Boothbay Region High School (BRHS) Sailing Team raced in Falmouth High School’s Casco Bay Open hosted at SailMaine in Portland Sept. 22. The regatta was the second qualifying event of the season for the Atlantic Coast Championships to be held in Annapolis in November. The Boothbay team placed second in the first such event held at Bowdoin in early September making them one of the favorites. However, an equipment breakdown, a snagged mark, and strong competition from the Rhode Island and Marblehead schools were too much for the Seahawk sailors.

A strong cold front crossed the area at sunrise Saturday morning bringing strong gusty northwest winds by race time. The first boats on the race course experienced winds above 20 knots. Four boats capsized prior to the start and four more during the race including three spectacular capsizes caused by one out of control boat at the leeward mark. Race committee changed marks frequently as the wind shifted and coach boats keenly eyed boats to make sure everyone popped up after capsizes.

Boothbay sailors Ella Beauregard and Hamilton Barclay got off the line cleanly in A Division and rounded the weather mark in the top group of four boats. After rounding the weather mark on the heels of the leaders the pair jibed immediately to gain a shadow on boats ahead. Jibing again late in the leg to gain inside position, the boom vang’s shackle parted with a shot and the pair struggled to keep control as the boom lifted skyward heading into the leeward mark at well over 10 knots. Not safe to continue, the pair sailed off the course and had a new shackle installed by the organizers. The pair won a race later in the series but also snagged a weather mark on their rudder.

B Division sailors Alton Coolidge and Nate Rideout faired better with no mishaps, fouls or breakdowns. They sailed consistently with several good starts and two top five finishes. Their scores of 5, 9, 7, 7, 4, 10 were enough for 8th place in B Division.

At this writing, Boothbay was still awaiting award of breakdown points which, if granted, would move the team into 6th from 10th place overall.

The team practices Monday through Thursday in Boothbay Harbor in the C420 junior training boat. This week spinnakers will be flying as two boats prepare for the C420 Mid-Atlantic Championships in Niantic Bay, Connecticut. The team will be back the following week as they prepare for a Pen Bay event in Castine and a Keelboat Qualifier Columbus Day weekend. The BRHS sailing team is supported by the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club and the BHYC Junior Program Foundation.