HONOLULU- The University of Hawai'i coed sailing team started the spring season in strong fashion capturing the Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite this weekend at Keehi Lagoon. It marks the sixth straight year the Rainbow sailors have won the regatta.
 
Seventeen teams representing 14 schools competed during the weekend. Host Hawaii fielded four teams in all with three of them finishing in the top four. A total of 24 races – 12 in each the A and B divisions – were completed with the Rainbow sailors mastering the shifty conditions of their home waters.
 
UH's Rainbow Green squad was far and away the best team finishing with a regatta-low 65 points, enjoying a 26-point cushion to runner-up finisher Rainbow White. The Rainbow Green team was led by Patrick Wilkinson and Frances Tarpey-Schwed in the A Division and Bastien Rasse and Devon Stapleton, in the B division.
 
Despite finishing second, the Rainbow White squad had an impressive weekend, by finishing 27 points ahead of its nearest competition in third-place UC Santa Barbara. Sailing in the A division was Owen Lahr and Megan Lucas, while Pelle Bergstrom, Chloe Long and Daniela Moroz sailed in the B division.
 
The Rainbow Wahine, the lone women's entry in the regatta, place eighth overall with 190 points. Hayden Lahr and Isabelle Anderson (A division) and Kahala Furukawa and Olivia Klotz (B division) competed for the Rainbow Wahine.
 
Next up, the UH women's team will compete in the South Florida Women's Invite, Feb. 15-16, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The coed team will compete in the McIntyre Team Race, in Redwood City, Calif.