Local Sailors Compete In USVI Optimist Regatta
The Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta in St. Thomas, USVI kicked off yesterday [June 21] with the annual SeaStar Team Racing event. Fifteen teams were entered including the Bermuda team heading to the Dominican Republic next month to compete in the Optimist World Championships.
Racing yesterday for Bermuda was Antonio Bailey, Rory Caslin, Chase Cooper, Peter Dill and Makai Joell. The team started well winning their first 2 rounds before losing to LISOT [a US team from the East Coast] but bounced right back beating Puerto Rico and the local team from the Virgin Islands.
Next they faced the ever dominant USA Worlds team and were unable to overtake them. Overall they came third for the day with the USA Worlds team in first and LISOT in second. Coach Martin Jenkins said he was impressed by the team’s efforts as they had never team raced together before and they got stronger as the day went on.
Today starts the fleet racing event with 97 sailors from 15 different countries. Representing Bermuda at this regatta is the Worlds Team mentioned above plus Joe Arrowsmith, Sammy Dill, Izzy Dutranoit, Benn Smith, Charis Todd, Ceci and Mikey Wollmann.
