Harbor Light News

Local youth sailing team places well in national event




A team of five young sailors from Little Traverse Sailor’s Junior Race Team travelled to Florida recently to compete in the J/70 Youth National Championships. The team placed second overall, earning multiple first place finishes in the 30-plus races they competed in during the multi-day championship. The sailors pictured left to right are Meredith Moran, Molly Matthews, Jack Miller, Luke Baker, Ellie Wagner. (Courtesy photo)

A team of five young sailors from Little Traverse Sailor’s Junior Race Team travelled to Florida recently to compete in the J/70 Youth National Championships. The team placed second overall, earning multiple first place finishes in the 30-plus races they competed in during the multi-day championship. The sailors pictured left to right are Meredith Moran, Molly Matthews, Jack Miller, Luke Baker, Ellie Wagner. (Courtesy photo)

It’s no secret that Harbor Springs is known for raising up great sailors. From crew on every big circuit, from America’s Cup to the Volvo Ocean Race, to countless Chicago to Mackinac winners, to the folks who simply love nothing more than messing around on boats, this is a place where water and wind get stitched deep in muscle and bone.

So it makes sense that a group of five teenage sailors with ties to Harbor Springs would make a major splash on the national stage at the J/70Youth National Championships in St. Petersburg, Florida in mid-November, earning second place overall.

The J/70 team, skipper Meredith Moran (17), of Wilton, CT; Ellie Wagner (17) of Philadelphia, PA, bow; Molly Matthews (17), of Gross Ile, MI, pit; Luke Baker (15) of Harbor Springs, jib/spin trim; Jack Miller (14) of Jackson, MI, traveler/backstay, qualified for the J/70 Youth Championship in July during the Little Traverse Yacht Club’s Ugotta Regatta.

The J/70 crew is part of the Little Traverse Sailors youth racing team. Three years ago, Rich Lehmann donated his J/70 to Little Traverse Sailors, to be used as a teaching and race team vessel. Since then, the five-person keel-boat has been used daily in the summer sailing season months by students and race team members.

Despite the many advantages of learning to crew on Little Traverse Bay, the team went to Florida clear underdogs to very serious race outfits from around the country. Adding to the pressure? The team’s practice day was scratched due to unfavorable conditions.

“We got to the sailing center a day before the first race expecting to be able to practice. This was super important because none of us had sailed on a J/70 in almost three months,” said crew member Luke Baker, a sophomore at Harbor Springs High School. “When we got there, the guy in charge said that it was too windy for anyone to go out. This was annoying, as it was only 18-plus knots, and we sail in up to 25.”

Baker said the team “accepted that we couldn’t do anything and walked around town. We were talking about how we thought we would do, and before the first day, we just wanted to have fun.”

When racing– up to 10 races a day– started, the team quickly fell into third place.

“We were pretty happy,” Baker said. “There was a clear leader; a boat from California that had a crew of all 20-something year olds. The next boat that was pulling ahead of us was one from Chicago. We mostly got thirds, and some firsts and seconds, which we weren’t really expecting that day.We ended up third overall for the day. We talked some more at dinner, and agreed: we wanted second place.”

The next day, Baker said the crew went out “just trying to beat the boat ahead of us, as there was a large gap behind.”

The team earned more first place finishes in another full day of racing, and by the end of the afternoon, the boat representing Harbor Springs had an eight point lead, bumping them into a solid second place.

“The last day had three races left out of the 21 total we sailed, and we just didn’t want anything awful to happen,” Baker said. “We did really well that day, with a second place finish and two firsts. The team that was close to us kind of choked and got all seven’s.”

The LTS Youth Race Team went to Florida to celebrate a great season back home, and ended up proving just how skilled and adaptive young sailors who grow up along the shores of Lake Michigan can be — as well as claiming a spot on a national podium.

“We were super pumped with what we had done, and so was everyone who had come down with us,” Baker said.“We were all really happy, especially having no opportunity to practice just before the races, and to be sailing in unfamiliar conditions.”

According to a press release that followed the team’s qualifier win, the crew will give a presentation about their experiences at a Lunch-NLearn at the Little Traverse Yacht Club during the summer, 2019.