Dylan Ferry’s laser sailing skills paid off in May, as the sailor beat James Austin in the final race to win the 2015 Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup in Coral Bay, St. John.
The annual regatta is hosted at Skinny Legs by all three of the island’s yachts clubs: Coral Bay Yacht Club, St. John Yacht Club and Nauti Yacht Club. Captains and crew in this year’s race enjoyed two days of steady winds reaching between 15 and 20 knots as they raced the course out of Coral Bay harbor.
After two days of racing, the winning captain in each of the four classes faced off in a laser sail-off in the harbor to determine the Commodore’s Cup 2015 champion.
The laser sail-off featured Dylan Ferry, who sailed Brion Morrisette’s 18ft Sweet Ting, winner of the 35ft and under class, and Kent Burt aboard Caprice, winner of the 36ft and over class. Jim Swan aboard Kate won the PHRF Spinnaker class, but didn’t stick around for the laser race.
James Austin, captain of Zephyr, won the PHRF non-spinnaker class in a closely contested race with Doug Weaver aboard Runaway and Sara O’Neill on O’edge. After two days and 30 miles of sailing, Austin finished only 30 seconds ahead of Weaver’s Runaway and six minutes ahead of O’edge.
While Austin made a great effort in the laser race, Ferry, demonstrating his small boat sailing prowess, was not to be beaten and secured the 2015 Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup win for Sweet Ting.
All finishers took home great prizes thanks to generous donations from local businesses. Coral Bay home owners Vicky and Gary Schaffer won the raffle grand prize of $2,000.
The regatta was made possible thanks to generous support from Budget Marine, Skinny Legs and St. John Hardware. Thanks go to Jim and Carol Furneaux, Roberta Marquis of Pirate Girl Charters, Randy and Barbara Hervey of Freebird, and Reina Wieringa and Sebastian Koppen, their help made the weekend a resounding success.
The Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup is a fundraiser for the non-profit Kids and the Sea, St. John youth sailing program. The event raised more than $5,500 for KATS, which teaches important sea safety and sailing skills to island youth starting at the age of eight. The organization is in dire need of additional volunteers for next year. Anyone willing to help out on Saturday mornings between 9am and noon should email Jennifer Robinson at: katsstjohn2001@yahoo.com.
Report by Jaime Elliott
