By RBVIYC
Cold and gusty conditions prevailed during the 2015 Spring Fling regatta in Miami. Photo: Provided
A trio of BVI youth sailors brave chilly temperatures and gusty winds in Spring Fling regatta in Miami
Youth sailors, Rayne Duff, Nathan and Nicolas Haycraft traveled to Miami this past weekend to represent the BVI in the annual Spring Fling regatta hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami. The regatta is a major event in the US youth sailing calendar with participants travelling from around the country and overseas to take part.
In preparation for the windy conditions and greater fleet sizes, all three boys took part in a 2-day clinic before the regatta and focused on various drills and start line strategies.
During the weekend in Miami, the temperatures dropped to the low 60s and strong and gusty winds prevailed. Rayne and Nathan, sailing in the gold fleet, were able to hold their own over the course of the weekend with Rayne placing 6th overall and 2nd in Blue fleet, and Nathan placing 41st overall and 2nd in White fleet out of a total of 137 boats.
Nicolas ‘Nici’ Haycraft, competing in his first International event, found the conditions challenging on the first day of racing and was overpowered by the heavy winds but went on to record 14th and 15th place finishes out of a fleet of 53 boats on his second day.
Youth sailors are now preparing for the next big events on the race calendar, the BVI Dinghy Championships which take place May 15-16, the International Optimist Regatta from June 21-24 in St. Thomas, and the North American Optimist Championship (Optinam 2015) which takes place this year in Antigua on July 12-17.
“CYM/Intac” racing in the St Thomas International Regatta 2015. Photo: STIR/Dean Barnes
Closer to home, teenagers Jason Putley and Danny Petrovic joined “CYM/INTAC” as helm and crew respectively in the IC24 class at the St Thomas International Regatta and Sam Morrell sailed on “All In”.
12 races were completed during the 3-day race over the weeekend. On day one of racing on Friday the wind was 20 – 25 plus knots with lumpy seas which made it challenging racing for the IC24 fleet. “CYM/Intac” put in a good performance coming 4th out of a fleet of 20 boats and “All In” placed 13th.
Sailing conditions continued to improve as the weekend progressed with excellent winds for racing on Sunday with 10 – 15 knots of breeze.
