25 sailors battled it out in Back to School Regatta & ILCA Masters
The 22 boats were split into four classes, all of which completed 5 races in what were very challenging conditions throughout the Sir Francis Drake Channel during the afternoon.
Optimists
The Optimist fleet of 9 boats welcomed five visitors from St Thomas Yacht Club, including Eden and Serena Iverson who were racing at their first ever regatta. Their first race saw an explosive start with four boats called “on course side” but the fleet got away in the light 6 knot breeze.
With Henry Clifton achieving first in race one, it was a close set of five races in the Optimist fleet.
Sam DeGraff, from STYC, took the title after pulling ahead in 4 of the five races, but having to work hard for those wins.
As the day progressed, the mental and physical stamina of the sailors was put to the test with Aerin Westlake and Piper Bailey, both from RBVIYC, coming through the fleet and showing what they could do by trading places at the top of the leaderboard. Both of the sailors showed great grit and determination throughout the day.
Aerin finished in third, just one point behind Henry, and Piper finished in fourth. For Piper, this has been her best regatta, and she has really shown what hard work can produce at the young age of eleven.
Masters competition
Not to be outdone by the up-and-coming youth sailors, the “Masters” got underway in the ILCA6 and ILCA7. To qualify as a “Master”, the individual sailor must be over the age of 30.
The races were closely fought, with some of the finishes being within milliseconds of each other. In the ILCA 7, we saw close racing with Tim Paull clicking the ILCA 7 Masters title, but close on his heels throughout the regatta were Colm Crilly and Andrew Thompson finishing second and third respectively.
In the ILCA 6, there were 4 entries but only three boats on the water, with Cara Brown competing in her first event at RBVIYC and Jake Richardson competing in an ILCA for his first time. Cara cleaned up with 5 bullets to take the 2025 ILCA6 Masters title, followed by Emme De Villiers, who got second place. Jake put in a sterling performance, improving through the day to finish 3rd.
RSFeva
In the RSFeva class, the race committee was worried that they might be blinded by Kay Reddy’s birthday bling, and she and her crew Liz Buratti, continued in this glistening vein on the water, winning 3 races to secure first place.
Second place was taken by a chilled out Imogen New and her crew Sean Osborn, who had never sailed before, just one point behind Kay and Liz. Third went to Tyrique Isaacs and Caroline Ryan, who were racing in the class for the first time.
The Royal BVI Yacht Club expressed appreciation to Husky Salvage and IYM for providing the committee boat and mark boat. A big thanks was also extended to host Nanny Cay.
"Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and race committee team: Mandi Atack, Megan de Vaal, Paul Westlake, Stephen Bailey, Megan Thickett, James Campbell, Cayley Smit and Filip Kreutzer. Thank you to all the competitors and parents, and especially the team from St Thomas, for making the trip across to join us," the RBVIYC stated.
Results
Pos Name Country Points
Opti
1 Samantha Lesmierises DeGraff (ISV) 4
2 Henry Clifton (IVB) 9
3 Aerin Westlake (IVB) 10
4 Piper Bailey (IVB) 15
5 Banyan Heikilla (ISV) 21
6 Maggie Nolan (IVB) 22
7 Eden Iverson (ISV) 23
8 Serena Iverson (ISV) 31
9 Thomas Schnell (ISV) 33
RS Feva
1 Kay Reddy & Liz Buratti (IVB) 5
2 Imogen New & Sean Osborn (IVB) 6
3 Tyrique Isaacs & Caroline Ryan (IVB) 11
ILCA6
1 Cara Brown (IVB) 4
2 Marentia de Villiers (IVB) 8
3 Jake Richardson (IVB) 11
ILCA7
1 Tim Paull (IVB) 5
2 Colm Crilly (IRL) 7
3 Andrew Thompson (IVB) 11
4 Oliver Alsop (IVB) 14
5 Nathan Haycraft (IVB) 17
6 Gilbo Simpson (IVB) 23
7 Scott Meyers (IVB) 27
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
1 Response to “25 sailors battled it out in Back to School Regatta & ILCA Masters”