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 ).
