a 29-point margin. Along the way, they won the C420 Class Pacific Coast Championship (Perry Series #1) and finished 2nd at Perry #2 and #4. Winning the Perry title cemented them as the best in the West. Their results at a national level have been impressive to say the least. A short list includes: 2nd/144 (C420 Midwinters Championship), 5th/129 (C420 US National Championship), and 14th and Top Women’s Team/105 (C420 Open North American Championship).

2024 PCISA #2/Anteater Regatta

PCISA  Anteater Regatta

This past weekend our five teams traveled to Newport Harbor Yacht Club for the PCISA  Anteater regatta on 11/9/24 and 11/10/24. The wind was light for most of the weekend generally coming from the west and shifted more northwest as the days went on. The wind speed stayed below 5-7 knots for most of the regatta picking up late on Sunday for the last couple of races to about 7-9 knots. On Saturday we saw some strong left shifts throughout the day coupled with a quite favored pin end making it a priority to tack onto port off the line. Sunday was relatively the same until it started to pick up and we saw some right shifts which created significant lifts off of Lido Island. Overall with the light conditions and the difficult race course it was a tough regatta for all our teams, but we enjoyed the practice nonetheless. We are looking forward to the Rose Bowl regatta in Long Beach. 

Porter Murrary

SBYSF CFJ Fleet Captain

2024 PCISA #1- Sea Otter Regatta

Over the weekend of 10/12-10/13, our five high school sailing teams traveled to Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club for the PCISA Sea Otter regatta. Wind speeds generally between 6-10 knots from the northwest, with slight oscillations around that direction. The courses were short, which made it a priority to start well and at the favored end, otherwise, it was very difficult to catch up. Congrats to San Marcos High School's varsity team—Taylor Escola, Brynn Behrens, Carly Keiding, and Teo Lee—who placed 4th overall. Santa Barbara High School finished in 9th place, Dos Pueblos came in 14th, and Laguna Blanca took 3rd place in the silver fleet. A huge thanks to Coach Ryan Eastwood for his positive support and excellent coaching throughout the weekend. We’re looking forward to the next regatta at Newport Harbor, the Anteater Regatta.  

USODA West Coast Champs

September 14-15, 2024, Optimist sailors from the West Coast gathered at the California Yacht Club to mark the 2024 West Coast Championships. The conditions were moderate at 8-10 knots with a medium swell. The course was a trapezoid, and the race committee aimed to sail four races per day, a total of 8 races and one dropped race. The SBYSF sent sailors Scofield McLean, Dylan McLean, and Aiden Mcnellis in hopes of qualifying for this year's USODA Team Trials. All the sailors did well, qualifying for the top half. Scofield McLean placed 6th, Dylan McLean placed 28th, and Aiden McNellis placed 31st. In order to qualify for USODA Team Trials, sailors needed to place in the top 25% out of 106 participants. Scofield McLean was the only sailor to qualify for Team Trials (Congrats Scofield McLean!).

2024 PCISA Singlehanded Championship

Our High School ILCA (Laser) team headed to Mission Bay Yacht Club on 9/21-22 with hopes of qualifying for the 2024 ISSA (High School Sailing) Singlehanded National Championship (the Cressy Trophy). The sailors raced 13 races in shifty conditions putting a lot of pressure on the team to keep their heads on a swivel.

A huge congratulations is in store for Taylor Escola for winning the 2024 PCISA Singlehanded Championship Girls division and qualifying for the 2024 Cressy Trophy! Taylor will head to St. Petersburg YC, FL to represent SBYSF at the Singlehanded National Championships in late-October. Taylor is one of only twelve female sailors nationwide to earn a berth to the Nationals. Good luck Taylor!

In the ILCA Boys Fleet, Teo Lee and Dylan Seawards battled hard in a tough fleet to place 4th and 5th overall, narrowly missing the top-2 qualifying berths.

Congratulations to all our sailors and the best of luck to Taylor at Nationals!

C420 Pacific Coast Championship

Over the weekend of 9/14-15, our C420 Race Team headed to Cabrillo Beach YC for the C420 Class Pacific Coast Championship and Perry Series #1. The C420 is the most popular youth doublehanded dinghy in the United States. Sailors from all over the United States race the C420 with a trapeze and spinnaker in regional and national level regattas.

We are very proud to announce that Team SB Sailors, Carly Kieding and Julia Getter were crowned the 2024 C420 Pacific Coast Champions! After a phenomenal Summer, the girls battled hard at the PCCs, placing top-3 in 3/8 races to win the event by 8 points! 

In the U16 (Junior-division), Taylor Escola/Emerson Wadell, took home top honors and were named 2024 U16 Pacific Coast Champs!

Harold Adams Team Race

The Harold Adams Team Race is an annual favorite among junior sailors in Southern California. It brings together the top yacht club and high school team racing teams from around our region. Many of the winners of the HA have gone on to win the High School Team Race Nationals and other prestigious events. Team Racing is a fun and fast-paced discipline of sailing that pits a team of three boats against another. Unlike traditional fleet racing where all boats are trying to get to the finish line as soon as possible, team racing has various elements of boats slowing others to put their teammates in more advantaged positions. Tools such as marktraps, passbacks, and slowing are utilized to improve your teams finishing position. San Diego Yacht Club hosted this event and provides 24 CFJ dinghies with matching color-coded sails.

This year SBYSF was able to field two team for this event. The regatta format was a randomized first round robin, followed by a gold/silver split, and finished with a final-four. Having three total meetings between teams helps to eliminate ties.

Saturday started with a short postponement before a light southerly breezed filled the course. With coaches acting as umpires, racing got underway. Our two teams began in the same flight of teams. We were able to race all day long, completing the first-round robin and venturing into the gold/silver split. At the end of RR1 we had one team qualify for Gold Fleet and on qualifying for Silver.

Sunday brought lighter winds and a moderate postponement. Race Committee was eager to begin racing once the breeze filled La Playa Basin. We finished up the top six Gold Round Robin with SBYSF1 qualifying for the final four in third place. SBYSF2 won some hard fought races, finishing the event eighth. In the final four, SBYSF1 took a loss to PLHS and Mater Dei. Our final race against PLHS2 was the deciding race for third place overall. Our sailors fought hard beating their team and finishing third overall! The best team racing result a SBYSF team has accomplished.

Congratulations to SBYSF1 for placing third overall: Ryan Satterberg/Crue Ziskind, Oliver Stokke/Catalina Matlock-Klein, and Blake Behrens/Teo Lee. A shoutout to SBYSF2 on their 8th place finish: Carly Kieding/Hope Campbell, Jon Seawards/Sam Long, and Liam Andresen/Magne Henriques.