To finish the season, complying winds swept the UCSB sailing team into fifth place at the Pacific Coast Championships (PCC).

Hosted by Long Beach, the PCC was held at the United States Sailing Center (USSC) on April 29 through May 1, where ample amounts of wind blew consistently throughout the weekend, providing suitable sailing conditions. The six participating members of the #5 UCSB sailing team just missed qualifying for one of four spots at nationals. Teams from 10 major universities, including NCAA Division I programs such as USC, Stanford and Hawaii participated in the competition.

The races were divided into A and B divisions. Skippers senior Dave Hochart and junior Kate Conway placed fifth in A division races with the accompanying crew of freshmen Heather Perry and Anna Brun and senior Monica LaHaye. Junior skippers Hunter Williams and Jon Bell drove the crew comprised of juniors Courtney Careccia and Lauren Hobson into fifth place within division B races.

Hobson was pleased with Santa Barbara’s overall performance, particularly in respect to its competition.

“There were teams that had a lot more members than we do and have people with a lot of experience, and I think we did really well competing against them,” Hobson said. “It was a good way to end the year for both of our A and B divisions.”

Conway was satisfied with the Gauchos’ racing.

“Our division [Pacific Coast] is the best in the country and we sailed really well against some of the top teams. All of our practice was worth it,” Conway said. “We sailed as best we could and are happy to have placed the way we did.”