HONOLULU – The University of Hawai`i sailing team kicks off its spring season this weekend hosting the Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite, Jan. 17-18. Eleven different schools, including host UH, will descend on Keehi Lagoon for the annual regatta.

 

The event will feature a total of 14 teams, ranging from each coast and Canada, competing in both the coed and women's/junior varsity divisions. Brown, Chapman, Fordham, Oregon State, Portland State, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, University of Victoria (British Columbia), Washington and Western Washington will join two UH teams in the coed division. Hawai`i will also feature two teams in the women's/junior varsity division where they will compete against Brown, UCLA and a pair of Western Washington squads.

 

The regatta is named after former Rainbow sailor Peter Wenner, who tragically lost his life in a recreational boating accident in November 2008. Wenner was a member of UH's 2007 PCCSC Sloop Championship sqaud that went on to participate in the Sloop Nationals. The Rainbow Invite will be the second event the team has participated in since Wenner's untimely death, and the team's first home event.

 

UH has traditionally excelled in the Rainbow Invite and swept both divisions last year with a field of 19 teams.

 

What: 2009 Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite

Date: Saturday, Jan. 17 - Sunday, Jan. 18

Time: All day; first race begins at approximately 10:00 a.m.

Where: Honolulu Community College Marine Education Center - Keehi Lagoon.

Field: (Coed) - Brown, Chapman, Fordham, Hawai`i (2), Oregon State, Portland State, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, University of Victoria (British Columbia), Washington, Western Washington (Women's/JV) – Brown, Hawai`i (2), UCLA, Western Washington (2)