HONOLULU - In its long-awaited return to its home waters, the University of Hawaii sailing team captured the Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite this weekend at Keehi Lagoon. The Rainbows, hosting its first event since 2020, captured the regatta for the sixth straight time and did it in dramatic fashion.
 
The UH Black squad entered the final set of rotations trailing Salve Regina University by two points. But Bastien Rasse and Devon Stapleton won their final race in the A division and B division sailors Samuel Patton and Sam Kimmel put UH over the top with runner-up finishes in the final two races of the weekend, to help UH edge the Seahawks in points, 71-69.     
                       
Sixteen teams representing 12 schools competed during the weekend. A total of 24 races – 12 in each the A and B divisions – were completed as the teams navigated shifty currents, particularly on the first day, following Saturday's retracted tsunami watch. Host Hawaii fielded four teams with all of them finishing in the top seven.
 
The Rainbow Wahine finished fifth overall in the regatta with 135 points. Mercy Tangredi and Kelsie Grant competed in the A division, while Morgan Carew and Anna Kalabukhova sailed in the B division. The Rainbow Green team with Trey Summers, Taylor Ledgerwood, Theodore Knobel and Lily Simpson placed sixth with 136 points. Meanwhile the all-female Rainbow White team of Hayden Lahr, Jemma Baird, Frances Tarpey-Schwed and Chloe Long wrapped up the weekend with 178 points and a seventh-place finish.
 
Next up, the UH women's team will compete in the Jeff Simion Women's Regatta, Jan. 29-30, in Mission Bay, Calif. The coed team will compete in the Port of LA Harbor Cup, March 11-13, in Southern California.