On Saturday May 28, sailors from the Boothbay region High School Sailing Team traveled to Mount Desert Isle for the Great Harbor Regatta hosted by MDI Community Sailing and MDI High School. Thirteen teams from Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine competed under sunny skies and 4-8 knots of wind. Currents during the day made for challenging conditions as boats often came up short at the weather mark. Identical Rondial Turbo 420's, same shape and dimensions as a Club 420 but 70 pounds lighter, were used. 

The regatta was run with A and B boats alternating every two races, completing seven races for each boat and 14 races for the day. The A Boat started with Nolan Conlin, and Hamilton Barclay, while the B Boat was sailed by Ella Beauregard (Center for Teaching and Learning) and Gabby Boord (Boothbay Region High School); Tommy Thelander from Lincoln Academy alternated on both boats.

The first races saw light conditions of 4 knots and current changing direction. The A Boat decided to go left after the start on starboard tack to gain current relief, rounding the weather mark 2nd. Skipper Hamilton Barclay maintained second place position on the leeward leg with aggressive protection of the inside position. The eventual race winner was able to poke their bow on the inside after the leeward mark rounding and passed the Boothbay boat which then tacked to clear and eventually crossed the line in 3rd. However, the East Greenwich team was disqualified for fouling MDI at the start and Boothbay moved up to 2nd.

The second race saw the Boothbay boat tacking too close at the weather mark, and dropping from 4th at the mark to 13th after getting clear and doing their penalty turns. With finishes of 2, 12, 4, 3, 7, 3, 11 in seven races, the A Boat had 43 points and was in fifth place.

The B Boat turned in its best performance of the year as well with finishes of 10, 8, 10, 7, 8, 12, 10 for 65 points and ninth place just one point ahead of Yarmouth. Skipper Gabby Boord and crew Ella Beauregard sailed together all season with strong boat handling skills. Gabby was new to sailing last year while and Ella has become the go to crew especially in light conditions. Enthused about the regatta, they said, "We learned so much this year, we can't wait to sail together this summer." Both will be sailing out of Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club's Junior Sailing program starting in June.

The fifth member of the squad, Tommy Thelander, rotated in as crew on both the A and B boats. New to sailing this spring, Tommy has been an active cross-country runner for Lincoln Academy. Tommy developed into one of the best crew on the squad using his natural athletic talent to pick up roll-tacking quickly. Team Leader Nolan Conlin is normally a skipper but started out crewing on Saturday, he skippered with Ella Beauregard as crew in the last race of the A Boat.

The High School Sailing team is a program created by and operated by the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club as a service to the community. The program is in its fifth year of operation and will pick up again in the fall for that season.