SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i coed sailing team began racing in the 2016 Gill Coed Sailing National Championship on Tuesday morning. The four-day regatta is hosted by San Diego State.
 
Hawai'i got off to a rough start under tough course conditions in North San Diego Bay. As a team, the Rainbows' A and B teams combined to finish the first day of competition ranked No. 14 overall out of 18 teams with 153 total points in the Eastern Semifinal. UH's Division A team (Chuck Eaton and Kellie Yamada) got off to a slow start but made adjustments and worked their way up to finish tied for eighth place with Stanford with 59 points after six races. The "A" team finished the opening race in 18th place, but then showed their resiliency by bouncing back to finish in the Top 10 in three of the final four races of the day. UH's "A" team finished the final race of the day coming in at No. 3.
 
Hawai'i's "B" squad found themselves in 17th place with 94 total points after also racing six times on the opening day. The "B" team struggled overall, finishing in 18th place in the first and last races of the day and could only finish as high as No. 14 twice. Soren Wilde and Annika Garett sailed races 1-4 with Giacomo Paoletti and Cole Brauer finishing the day in races 5-6.
 
The Rainbows need to shoot up the leader board at least five spots on Wednesday to advance to the finals of the National Championship which begins on Thursday, June 1.
 
All competitors are racing in FJ's (flying juniors) provided by the San Diego Yacht Club. The Coed Semifinals will continue on Wednesday morning.