SIMPSON BAY- Twenty-four students ages 8-18 representing five schools on the island sailed in strong wind conditions in the first Interschool Sailing Championship sponsored by Domino’s on Saturday. Learning Unlimited (LU) took first place Overall School. Caribbean International Academy (CIA) was second overall with Milton Peters College (MPC) third.
The competition consisted of three classes of boats: Optimist, Lasers, and the two man RS Visions.
Race Officer Paul Miller of Regatta Guru said “It was touch and go this morning with the weather conditions. But when we moved the event outside in the bay we found 14-16 knots wind gusting to manageable 18 knots at the leeward mark. The Opti’s faired best with three good races while the RS Visions suffered a few breakdowns so only got one race.”
Reinier Calkhoven and Jimmy Gieseke, Youth Sailing Instructors at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and organizers of the event commented “The students were extra pumped that they finally got to represent their schools which turned this individual sport into a team event. It was an exciting regatta. The weather conditions were tough but the kids persevered and showed off their skills.”
Individual trophies were awarded to first, second, and third in each class.
On the podium were: Optimist Class: First Place- Emese Wurth, age 10 (LU); Second Place- Caii Banting, age 8 (Sister Regina Primary); Third Place- Louka Williams, age 11 (CIA). RS Vision Class: First Place- Luke Bacon 15/Benjamin Scarabelli 14 (CIA); Second Place: Summer Jean Morton 13/Tara De La Salle 17 (LU); Third Place: Bart van Vliet 18/Simon Speetjens 16 (MPC). Laser Class: First Place: Nicholas De Tullio 15 (LU); Second Place: Katie Caputo 15 (LU); Third Place: Grace Cheasley 12 (CIA).
“Domino’s Pizza was proud to sponsor this interscholastic sailing regatta. We are very supportive of youth sports and hope this event brings even more awareness to the youth sailing program. Seeing sailors compete not only for individual prizes but for their school pride as well was amazing. The young sailors were out there giving it their all even despite the not so cooperative sailing conditions and winds. I look forward to having this be an annual interscholastic regatta,” said John Caputo of Domino’s Pizza.
