This was the first time since 2018 that we have had international competitors in the event and we were delighted to welcome sailors from St John KATS, St John Yacht Club, Coral Bay Yacht Club and the St Thomas Yacht Club.
In total there were 31 sailing dinghies entered in the event consisting of ILCAs, RSFevas and Optimists. The Optimists completed 11 races with the other fleets all doing 10 races. The weather was changeable with some hefty squalls adding further drama to the busy race course in the Sir Francis Drake Channel!
Before the racing heated up, both the teams from St Thomas and St John were hosted at Club 1973, joining the RBVIYC monthly quiz night. Great fun was had by all and the visitors enjoyed the hospitality.
The sailing kicked off just after 10:30 on Saturday morning with some challenging and changing weather conditions with a good number of squalls blowing throughout the day. Congratulations must be made to our first time racers Alex Wells and Caroline Ryan who competed in the ILCA, both showing great determination and gaining in confidence throughout the regatta.
In the ILCA 7 Danny Petrovic dominated the class with first place in 8 of the ten races. Andrew “Tubes” Thompson started each day with a bullet but could not get close enough to Danny to challenge for the top spot and finished in second overall. There was close racing in the rest of the fleet with only 3 points separating third and fifth, Gilbo Simpson claimed 3rd by just two points from Dick Burks with Colm Crilly finishing fifth. Kyle Roose rounded out the table but this could have been a different story had he been able to compete on day two!
The ILCA 6 class was even more competitive with 10 entrants with half of the fleet from St John. Emma Paull won the event, beating teenager Anais Craig by 9 points both sailors had a good back and forth in many races. There were great battles further down the places with a good competitive fleet at all levels. Bannon Beaty clinched third by just two points from Audie Weaver.
The Optimist fleet completed 11 races and also had some very close racing with five visitors coming from the St Thomas Yacht Club. The team from St Thomas battled for the top spots with Finn Hodgins claiming 1st. It was a tie on points for 2nd place between Avery Pearsall and Hunter Reinbold which was clinched on count back by Avery to take 2nd place leaving Hunter in a well earned 3rd.
The BVI Optimist sailing team had a challenging time competing against the more experienced St Thomas team but all put in some great performances. Aerin Westlake achieved a 5th place with her best result being 2nd in race number 7 and claims the BVI Opti National Champion title. Henry Clifton was next for Team BVI just ahead of Arun Bissoondutt who raced in the championship fleet for the first time. Bissoondutt showed great up wind and down wind speed, achieving a 5th place in race 7. Maggie Nolan and Piper Bailey both showed improvement throughout the regatta particularly on their starting techniques and upwind tactics.
The 3-boat RS Feva fleet was hotly contested and possibly the noisiest of the classes!! Richard and Rosie Wooldridge took the win and the battle for 2nd and 3rd could not have been any closer. Ultimately Kay Reddy and Liz Buratti took home second place after Ted Reshetiloff and Tom Gee bowed out of the final race. With both boats posting exactly the same positions through the weekend it came down to the position in the final race!
Thank you to all the sailors who took party, especially the teams from St John and St Thomas. We are all wondering how the St John team still had the energy to sail home again after the prize giving on Sunday! Thank you to the volunteers on the committee boat, mark boat and safety boat and the amazing RBVIYC coaching team for all their hard work. A big thank you to Husky Salvage for providing the Committee boat and as always out hosts, Nanny Cay.
Opti
- Finn Hodgins STT, 22
- Avery Pearsall STT, 25
- Hunter Reinbold STT, 25
- Kip Hodgins STT, 31
- Aerin Westlake IVB, 47
- Banyan Heikkila STT, 63
- Henry Clifton IVB, 64
- Arun Bissoondutt IVB, 68
- Piper Bailey IVB, 89
10 Maggie Nolan IVB, 91
ILCA4
- Caroline Ryan IVB, 11
- Alex Wells, IVB 21
ILCA6
- Emma Paull IVB, 10
- Anais Craig STJ, 19
- Bannon Beaty STJ, 32
- Audie Weaver STJ, 34
- Zach Wilson STJ, 45
- Elena Magnie STJ, 50
- Kit Arton IVB, 64
- Bijorn Bullock IVB, 65
- Marentia de Villiers IVB, 83
- Fernando Reyero Noya IVB, 99
ILCA7
- Danny Petrovic IVB, 10
- Andrew Thompson IVB, 21
- Gilbo Simpson IVB, 35
- Richard Burks STJ, 37
- Colm Crilly IVB, 38
- Kyle Roose IVB, 42
RS Feva
- Richard & Rosie Wooldridge IVB, 12
- Kay Reddy & Liz Buratti IVB, 20
- Ted Reshetiloff & Tom Gee IVB, 20
