Sailor of the Week
Ian BarrowsTwenty teams competed at the ISSA High School Doublehanded Championship (Mallory Championship) on Lake Michigan and one team prevailed. On the shoulders of senior leader Ian Barrows, Antilles School of St. Thomas, VI won the National Championship, hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club.
Teams were greeted with challenging spring season conditions on the lake, as winds exceeded 20 knots at times on both days of the championship, including a brisk wind chill in the 30s and 40s. Barrows was A-Division skipper with crews Agustina Barbuto and Ian Coyle. They finished with 43 points and a 44-point margin of victory over the second best A-Division squad from Severn School. The Antilles School won the overall title by just four points over Cape Cod Academy.
“This win is probably my best win in the 420 and should give me momentum into college sailing,” said Barrows, who is attending Yale University this fall. “This is the sixth National Championship for the sailing team here and should help give confidence to future Antilles School teams.”
Antilles School practices three times a week during the fall and spring. They don't have regattas due to the lack of other high school sailing teams in the area, so the two qualifiers are important regattas for the team.
“There are many seniors on the team, so we have sailed together for a long time, and many have been sailing together since our Opti days,” said Barrows. “We have experience in pressure situations and knew to stay consistent, forget about bad results, and sail one race at a time. We also communicate well about strategies and what to expect during rotations.”
Barrows started sailing in Opti's at St. Thomas Yacht Club at the age of 5. Along with Optis and 420s, Barrows sails Lasers and Bytes competitively as well. His favorite type of racing is team racing.
Barrows and his teammates are now preparing for the ISSA Team Racing National Championship (Baker Trophy), hosted by Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Fla. on May 25-26.
Get full results and recaps from ISSA High School Doublehanded Championship.