By Megan Pluth | NB Indy
The forecast for Santa Barbara last weekend was grim: Light, cold winds becoming a serious storm with gusts to 40 knots and a significant swell, not to mention rain.
Nevertheless, students from four local high schools made the trek up to Santa Barbara for the annual Gaucho Regatta. In Gold Division, Newport Harbor High School and Corona del Mar fielded three teams each among the 28 boats, the largest fleet seen all year.
Saturday began with a postponement. The breeze began to fill around noon and built to a steady 7-10 knots with oscillations and large left shifts consistently throughout the day. It continued to build, along with Santa Barbara’s typical chop. With only two sets completed, the breeze building to 12-15 knots, and an ominous forecast for Sunday, the Race Committee sent A Division out for two races before sending them in for the day around 5:30 p.m.
The rain began to pour shortly after derigging on Saturday and didn’t let up come Sunday. The breeze was a consistent 30 knots, the swell as high as the pier, and rescue boats were bringing wrecked boaters into the harbor. The Race Committee posted a postponement at 7:30 a.m. and, ultimately, the regatta was called at 11 a.m.
The last two A Division races were thrown out due to the fact that B Division couldn’t complete the set on Sunday. This resulted in an interesting change in final scores. Notably, Kieran Chung and Erin Kincaid from Newport Harbor High School placed second in A Division, only five points out of first. While Michael Dahl and Chloe Dapp from Corona del Mar ended the regatta winning B Division.
Results: 1. Cathedral Catholic 2. Newport Harbor (Kieran Chung/Erin Kincaid – Ryan Davidson/Francesca Cappellini) 3. Corona del Mar (Tyler MacDonald/Brooke Donahue – Michael Dahl/Chloe Dapp) 20. Mater Dei (Charlie Welsh/Stephanie DaSilva – Megan Kenney/Madie Chadwell) 28. Sage Hill (James Mather/Dominic Re – Nick Ramming/Jeff Tedmoray).
For complete Gold and Sliver results go to www.pcisa.org
