VI youth sailors shine @ USVI Friendship Regatta in St Thomas
According to a press release from the RBVIYC on November 14, 2023, the first day of racing started early with some of the children getting up before the sun!
"There were 14 sailors racing in the green fleet representing the St Thomas Yacht Club, St Croix and all of the VI team. However, we discovered that the green fleet was starting with the Opti Championship fleet so they were on a starting line with 27 other boats. The conditions also made this challenging with above 25 knots gusts rolling through with big wind shifts and a challenging cross sea. We all got a good bit of practice bailing out Optis on day 1!
"Not to be phased, the RBVIYC sailors gritted their teeth and went for it. They had a steep learning curve and all of our sailors rose to the challenge. We saw huge improvement from all of the sailors throughout the day. After three races they were all getting the hang of it and we saw the best result of the day from Aerin Westlake who got a third place. As well as all of the sailors pushing at the starts. The sailors all worked on their downwind skills throughout all seven races and this really paid off on Sunday," RBVIYC stated.
VI sailors overcame tough conditions
The conditions were largely the same on day two with big gusts, large wind shifts, and difficult waves the whole way from Great St James to the yacht club itself.
According to the RBVIYC; however, none of this phased any of its sailors who rigged up and were on the water for 9:00 AM. It said Race 1 of day two was a little shaky with some friendly fire on the start line, however, they quickly overcame this with a cracking set of results.
"Lying in third overnight, Aerin found her feet again after a shaky first race on Sunday. With great upwind speed she was the first green fleeter round the windward mark in three of the races. She was closely followed in most of the races by Arun Bissoondutt who also excelled upwind on day 2. Aerin achieved four second-place finishes on day two only missing out by a few seconds on getting a first place in a race to finish her regatta in third place overall."
In all of the races, Henry Clifton had brilliant starts, finding clean air and an open race course. He was in the mix with the Champs fleet for the best starts of the day. This paid off with a best result of 4th and very consistent places for the day to back up his achievements on day one and end the regatta in seventh place overall.
VI sailors win awards
"Next up for the BVI was Arun whose best result was a very well-deserved third place in race ten. Arun was also presented with a special award for perseverance and resilience! Jake Richardson and Piper Bailey both finished every one of the twelve races and posted top-ten finishes. Piper was also awarded the ‘Die Hard’ award for her determination throughout the weekend.
"Phoenix Steer and Maggie Nolan also showed great spirit and determination and like their teammates posted top-ten finishes. Phoenix rounded out his regatta with his best result of seventh place and played a massive role in the team keeping everyone entertained with his jokes and dancing! Maggie’s top finish was a sixth place in race 8 and she was also acknowledged by the organisers with a Clean Ocean Award for helping the environment by picking up trash from the sea throughout the weekend," RBVIYC stated.
'A great adventure'
Coach James Campbell said he was very proud of The Royal BVIYCs Opti Squad who came together to support each other for a great adventure.
“On behalf of the Team, I would like to thank the following people and groups; St Thomas YC for a great event, Adventure Charters BVI and their Crew who donated the mothership for the weekend, Liz Buratti who stayed on board and helped to look after the kids off the water all of the RBVIYC families and most importantly all of the young sailors who all did so well and made the BVI proud,” Campbell commented.
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