The 7th Anguilla Dinghy Regatta was held last Saturday, 17th January 2015, in Road Bay Harbour on Sandy Ground. This year saw ten participants from Anguilla, ten from Dutch St. Maarten, six from St. Bart’s and even two young sailors from Australia on a family trip. Altogether there were twenty nine sailors on the water, making a wonderful sight to see.
The sailors were divided into four classes, with 2 entrants in the 2 man 420’s, 5 older entrants in the Laser class, 10 in the Green Younger Optimist class and another 10 in the Gold Optimist class for the more experienced participants.
The morning saw three very competitive races with shifting wind conditions that meant all the sailors had to be very aware of where the wind was coming from to avoid being overtaken from behind. The Lasers and 420s sailed a much longer course but because of the better speed of their boats they usually finished at the front of the fleet. Lunch time saw a squall blow through and by the time the competitors got back on the course the wind had begun to drop and only one more race was completed in very light wind conditions. This favoured the lighter foreign competitors and the local athletes did not fare as well as in the morning session. In the end this proved to be crucial to the results.
In the 420 class both teams won two races and came second in two, but because the St. Maarten team won the last race the rules dictate that they got to take home the trophy. But in reality the honours were split, with both teams handling their vessels extremely well.
In the Laser Class, St. Maarten’s Bart Van Vliet led the pack, but was pushed hard by second place Carson Gifford, third place Katie Caputo and Anguilla’s own Thomas Macow who had equipment challenges throughout but still managed a fourth place.
In the Optimist classes the young French sailors proved to be tough to beat and the Gold Class was won by Lagritte Ertette, followed by Pru Alice and Larririn Hekia all from St. Barth’s with Rene Thomas of Anguilla being the best placed local participant at fourth. In the Green Class, Hayer Coronzo, also from St. Barth’s, took first with 3 bullets and a second to his name. He was followed by Elie Admon of St. Barth’s and Eoin Conway of St. Maarten. Peter Wiggin did well to place seventh, which was the best placed Anguillian competitor, but the Anguilla sailors were always in contention and only the fourth race of the days six races determined the ultimate finishing order.
The coveted Sportsmanship Award was given to Fin McMahon of Australia, who competed gamely the whole day and never gave up in any of the races, despite being unfamiliar with the courses.
The Anguilla Youth Sailing Club’s unique trophies, made in Anguilla of native stone, were handed out at the Award Ceremony as were bags of goodies donated by Lime, Digicel, Budget Marine, Island Water World, Mangoes and other supporters of the AYSC. In addition, there were tee-shirts for all participants, sponsored by the main sponsor, Anguilla Aluminum.
The Anguilla Sailing Association, parent of the AYSC, was particularly pleased and delighted to note the number of entrants from other islands. All involved are hopeful that this trend will continue to develop and will expand to more sailors attending this wonderful event. The AYSC and ASA would like to thank all our sponsors and particularly our volunteers who make this event possible every year.
– Contributed
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
