SIMPSON BAY—Eight boats formed the Laser class of the St. Maarten Yacht Club’s Soons Dinghy Racing Series Saturday.
Justin Allister won the class. The competition was so fierce Team Island Water World Sailor Frits Bus won the standard class. Allister sailing a Radial won overall on rating by one point.
Third place went to Jolyon Ferron who took two first but seventh in race three.
The first day of the Soons series was cancelled due to lack of wind. Thus the competition was decided on Saturday’s single day result.
The wind was light and tricky making conditions challenging but the wind never fell away.
In the Optimists, Caii Banting left Chris de Wilde and Adriaan Coppelmans behind him but in race three the winner was Veronica Destin so the final results were all quite close.
In the Pico it was Melina de Vries who led with three firsts followed by Ajani Blake and Louka Williams. Louka took one first but a 4th and a 5th dragged him down.
In the three boat Quest class Summer Jean Morton and Mathijs Detering won in three races so dominated the class. Robbie Ferron and Boo Faustin trailed her considerably except in the last race where 7 seconds could have made a big difference. Boo Faustin is a fast learner from the sailing school whose skills seem to be developing quickly.
The next dinghy racing series is the Aberson series that starts on November 21. Before that, on Sunday, November 15 the first Grant Thornton Keelboat race will take place.
The Soons series and the Aberson series constitute the first two events that will create the basis for awarding the Grant Thornton Season Championship for 2020/2021.
