Saturday, October 10, 2009 saw the first Budget Marine Dinghy ranking race of the Trinidad & Tobago Youth Sailing School winter term. Additional races were scheduled for October 24, November 21 and 28, and December 12 to complete the series.
Athletes from all around the country took part in an exciting afternoon of racing in Carenage Bay. Sailors attended from the sailing schools at Chaguaramas, Vessigny and Point Fortin. The wind was good and the skies were clear as racing started just after 2 p.m. First away were the Optimist dinghies in the 7-15 yrs age group, followed closely by the Laser and 420 class dinghies in the 15 yrs and over group.
The first Optimist race was a close run affair with four dinghies tacking up wind to take the honours. Winning by a narrow margin was Derek Poon Tip with Myles Kaufmann edging out Helena Coombs for second place and Kelly Ann Arrindell coming in fourth. Wesley Scott won the Laser race, and the 420 race went to the Vessigny pairing of Daniel Briggs and Dekife Charles.
Briggs and Charles, who were part of the Trinidad & Tobago team which won the Caribbean Championships in August, went on to win all three of their races.
Mark Peters beat Wesley Scott to the finish line in the second Laser class race, with Scott going on to win again in the third and last race. With the races lasting around 45 minutes in the hot sun, the triangular course proved to be a good test of sailing skills.
The second Optimist race was again won by Derek Poon Tip with Abigail Affoo storming through the field to take second place.
There were no false starts or recalls for the entire afternoon and the third Optimist race saw a very close run affair with Myles Kaufmann beating Derek Poon Tip and Kelly Ann Arrindell. Following a protest, though, Kaufmann was subsequently disqualified for failing to give way in accordance with racing rules which meant that Poon Tip was promoted to first place with Abigail Affoo, Kelly Ann Arrindell and Helena Coombs following on.
