The Harwich High Sailing Team completed another highly successful sailing season (11-5) on the waters of Pleasant Bay culminating in a 2^nd Place finish at the State Fleet Racing Championships at MIT and 1^st Place at the Cape & Islands Championship which was hosted right here out our diminutive club.

Coach John Dickson assisted by Harwich Harbormaster Tom Leach continues to mold a successful team of skippers and crew from among school ranks. Because our beloved Pleasant Bay is just that, pleasant, their success may be due in part to beginning daily practices early in March nearly a month prior to some of the other schools. Dry suits are the order and the infrequent capsize is usually dealt with by a quick righting. If you think kids today are any less tough than we were growing up, think again about bobbing around in the 38°F water and a -5° wind chill.

Harwich lost two top senior skippers last year CYC members Mike O’Loughlin and Josh Mongeau. Fortunately for Harwich, two underclassmen Tommy Leach and Jaime Scarbrough, who are part of Stone Horse racing team, have picked up the helm along with Neal Donovan. Mikes kid sister Shawna O’Loughlin also takes her turn on the tiller as do Bryan Knowles and Scott Penfield. Crews include Gina Legge, Jim Adams, Jill Shuttleworth, Jesse Mongeau, and Julia Szendrei.

Tommy and Jaime as team captains have done well. Their most unusual event this year was a return to Figawi for the High School Invitational where the two shared the helm and crew duties and landed an untouchable two seconds and five firsts against 8 teams. In sailing science counts. That’s what two Harwich High skippers have shown the rest of their world throughout this season. Sailing on the edge the honor students learned to put physics to work, tacking on shifts and headers, deciding on the chess-work that gets you to the top in team and fleet racing.

The last team race May 31^st against Nantucket was an example of how technically possible it is to win from a losing position when Harwich had a huge final recovery race. Tom Leach/James Adams initiated covering maneuvers from ahead to spring James Scarbrough/Gina Legge. Then the two junior skippers together controlled Nantucket boats to leverage Scott Penfield/Neal Donovan, who had capsized their boat, from dead last to fourth place for a 2,3,4 win. What the returning captains are saying about the States and BC High "Next year it’s all over!"

The teams incredibly strong showing at the States this year bodes well for Harwich as a sailing power in 2002. From our logbook entries for the States at MIT:

5/25/01 - CAMBRIDGE - Harwich Sailors Take Second Place at State Championship. Harwich High sailors have put their town on the chart with an outstanding second place finish at the Massachusetts High School Championship at MIT. The event open to all secondary schools is sponsored by MIT Sailing and is sailed in Tech dinghies on the Charles River. After Thursdays racing, the team was ahead of BC High Prep and a pack of eighteen schools by one point with solid top finishes, including three seconds and two firsts. On Friday, Tom Leach, Jamie Scarbrough and their crew Gina Legge and Scott Penfield put in another top performance and boosted the Rough Riders lead to 53, four points ahead of the Eagles. However, protests filed in the last two heats against Harwich by crafty BC High led to a DSQ of Leach's boat when a headstay cleat parted and lost control and contact with another boat. The Rough Riders must have felt like someone was gunning for them. A second interference penalty developed due to a mark rounding issue that clearly happened before the two boat length circle, but the protest committee was not convinced. Harwich was relegated to a second place trophy 5 points up on Notre Dame. Fourth and fifth went to Marblehead High (96) and Saint Sebastian's (101). The Rough Riders placed 8th last year, and 5th in 1999. Tom described the protest this way: "Harwich ended up coming in second due to getting DSQed in the last two races. BC protested me at the start of the 7th race. I won the start, I tacked onto port to port tack the rest of the fleet, get clear, then due my circles, but the headstay broke not more then 5boatlengths from the line and I had to file for breakdown points. BC still protested me and the RC threw me out because they said I did not do my circles at the proper time and said that I should have luffed my sails, let the whole fleet pass me, then do my circles- go figure?, but I'm going to appeal the decision 'cause its total bull. I protested the girl who got first in the last race and won, but BC and I were protested by St. John's. both of them told the same story which I didn't agree with, and my witness- St. Sebs- had to leave to get to a prom. The race committee threw me out but not BC. St. Johns had nothing to gain in the protest, other than ruining Harwichs chances-conspiracy maybe?.Nah, but I'm upset because without those 2 unfair protests I would have won B division with 22pts and Harwich would have won the Champs, but ended up instead with 58pts. 2nd is a good finish, but it hurts because we know we could have won it.Next year its all over!"