Peter Wenner Rainbow Invite - 2024
Cal Sailing left the continent! On the last week of our winter break, Cal sailors raced at the Rainbow Invite regatta hosted by the University of Hawaii! The team arrived a few days before the regatta and got to explore Hawaii’s amazing sights and food. After a few days of team bonding, the team raced on Saturday and Sunday.
Regatta Write Up – By: Valarie Pieruccini (’26)
Nine of our Cal sailors recently flew out to Honolulu Hawaii for the 2024 Rainbow Invite hosted by the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This was my first time visiting Hawaii and I was extremely excited! This trip began on Wednesday morning with our flight from SFO to Honolulu. Despite being exhausted from our 7 am flight, the team persisted. On the plane, the team watched various cinematic masterpieces such as Paul Blart Mall Cop. After landing and saying “OMG I can’t believe we are in Hawaii” 100+ times, we took an Uber to our Airbnb in Waikiki. After settling into the Airbnb we went to Foodland, got poke, and headed to the beach. On Thursday, we hiked the Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail. The view was amazing and we even saw a few whales at the peak of the trail! After hiking we drove to the North Shore, stopping for acai bowls on the way. On Friday, we headed to Dive Oahu, where a dive boat took our group to Turtle Canyon. Aivan and I scuba-dived while the rest of the group snorkeled. During the dive, we saw nine sea turtles!
On Saturday, the regatta started, and Aivan, Ivanni, Dante, Alex, and I sailed. Despite there being little wind we made the most of the day. Alex skippered in the A-division with Dante as his crew and Aivan skippered in the B-division with Ivanni and me switching off crewing. After a long and hot day on the water, all the teams enjoyed a barbecue hosted by the Hawaii team. On Sunday, Alex, Emerson, Catherine, Elsa, and Gabriel sailed. The wind conditions greatly improved and it was decently shady. Alex skippered again for A-division with Elsa crewing, and Emerson skippered for B-divison with Catherine and Gabriel switching off crewing. The group had a great day sailing and received a painted coconut from the Hawaii team. Sunburned and filled with sushi from the diner the night before, we woke up bright and early to go to the airport. I’m happy to report that I had a wonderful first time at the Rainbow Invite regatta and made many special memories with my teammates. Till next year!