Mount Pleasant Magazine 6.4

fourth at the divisionals. This year, if they could manage

a top-three finish, they’d earn a spot in the national

competition, which meant more to them than ever before.

This year, the nationals would be hosted by the College of

Charleston, and they would be held in Charleston Harbor,

Wando’s practice waters.

The Wando sailors lowered their boats into Lake

Norman and drifted to the starting line. They raced for a

dozen hours and rocked and rolled through 20 individual

races. At the end of the day, the Wando Warriors had a

tentative hold on first place, but there was still another

day of racing remaining, and only a few points separated

Wando from the next four teams.

“One race could kill them,” Wendy Ando said.

“Anything can happen in sailing. Anything. You can be on

the course, and then the wind shifts suddenly and the boat

stops and you lose your lead.”

The Warriors were nervous that night. The teams in

second, third and forth place were all members the South

Points region, which has consistently dominated the South

Atlantic Championships. These teams have more money

and better boats than Wando. They go to more regattas.

They are more used to winning.

The wind on Lake Norman had been behaving

suspiciously, so the race committee chose to start the

second day of races an hour earlier than scheduled. The

sailors woke, ate breakfast and drove to the lake before

sunrise. A light breeze held for the first few races, and

Wando suffered a string of bad finishes. Shorecrest

Preparatory School, the fifth best sailing school in the

country, was within two points of overtaking the Warriors.

“And then,” Wendy Ando said, “before that race was

over, the wind died. It just shut off.”

Wando skipper Cameron Guise caught one last gust

of wind and rode it to a strong finish. After 24 races, the

Wando Warriors were still in first place. The wind was

gone and the Warriors had become the first North Points

team to cinch the South Atlantic Championship. They

would be racing in Charleston Harbor one last time this

season, at the nationals May 14 and May 15.

Three weeks later, more than 100 high schoolers from

across the country gathered on a dock under the USS