Bay School Wins San Francisco High School Sailing Championship

On January 10, seven high school sailing teams from San Francisco descended upon the Marina waterfront to race for the title of City High School Champions. The event was run by the St. Francis Yacht Club, and ultimately won for a record eighth time by The Bay School of San Francisco Breakers.

Nine boats were on the line for the regatta, with two of the schools (Bay and Convent/Stuart Hall) fielding two boats. Each team had an A and B division entry, rotating sailors every two races. A cool 10-knot northerly was the breeze for the first gun, but the wind got lighter and lighter as the day progressed. The lighter breeze can be as much, if not more, of a challenge for the San Francisco Bay youngsters, many of whom are more comfortable sailing in the big breeze typical of most of the year, as opposed to the light winter wind.

When all was said and done, The Bay School’s top boat ran away with the city title, tallying just 16 points from 12 races between A and B divisions. Bay’s A division boat was a senior duo of skipper Caleb Everett and crew Anna Rauh. The B division boat was made up of senior skipper Nico Anders and junior crew Oscar Melet. The Breakers won the first three races of the regatta to take an early lead. In races four and five, they finished third and second respectively. From that point on, they won five of the final six races.

“It was a very fun event with absolutely beautiful conditions,” Everett, the 2025 C420 national champion, tells Latitude. “The day started with the wind a bit farther north with a touch more velocity, then it died halfway through the day, which allowed for some fun boat handling. The crazy crosscurrent made the lay lines super-fun and interesting. [We] had a great day, with nine ones, two twos, and one three. I want to give a big thank-you to our competitors, who were great sports out on the water and were great training partners throughout the year. Also big thanks to the StFYC for hosting the event. We are really happy with this result, and it’s a great boost of confidence as we move into the second half of our PCISA season.”

In second place with 33 points were the Convent/Stuart Hall Cubs. The Cubs finished second in six of the 12 races, and recorded bullets in races five and 12. They were the only non-Bay School boat to win a race. The second Bay School boat, which finished fifth overall, won one race as well.

The podium was rounded out by the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders, who finished with 48 points, good for third place. Also with 48 points were the University Red Devils, but the Crusaders took the tiebreaker by having two second-place finishes to the Red Devils’ one. The other schools competing were the Urban Blues, International Jaguars, and Saint Ignatius Wildcats.

This year marked the 13th edition of the regatta, which has been won by The Bay School eight times. This included three straight wins from 2017 through 2019. Urban has won it three times, in 2013, 2015, and 2022. Riordan won in 2021, and Lick Wilmerding — which no longer has a high school sailing team — won it in spring 2017 (a year in which the regatta was sailed twice, due to changes in StFYC’s high school sailing calendar).

Many of the San Francisco high school teams, the Bay team included, will continue to compete throughout the spring, with two more statewide PCISA regattas remaining.

You can find the full scores from the SF High School City Championships here.