SIMPSON BAY—St. Maarten youth sailors continue to hone skills and broaden their experience by competing in the international arena, this time posting some excellent results in the Optimists Division of the 11th International Sailing Regatta, organised by Club Nautico de San Juan, Puerto Rico, last weekend.
The regatta, which drew the top Optimist sailors from around the region and abroad, also included a 420 and IC 24 class. Racing took place outside the harbour with Old San Juan as a backdrop.
St. Maarten joined up with four Optimist sailors and one Laser sailor from Curaçao to represent the Dutch Antilles (AHO)
The team of six from St. Maarten -Nathan Smith (9), Nicholas de Tullio (10), Luke Bacon (10), Kathryn Caputo (10), Illian Halbertsma (11) and Rhone Findlay (15)- who raced in the Laser Class, were all still in Puerto Rico last night following an accident with their plane on the taxi way, but are due to arrive back today.
According to ages, the Opti sailors were grouped in the White fleet (16 sailors), except for IIlian Halbertsma in Blue fleet. Results were given for the White fleet and an overall result for White, Blue and Red fleets combined (31 sailors). Twelve races were scored in total.
Nathan Smith finished 2nd in the White fleet, Nicolas de Tullio 4th, Luke Bacon 5th, Kathryn Caputo 12th, and Illian Halbertsma 7th in Blue fleet.
Rhone Findlay finished 11th out of 14 in Laser Radials, with 12 races scored.
In the combined overall results, Nathan Smith was 13th, Nicholas de Tullio 15th, Illian Halbertsma 16th, Luke Bacon 17th and Kathryn Caputo 27th.
"The races were long every day, about 45 minutes, and it was very windy and choppy," reported Michael Bacon, Luke's father. "But they all did very well. The kids were out in the boats all day long.
"We were racing against kids a few years older and still held our own in close racing and did well. The results show that we're not at the back of the fleet, but in the middle and creeping up. It's very encouraging and shows the quality of youth sailing is just getting better and better. Every time the group competes as whole in a regatta they do better each time."
According to Bacon, an advanced racing coach is due to arrive in St. Maarten soon to prepare the sailors for more big events.
"There are regattas coming up in St. Barths, St. Thomas, St. John, and four more," he said. "Plus we have a very special regatta here in St. Maarten in November that we are organising. The November regatta will be as big, if not bigger than, Puerto Rico. We will be bringing in boats and working on sponsorship. We hope to attract 60-70 kids and it will be held on Kim Sha Beach."
