Sailing – Page 14

British Virgin Islands Duff WIns 22nd International Optimist Regatta

June 25, 2014 by Admin

Rayne Duff in St Thomas

Shifting strategies to match wind speed and direction, staying out in front of the fleet and remaining calm provided successful strategies for 11-year-old Rayne Duff. Duff won the 22^nd International Optimist Regatta (IOR) hosted out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, St. Thomas, USVI, from June 20 to 22. At the conclusion of Sunday’s final two races, the Tortola, British Virgin Islands based sailor continued to lengthen his lead and comfortably finished with 33 points separating him from his closest competition. That’s quite a feat considering the keen level of competition in the 59-boat Advanced Optimist fleet and wind conditions blowing a brisk 10 to 15 knots, plus higher in gusts.

“I still need to work on my starts,” says Duff, who along with his other team members will be representing the BVI in the Optimist North American Championships, in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, July 9 to 16. “But being consistent, in the top three in every race, is really what helped.”

Duff not only won the overall championship, but also the 11- and 12-year-old Blue Fleet. The BVI had a total of 7 sailors in the competition.

BVI Coach Rob Lind said “the BVI team sailed really well and we were very proud of all of them, especially of course Rayne Duff”.

Nathan Haycraft came second in the 10 and under White Fleet – 35^th overall. Thad Lettsome in 11 and 12 year old Blue Fleet was the 2^nd best BVI Boat and 19^th overall. Sam Childs finished 25^th overall, James Dawson 36^th overall and Amelie Clark 39^th. Anya Reshetiloff competed in Green Fleet.

In the 13- to 15-year-old Red Fleet, it was 13-year-old Teddy Nicolosi, from St. Thomas, USVI, who finished first in spite of poor scores at the beginning of the regatta.

“The first day I was too nervous, I couldn’t think straight,” says Nicolosi, a member of the USVI National Team that will also compete in the Optimist North Americans in Mexico. “The second day I relaxed and told myself I didn’t care about the results, that it was just practice. Then I started sailing better.”

The USA’s Stephan Baker won the age 10 and Under White Fleet. “I played the left side of the course. That’s what my coach recommended and he has a lot of experience here. It really paid off,” says Baker. Baker is coached in Miami, Florida, by Antigua native and former BVI coach, Omari Scott.

The trophy for Top Girl was awarded to 11-year-old Isabella Casaretto from the USA. Casaretto also finished an impressive 7^th overall.

“I sailed here last year and didn’t do well,” says Casaretto. “This year, I got clean starts, clear air and kept up with the top of the fleet. I like it that there’s a lot of wind here.”

Twenty-two junior sailors competed in the Green or Beginner Fleet, which bodes well for the future of the sport. In the end, it was 9-year-old Caroline Sibilly from St. Thomas, USVI, who emerged victorious.

“My strategy was to get away from the others and into clear air so I could go fast,” says Sibilly.

“I was very impressed with the level of skill here especially in the top sailors,” says David Campbell James of Southampton, UK, who served as the IOR’s Principal Race Officer.

A total of 81 sailors competed in the Advanced Red, Blue and White Fleets and beginner Green Fleet. The Advanced Fleets completed 10 races and the Green Fleet a total of 18races over the three days of competition. Sailors hailed from 10 nations – Antigua, Argentina, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Germany, Puerto Rico, Spain, the Netherlands, U.S.A, and all three USVI.

The IOR is organized under authority of the Virgin Islands Sailing Association and it is a Caribbean Sailing Association-sanctioned event.

The week started off with the Sea Star Clinic, run by local coaches and coaches from OptiSailors.com, and included the one-day Sea Star Team Race. The BVI team sailors were Rayne Duff, James Dawson, Thank Lettsome and Nathan Haycraft. They won 3 of their 5 heats qualifying for the semi-finals; they ended up with 4^th place.

The team race was won by STYC 1, made up of Teddy Nicolosi, Christopher Sharpless, Mateo DiBlasi and Robert Hunter.

The BVI would like to thank their Sponsors Moorings, Nanny Cay and Nagico Insurances without whom the weekend would not have been possible.

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: 22nd International Optimist Regatta, BVI Sailing, Rayne Duff, St Thomas Yacht Club, VI Sailing

Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games athletes to be announced at Olympic Day celebration. Sochi 2014 Olympian to receive Olympic Participant Pin

June 17, 2014 by bvioc

Corrected to reflect new location and start time of Children’s Triathlon

The young athletes confirmed to represent the Virgin Islands at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in swimming, sailing and athletics will be announced this Saturday, June 21 at the Tortola Sports Club during Olympic Day celebrations.

The afternoon programme of events will take place between 4.00pm and 6.00pm and will include a special presentation of the Olympic Participant Pin by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to Peter Adam Crook, the VI’s half-pipe skier at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The annual, symbolic Olympic Day 2-mile walk/run will close out the activities. The events are free and open to the public.

“The BVIOC wants the whole community to come out and support our young Olympians-to-be and to get involved with the message of Olympism,” said Ephraim Penn, President of the BVIOC. “We will have with us some of the young athletes who will be representing the Virgin Islands at the highest level of global competition. This will be the first time that the territory will be represented in the sports of swimming and sailing at the Youth Olympic Games. These participants, along with those from the sport of athletics, have worked extremely hard to qualify as competitors and the BVIOC is excited to see their efforts come to fruition.”

The Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games will take place in Nanjing, China from August 16 – 28, approximately six months after the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games during which the VI was represented in the half-pipe ski event by Peter Adam Crook.

“Olympic Day is an occasion to highlight the Olympic values of Respect, Excellence, and Friendship,” noted Penn. “The philosophy requires us to be responsible citizens and to work towards unity through Respect for what has been entrusted to us, striving for Excellence in all that we do, and to foster local and global Friendships. He may not have achieved the score-board results hoped for, but Adam most recently demonstrated these values during his time at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia and this will be a fitting occasion to recognize his contribution to the Virgin Islands’ Olympic history.”

The activities, supported by Road Town Wholesale, distributors of Dasani and Coca Cola, will start at 4.00pm when runners and walkers can register for the symbolic Olympic Day walk/run. Participants will start from the Tortola Sports Club (TSC) at 4.45pm and will proceed west through Road Town and return to the sports club. Participants will receive a free tee-shirt and a certificate of participation on completion of the walk/run.

The Olympic Day run in Virgin Gorda will start at 6.30am (registration 6.00am) from the The Virgin Gorda Centre, HLSCC, The Valley. For details, contact Gloreah Gibson at gloreahgibson@hotmail.com or tel: 547-7404. The BVI Triathlon Federation will host a Children’s Olympic Day Triathlon at Smuggler’s Cove at 10:00am following on from the annual Summer Splash (corrected information). For details, contact Richard Morgan on 346-6002.

For more information on Olympic Day please contact Cleave Farrington, Executive Director of the BVIOC, by phone at 542 1007 or 496 6007 or by email at cmfarrington@bviolympics.org.

Filed Under: Athletics, BVI Olympic Committee, Nanjing News, Sailing, Sochi News, Swimming

Sam Morrell qualifies for Youth Olympic Games

March 7, 2014 by bvioc

With a resounding third overall finish in the 2014 Byte CII North American Championships Sam Morrell became the first British Virgin Islands sailor to qualify for an Olympic yachting berth. Competing in Jensen Beach, Florida Morrell easily secured one of the four spots available to sailors from the North American and Caribbean region.

Morrell will join sailors representing the USA, Canada, Bahamas, the USVI and the Bahamas at the event.

Conditions in the four-day regatta ran the gamut from light and shifty to windy.

“I’m much faster in strong wind,” explained the 14-year old Morrell. “My results in the 3 light wind races on the 2^nd day were OK, but I was better when the wind was up.

Going into the events final 2-races on day four, Morrell had a great chance to secure a qualifying position. He needed to finish no more than three points behind the USVI sailor and four points behind the competitor from Bermuda. In the end he beat them both and moved into 3^rd overall in the regatta and the 2^nd qualifying position.

A total of 10-races were held in the four day regatta which saw 30-sailors from the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean compete for 4-remaining spots in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Nanjing, China this August. The USA and Canada had previously qualified and Morrell joined the Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands in winning spots. Sailing spots in the Youth Olympics are apportioned to countries from different regions around the World.

This was Morrell’s second chance to qualify. He attended the Byte World Championships last August in Newport Rhode Island.

“I did poorly at the Worlds,” he admitted. “But, I returned to the VI and trained hard. A lot of training and coaching got me into great shape for this event.”

Morrell, who turns 15 on March 27^th, has been sailing and racing dinghies since he was 9. Switching from the Optimist to the Byte was a calculated move.

“I was sizing out of Opti’s [Optimist dinghies] and we set the Youth Olympics as a goal.,” he explained.

Morrell has represented the British Virgin Islands in the Optimist New England, North & South American Championships and finished the 2013 Optimist World Championships in 112^th position.

The Youth Olympic Games are held every four years. The 2014 Games will be held in Nanjing, China.

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: 2014 Byte CII North American Championships, Youth Olympic Games

Team BVI Youth Sailors Make Their Mark At Martin Luther King Regatta

January 27, 2014 by bvioc

The weekend of January 18, BVI Sailors once again travelled off island to compete in international events, this time visiting our close neighbors the US Virgin Islands.

BVI was represented in 4 classes of boats and 5 divisions at this competition and sailing for the first time without the support of their long time coach Omari Scott who has now taken up a position in the USA

Our youngest and newest racing sailors- and the driving goal of all our programs teaching sailing in the BVI is called the Green Fleet and they sail in the Optimist Dinghy which can be sailed up to 15 yrs of age. This event showed two new and three total green fleet kids representing BVI including Noah Pierce, Hayden Saunders and Max Reshetiloff. The green fleet doesn’t focus on scores but the kids all had exception races and their enthusiasm is very hog for continuing their development. I hope more kids join soon!

In the same class of boat but racing on the Opti Champ course out in the rougher waters south of St. Thomas the BVI was represented by sailors in two age divisions not having any older kids currently racing opti- but in the blue 11-12 age division Amelie Clark took 4th, Thad Lettsome took 3rd, Sam Child’s 2nd and Rayne Duff 1st ; all sailors having won one race overall as well. Nathan’s Haycraft took 2nd in the White 10-under division. The conditions were very challenging with relatively light winds on lumpy seas.

On the larger boats for older sailors we had Matthew Oliver representing our nation in the Laser class and he finished in 2nd place having sailed very consistently well.

Sam Morrell has moved from Opti to the two-man 420 Class in addition to working hard on his campaign in the Byte class preparing for the youth Olympic Games 2014 and sailed this regatta with Daniel Peteovic as crew, placing 2nd in the 420 class after 11 races having also taken a first overall in one race.

The BVI is going through a lot of transition for the racing sailors between aging into new fleets or classes of boats , and having lots their regular coaching for a short time until the new coach arrives from Ireland but they are persevering and showing they really know their stuff competing well all on their own and we look forward to a strong year ahead.

Stay tuned for news as the Opti Kids train and prepare for South and North American championships prior to worlds in October and also as Sam Morrell continues on his endeavor to represent the BVI at the Youth Olympics this summer.

Full results from this weekend can be seen at : http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/7586#_newsroom+results

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: Martin Luther King Regatta, Optimist Dinghy

Team BVI Wins Caribbean Dinghy Championships 2013

November 18, 2013 by bvioc

BVI Sailing Team at Caribbean Dinghy Championships 2013, Antigua: (l-r) Josh Morrell, coach Omari Scott, James Dawson, Matthew Oliver, Rayne Duff, Thad Lettsome.

Consistent sailing saw BVI sailors win the 2013 Caribbean Dinghy Championships held this weekend. The two day event was raced in Lasers, Zoom, Optimist and Pico dinghies in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. The event, run under the auspices of the Caribbean Sailing Association, was hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club in conjunction with Antigua’s National Sailing Academy. The Royal BVI Yacht Club and the BVI National Sailing Federation sponsored the BVI team.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: Caribbean Dinghy Championships 2013, Caribbean Sailing Association, James Dawson, Matthew Oliver, Omari Scott, optimist, pico, Rayne Duff, Sam Morrell, Thad Lettsome

Newbie becomes youngest-ever Pro Am Champion

November 4, 2013 by bvioc

By Tom Leweck, Scuttlebutt,  Virgin Gorda, BVI

Alec Anderson, youngest champion, Bitter End Yacht Club Pro-Am Regatta.
Photo provided

In spite of the fact that Alec Anderson had been named as a collegiate All-American in 2011, in 2012, and in 2013, many of the resort guests arriving at the Bitter End Yacht Club for the Pro Am Regatta were not familiar with his name. Well – they all know him now. Anderson has just become the BEYC’s 2013 Pro Am Champion.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: Alec Anderson, BEYC, Bitter End Yacht Club Pro-Am Regatta, sailing

BVIOC presents Virgin Island 49er sailors, Anderson & Brockbank with Olympic Scholarship

October 16, 2013 by bvioc

(l-r) Mark Chapman, treasurer, BVIOC, presents Olympic Solidarity funding to Rio 2016 hopefuls, Christopher Brockbank, 49er crew, and Alec Anderson, 49er skipper.

Virgin Island 49er sailors, Alec Anderson and Christopher Brockbank have been awarded an Olympic Scholarship by the BVI Olympic Committee (BVIOC). The combined, fixed $2000 monthly subsidy will assist them in their preparation and qualification for the Summer Games of the XXXI Olympiad, Rio 2016.

The funding comes from the Olympic Solidarity programme that aims to promote universal representation at the Olympic Games. The programme offers National Olympic Committees (NOCs) the possibility to obtain financial and technical assistance for a limited number of elite athletes who are training, and attempting to qualify, for the Rio Olympic Games.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: BVI Olympic Committee, Sailing Tagged With: 49er, Alec Anderson, BVI Olympic Committee, BVIOC, Chris Brockbank, Olympic Scholarship, Olympic Solidarity, Rio 2016

Junior sailor, Sam Morrell to represent BVI at Youth Olympic Games qualifier

August 23, 2013 by bvioc

Sam Morrell, junior BVI sailor

Sam Morell is attending the Byte CII World Championships in Newport, RI from August 24-28. This is his first attempt to qualify for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. The top 5-finishers at The World’s will gain automatic entry into the 2014 YOG.

Sam has been sailing & training with the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY all Summer. Summer training included a multiple of regattas on Long Island Sound. Sam finished on the podium in all of them, with a first place finish in the Shelter Island YC event and a resounding 6th place over all in the JSA Long Island Sound Championships.

Rayne Duff represents BVI in US Optimist Nat’l Championships and African Optimist Championships

August 23, 2013 by bvioc

Rayne Duff represents BVI at African Optimist Championships hosted in South Africa

Rayne Duff attended the US Optimist Dinghy Association National Championships held in Grosse Poinite Michigan early July, where light winds and current made for very challenging sailing. He finished the first round of racing (qualifications) having posted two first place finishes in groups of 81 sailors with a final score of 9th overall of 242 boats and thus made it to the championship gold medal rounds. Very light and fluky winds favored some sailors in the final rounds but not for Rayne who posted 3 tough results to finish 54th of 242 – which given his age was none the less a very impressive result , posting 5th of the 10 yr s& Under ‘White Fleet’.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sailing

Young BVI sailor trains in Sardinia, Italy after 2013 Optimist Worlds Championship at Riva del Garda

August 12, 2013 by bvioc

Italy had its fair share of British Virgin Islanders this July with a Royal BVI Yacht Club sailor staying on in Italy to train in Sardinia.

Following his two weeks of racing in the Optimist Worlds Championship at Riva del Garda, Italy, where RBVIYC youth sailor 11 year old Thad Lettsome was the fifth youngest of the 259 competitors, Thad took a few days off and had the opportunity to train with the Scuola Vela out of the prestigious Yacht Club Costa Smeralda at Porto Cervo in Sardinia, Italy, on 29th and 30th July.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sailing Tagged With: Royal BVI Yacht Club, Thad Lettsome, YCCS