SIMPSON BAY--St. Barth Yacht Club sailors dominated the Optimist Class of Grant Thornton Multiclass Regatta over two days of racing this weekend. Thomas Magras finished first in class both Saturday and Sunday.
Lourenço Rolo Couto Jorge finished second and Tao Carmona Bouvrais was third Saturday but Bouvrais slid into second place Sunday.
The Optimist Class was the largest fleet of the regatta with 17 entries.
The Sint Maarten Yacht Club hosted the Grant Thornton Multiclass Regatta with a diverse fleet of 37 boats. Four Caribbean sailing clubs were represented including Club de Voile de Friar’s Bay and MDA from French Saint Martin, Saint Barths Yacht Club, and the Sint Maarten Yacht Club.
The regatta featured five classes: ILCA, Sunfast 20, RS Quest, Optimist, and Optimist Green. Over two days, sailors faced heavy weather conditions, with gusts of up to 25 knots.
Six young sailors competed in the Optimist Green Fleet. On Saturday, they raced three races instead of the five sailed by the Optimist fleet. On Sunday, they sailed three races, just like the other classes. Xam Hartgers from SMYC secured third place. Benjamin Dekker Aardema came in second, also from SMYC, consistently chasing Ethan Blanchet from SBYC, who led in almost every race.
Three boats competed in the RS Quest class with Dax Henriquez and Veronica Destin emerging as the winners.
In the ILCA fleet, Clément Le Normand from SMVT claimed first place, closely followed by Massimo Lapierre from SMYC in second. Emelien Le Normand,from SMVT, secured third.
The Sunfast Fleet featured four teams. Green Mambo claimed first place. Team Budget Marine was second and Pink Panter was third.
All top three winners received a, environmentally friendly trophy, made from recycled materials, and the first places received a voucher from Scuba Shop, Trisports or the Dinghy Dock.
