This past Saturday, November 10th, 6 youth sailors from Anguilla traveled to St. Maarten for the 2012 Sol Optimist Championships. The fleet’s 22 participants hailed from Barbados, Curacao, St. Barths, BVI, St. Maarten and Anguilla. Representing the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club’s Optimist Race Team were Jimmy Jolle, Kemani Gumbs, Jahmal Hughes, Matt Pemberton, Keemi Hughes and Incosee Richardson.
This year, for the first time, the St. Maarten Yacht Club decided to move the racing from inside Simpson Bay Lagoon to outside the bridge in the open ocean. Conditions proved to be widely variable as the wind blew from 2-3 knots to 5-7 knots and frequently shifted between 15-45 degrees. This presented a great challenge for our sailors as they are accustomed to significantly stronger, more consistent breeze in Road Bay. Being adaptable sailors and having trained for the past several months,Anguilla rose to the occasion and placed 2 of our sailors in the top half of the fleet. Jimmy Jolle finished the regatta in 5th place out of 12 boats in the white fleet (ages 12-15) with three 4th prizes. Kemani Gumbs finished in 6th place managing to secure a 1st prize in the third race.
Coach Paul Koeniger was impressed with the team’s maturity and preparation for the regatta. “Each of our sailors committed a great amount of time and took pride in working on their boat handling skills, in their racing knowledge and in ensuring their sails and rigs were well tuned. These boys really came together as a team as everyone helped out with the logistics of getting all of our boats and rigs back and forth from St. Maarten. We are definitely excited to host our dinghy regatta on January 19th, 2013 and look forward to the opportunity to showcase our sailor’s talent on home waters. Also, special thanks to ‘Power’ and the Lady Mary for providing a coach boat for the day as well as transporting the kids and their Opti’s.”
The Anguilla Sailing Association is the parent organization of the AYSC and sponsor of the Optimist Race team traveling to St. Maarten. Their mandate is to provide all Anguilla children with the opportunity to sail while learning seamanship, boat safety, environmentalism, and leadership skills. A non-profit organization, dependant on fundraising to keep the school open and young people sailing, this regatta and chance to sail off island has been another example of the importance of the school.
Quote from Donald, President.
– Press Release
