The sailing teams from Annapolis High School and Archbishop Spalding dethroned the dominant Corona del Mar High School from California at last weekend’s ISSA National Keelboat Invitational Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Annapolis High won the Mendelblatt Trophy, which has been given to the top keelboat each year since the regatta began in 2014. It was designed to give high school sailing teams more exposure to keelboat racing.
On Saturday, racing kicked off in the middle of a dying easterly, and the wind soon shut down completely. The boats were towed back in and teams waited out the wind from shore. A predicted southwesterly breeze kicked in, from 5 to 8 knots, and teams were able to complete races one through four, finishing up just before sunset.
Sunday, with much more favorable weather, race five got off right on time with 10-14 knots from the southwest. During races 6 through 8, the breeze built to 16-20 knots out of the west. Race nine saw a thin band of rain for about ten minutes, and by race 10, the wind had lightened up again.
In the race’s fouth year, the Annapolis Panthers won handily with 26 points, and Spalding’s Cavaliers came in second with 38.
The top three teams were awarded gift certificates to Coral Reef Sailing Apparel.
