Sailors Return from Miami Orange Bowl Regatta

The 2010 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta finished on Thursday for the 6 person Bermuda Laser contingent. This year’s Orange Bowl combined 665 sailors in 6 classes racing on 4 courses. The “OB” as it is called is one of the most popular and competitive youth sailing events in North America.

The regatta had 189 Laser sailors racing in three size related Laser classes – Laser Full Rigs, Laser Radials and Laser 4.7′s. The Bermuda team consisted of Jason Saints, Jordan Saints (pictured below) and James Anfossi from the RHADC, Mackenzie Cooper from the RBYC and Owen Siese and Sarah Hopkin from the Sandys Boat Club. They were accompanied by Youth Olympic and ISAF Youth World’s dinghy coach, Dino Weber for the 4 day event in the 139 boat Laser Radial Class.

On the first day the sailors fought record low temperatures in the 40′s and gusts up to 30 knots. The weather improved on the subsequent days but the winds subsided and officials were only able to complete a total of five races for the regatta. Jordan Saints was the top local sailor finishing in 6th place (16, 8, 3,4,13) while Owen Siese was the next best in 22nd place in his first Laser regatta. With only 5 races completed, sailors were unable to drop their worst score which dogged Jason Saints (26th), Mackenzie Cooper (54th) and James Anfossi (72nd) who had to carry 70 point penalties for break downs or “Black Flag” penalties which are received for being on the course side of the staring line within one minute of the starting signal. Sarah Hopkin was sailing her first overseas regatta of her life and was able to steadily improve though out the event. Her last race was a very respectable 38th which left her at 126th overall.

Coach Weber was generally very happy with the sailors’ performances (outside of the penalties). Weber commented, “the boys’ finishes were mostly in the top part of the fleet which was excellent. It was a shame that we were not able to get more races in, allowing for a drop race. With both the Saints boys and James Anfossi aging out of the youth category, I am encouraged by the results of the next generation (Siese, Cooper and Hopkin) on their first try in the Laser. I think they could all eventually meet the BSA (Bermuda Sailing Association) standard to attend the Youth Worlds and other top events in the near future if they work hard. It will be interesting to see how they do next week at the local Laser Radial National Championships (Jan 2 & 3).

Full results:

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