St. Maarten Yacht Club – Good Fun
at PowerAde Multiclass Regatta
Fair winds and high spirits made this year's annual PowerAde Multiclass Regatta a huge success. Thirty-two sailors participated in Optimists, Lasers, and Jeanneau Sunfast 20s.
The sailing was competitive and the results were tight. A tie-breaker was needed to determine second and third place in the Jeanneau 20 fleet. John Gifford, Guy Taylor-Smith and Liesbeth Halbertsma (who had never sailed before), emerged triumphant, leaving second place to a team lead by well-know French sailor Bernard Sillem. Team Blond, the young team that keeps pushing their elders to sweep out the cobwebs, finished third.
In lasers, veteran Luc Knol took first place. Second and third, racing in teams and tied on points, were Bodine Beentjes and Saskia Looser, and Bart van Vliet and Maxime Lee.
This year the Optimists dinghies raced under a new fleet system, divided by age. In the Blue Fleet, a tie-breaker was needed at the top, with first place going to Rhone Findlay and second place going to Leonardo Knol. Ferdinand Unser placed third.
Tight racing in the White Fleet saw Alec Scarabelli win first place. He was followed by Nathan Smith who finished only one point ahead of Ilian Halbertsma
in third.
The youngest, and least experienced fleet, Green, welcomed a new racer. In his very first regatta, Zack Sabaroche placed a respectable third. Carson Gifford took second place. A jubilant Katie Caputo won first prize for the first time!
The regatta was made possible by sponsors PowerAde, and a host of volunteers. Each competitor and volunteer was rewarded with a PowerAde shirt and lots of PowerAde to keep hydrated during the day-long regatta. After some shenanigans getting all the boats to stay put at the beach on Explorer Island in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, lunch was enjoyed by all, thanks to Domino's Pizza.
Article submitted by Kathy Gifford
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