By: RBVIYC
Team BVI finish third at Caribbean Dinghy Championships with two class wins. Photo: Provided
Six teams fought it out for the title of 2016 Caribbean Dinghy Champions in St Maarten this weekend. Teams were made up of five sailors with their combined results in the Laser, Laser Radial, Optimist and RS Vision deciding the winners. As defending champions Team BVI were the nation to beat.
Nathan Haycraft achieved a clean sweep of first place finishes to secure a clear victory in the Optimist class whilst Alec Anderson in the Laser Radial also claimed the overall win with nine wins from the eleven race series. Fortunes were not so good for Mike Hirst in the Laser or Chris Haycraft and son Nici in the RS Vision, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Trinidad and Tobago emerged as overall winners with 88 points, Barbados finished second with 102 points and the BVI were third with 104 points.
Next up for Team BVI will be the St Croix International Regatta in November.
Over in St Thomas, teams from the BVI and Puerto Rico joined the ISV sailors for the 2016 Columbus Day regatta.
Winds were light for most of the weekend, occasionally sneaking above 10 knots, giving the sailors tricky shifty conditions on the water.
Samuel Allen took an emphatic first place in the Optimist Green Fleet with seven race wins in the 12 race series. Kael Chalwell finished in sixth place with consistent finishes throughout the weekend and best scores of third in races seven and eight.
Competing at their first away regatta, Victoria Rowlette finished in eighth place and Amanda Plaxton in tenth. Both sailors improved their scores on Sunday after a steady first day. Rowlette’s best finishes were second in race 10 and third in race 12 whilst Plaxton went out on a high with her best results a fifth in the final race.
The Championship fleet of 18 boats completed six races and the BVI’s Rayne Duff finished up in third place. A black flag in the final race was not the end he would have liked and saw him drop from second to third overall.
Max Reshetiloff finished in 14th place overall, saving his best until last with an eighth in the final race. Just seven points behind was white fleet racer Ryan Lettsome who finished up fourth in his age category and 16th overall.
Eleven Club 420s had a close contest throughout the weekend with the overall win going to the ISV’s Christopher Sharpless and BVI sailor Sam Morrell finishing second. Three race wins for Morrell and consistent top four results on his score card were not quite enough to take the overall win which he missed by just two points.
The BVI’s new Laser Team were racing at their first away regatta with four sailors competing for honours in the Laser Radial and one 4.7 sailor. It was a close tussle between Noah George and Stephon Ganga with George taking the win by just one point. Ganga achieved more race wins but George counted first and second place finishes in all races to come out on top. Alex Rambarose finished third and Jerome Parkins fourth.
The Royal BVI Yacht Club acknowledges the parents who got involved over the course of the weekend and thanks The Moorings for their support and providing a catamaran as team accommodation and transportationof the boats and equipment for the sailors.
Results
Optimist Green fleet
1. Samuel Allen
6. Kael Chalwell
8. Victoria Rowlette
10. Amanda Plaxton
Optimist Overall
3. Rayne Duff (3rd red)
14. Max Reshetiloff (6th red)
15. Ryan Lettsome (4th white)
Club 420
2. Sam Morrell
Laser Radial
1. Noah George
2. Stephon Ganga
3. Alex Rambaros
4. Jerome Parkins
Laser 4.7
1. Stephen Ganga
