Sailing Chargers Compete in SAISA Mallory Qualifier

The Shorecrest Varsity Sailing Chargers traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina, to sail in the SAISA district's regatta. The sailing schools in the district include schools from North Carolina down to Florida.

On Friday, April 28, the team had the opportunity to practice for the two-day regatta at the venue. With calmer conditions in the morning on Saturday, the sailors began to race. The wind gradually began to pick up and the race committee had the 16 schools competing until sunset.

Sunday’s race started off very windy, and when the Chargers A fleet started their first race it began to rain. The wind picked up to very high amounts. The B fleet came out and the race committee was able to pull off 1 full set (2 races in the A division and 2 races in the B division). They tried to take the A fleet out again and they sailed two more races in 20-30 knots of wind after that full set, however the B division never went back out due to dangerous conditions - so those 2 A division races did not count. Overall, the Chargers competed in 12 races for each division.

In the varsity A Division races, skipper Kate Danielson '24 and Ainsley Braun '25 sailed together for most of the regatta, however in the first set of the first day, skipper Rosie Simpson '25 crewed for Danielson.

For the B Division, skipper Rosie Simpson '25 had crew Morgan Shirey '24 for some of the sets and Josh O’Connor '26 for some of the other sets. 

Although the Chargers did not end up in a very good position, they ended the year off strong. The conditions were unfavorable and incredibly rough, but each one of the sailors persevered and sailed hard!