The BVI was well represented with eight youth sailors competing in the St. Thomas Columbus Day Regatta on October 10-11. The regatta hosted 13 Optimist Green Fleet racers, 13 Optimist Championship racers, and 5 Club 420 teams.

Saturday conditions were 12-15 knots of breeze with large waves on the Club 420 and Championship course by Cow and Calves rocks. Sunday conditions calmed down when the racing area moved to Pillsbury Sound. The Optimist Green Fleet raced in Cowpet Bay both days.

BVI Green Fleet Optimist sailors included Nicolas Haycraft, Scott Kirk, and Noah George.

Noah George’s best race was an impressive 4th place finish and a respectable 8th place overall. Nicolas Haycraft’s first row starts led to consistent finishes and landed him in the 5th place spot overall.

Ryan Lettsome, Kyle Roose, and Anya and Max Reshetiloff competed for team BVI in the Optimist Championship fleet.

Max Reshetiloff finished 9th overall with a couple of great starts. With his steadfast perseverance in his first ever championship fleet event, Ryan Lettsome took home the 2nd place white fleet trophy.

The top Championship Optimist sailor from team BVI was Kyle Roose. With his regular finishes in the top half of the fleet, along with taking a 2nd place in his best race, Kyle finished 6th overall and took home the 2nd place trophy for Optimist Blue Fleet.
The Club 420 racing was tight all weekend. After missing the first two races Saturday, BVI sailor Sam Morrell and his crew, Hanna Clemens sailed very well the rest of the weekend. Morrell and his crew finished 2nd overall, just a few points behind the 1st place finisher Teddy Nicolosi and his crew, Amanda Engeman from St. Thomas.

Also racing over the weekend was BVI sailor, Rayne Duff who competed in the Bermuda Junior Gold Cup form October 8 – 11. The regatta was an invite-only, usually offered to sailors who have placed well in their categories over the last year.

During the regatta the conditions varied from extremely light to medium winds. On the first day Rayne had good results, first race with a first, keeping him at the top of the fleet. During the next couple of days Rayne’s status stayed at the top of the fleet, and was able to discard his last race (a 23rd). Rayne ended up in 4th place out of 45 competitors which, according to the Royal BVI Yacht Club, is to be considered a great result for a first regatta of this calibre.