In two days of racing last weekend that saw over 49 young sailors competing in the 5th Annual St. Barth’s Mini Regatta the eight athletes from the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club (AYSC) proved that they were able to compete and compete well. According to new Sailing Director, Anette Hibbert, “the kids were amazing”. In the hotly contested two man “RS Feva” class the Anguillian teams of Rene Thomas/Darren Carty and Huekeemy Hughes/Tobie Bloom placed second and third respectively with the final result only being decided in the last race. This was a very good result considering that the boys had never sailed a Feva before and they were competing against five other very experienced teams. The St. Maarten team of Alec Scarabelli /Johanna Looser eventually took first place in the class but not before having to stave off a ferocious challenge from the Anguilla teams.
The Laser class was again dominated by the very talented Rhone Findlay of St. Maarten but Anguilla’s Thomas Maccow also performed extremely well to place third in the eight boat class beating out a number of vastly more experienced sailors. Thomas is the assistant instructor at AYSC and has been training hard to emulate his St. Maarten counterpart who has now earned himself a spot in the ISAF Youth Worlds in Portugal in two months’ time. Ms. Hibbert stated that “with some better equipment, more time and some funding Thomas could soon be knocking on that door”. The home teams Francois De Corlieu placed second in the class.
Anguilla also had three competitors in the Optimist class of 20 boats. Huekhawmi Hughes. Jo’ardie Richardson and Isabelle Probanz all performed well with Huekhawmi placing 3rd in the younger silver fleet. Coach Hibbert was particularly pleased with Isabelle’s performance as she was the only girl from the Anguilla team and a first time regatta competitor and yet managed to hold her own with the rest of fleet and finished every race. Young Jo’ardie also did well and proved that he has the ability to compete at all levels.
Mr. Donald Curtis, President of the Anguilla Sailing Association, noted that “it is crucial that all of these young sailors be exposed to these competition and these experiences on a regular basis in order for them to improve as both sailors and members of the larger Anguillian society. We are extremely proud of our team and our new instructor and look forward to many good things to come”. Mr Curtis also remarked that “In addition to Rhone Findlay competing in Portugal, St. Maarten has two sailors competing at the Optimist World Championships in Argentina this year. Given Anguilla’s rich sailing history, traditions and experience there is no reason why we should not be doing as well as St. Maarten”. This is the fourth international regatta this year that at least some members of the team have been able to compete in and the club is asking for support in any form to allow the club to take up this challenge.
The AYSC is a non-profit organization that is focused on the development of the youth of Anguilla by providing them with a place and a sport that encourages them to learn, compete and grow. It runs afternoon classes throughout the school year and is accepting enrollment for the Summer Camp scheduled to start in June. Please call 264-584-7245 for more information.
The AYSC would like to thank Calypso Charters, Joselyn Theophile-Richardson, Pam Webster and Ira Bloom for their financial and logistical support for the team this weekend.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
