Facing off against the best collegiate
sailing teams in the country at the
Rose Bowl Regatta last weekend, the
Oregon Sailing Club brought home the
experience of competing at the elite level, if nothing else.
“It was intense,” said George Yioulos, Club coordinator and skipper of Oregon’s “B” boat.
The Ducks finished the two-day regatta with 395 points, good for 17th place out of 24 teams. Yioulos and Rob Dubuc, the “A” team skipper, led their boats ahead of local rival Portland State (18th) and California schools UCLA (22), UC Santa Cruz (21) and San Jose State (24). Southern California, the meet host, won with 85 points.
The Ducks struggled against the topflite field in nasty conditions.
“We did OK,” Dubuc said about the team’s performance at the regatta held at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, Calif. “The competition was very, very good. You make one little mistake and you lose five to 10 boats.”
“We found ourselves on the cusp
of the second bubble,” Yioulos said,
referring to the divide in the different levels of competition.
Despite placing in the lower division, the Ducks were upbeat about their experience at the “Super Bowl of regattas.”
“It was tons of fun,” Yioulos said.
“Unbelievable,” Dubuc added about
the two-day event. “The best learning
experience.”
The two skippers also used the meet as a recruiting tool. With approximately 50 high school teams competing in their own regatta, the Oregon captains were able to make a pitch for their program to some of the best secondary school sailors on the West Coast.
“It was good to get our name out there for in the future,” said Dubuc, who will be taking over the coordinator duties for
Yioulos next year.
The regatta, officially the last meet of
the 2004 fall season, also served as a
measuring stick for Oregon against
chief rival Washington. The Huskies
compete in the Northwest division of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association along with the Ducks, annually winning the NWICSA and clinching the division’s only bid to the national regatta in the spring.
“We’re starting to knock on their
heels,” Dubuc said. Washington finished 13th, four spots ahead of Oregon, with
278 points.
“This year we absolutely have a chance to make nationals,” he added.
The elder Yioulos was a bit more cautious.
“UW picks it up when the chips are
on the line,” Yioulos said. “It’s the goal (beating Washington), but we’d have to sail our ‘A’ game.”
Not overlooking other NWICSA division members, Yioulos was extremely pleased his squad finished ahead of Portland State.
“Beating PSU is important,”
Yioulos said. “They were ranked above us, which is a bunch
of hooey.”
The Oregon Sailing Club will be off for most of winter term, as
sailing isn’t ideal along the Oregon Coast during January and February. Starting the first week of spring term, though, the club will
“practice, practice, practice” for the final regattas of the school year.
“Hopefully we can make a run,” said Yioulos, a senior, about his
final chance at earning a spot at the national regatta in Galveston, Texas.

Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald