Optimist racing in San Juan Bay during the Caribbean Dinghy Championships
The Caribbean Sailing Association’s 2015 Caribbean Dinghy Championships were held in San Juan this past weekend from October 16th – 18th with entries from the four islands of St Thomas, Puerto Rico, St Maarten & the British Virgin Islands. The event was hosted by the Sailing School Club Nautico de San Juan. Nine windward/leeward races were held in the calm waters of San Juan Bay over two days with a very interesting scoring format.
Each island fielded a team of five boats types: 4-crew IC24s, 2-crew 420s, Laser Standard, Laser Radial, and Optimist. The total points for each team was calculated by the sum of the scores of each of their sailors. The overall winner—with victories in three of the five classes—was the BVI team coached by Taylor Penwell. This is a repeat victory for this promising sailing club, having won the Caribbean Dinghy Championships in 2013.
2015 CSA Caribbean Dinghy Championship Winners
CSA Representative and Vice President Jaime Torres was impressed with the quality of the racing and commented: “Club Nautico proved to be a qualified and capable host. The racers had a great time and the team scoring format offered an interesting twist to the Championship. The CSA has made a solid commitment to Youth Sailing Development and this event helped move us in the right direction.”
Rayne Duff, Jason Putley, Pedro Luis Fernández, Sam Morrell, Daniel Petrovic, Frits Bus, Ian Hope Ross, Ryan Hope Ross, and Chuck Pessler all took 1st place in their respective classes.
Complete Results for the 2015 Caribbean Dinghy Championships
OPTIMIST CLASS
1st | Rayne Duff – BVI
2nd | Mia Nicolosi – St. Thomas
3rd | José Arturo Díaz – Puerto Rico
LASER STANDARD
1st | Jason Putley – BVI
2nd | Agustín Lázaro – Puerto Rico
3rd | Mark Van den Driessche – St. Thomas
LASER RADIAL
1st | Pedro Luis Fernández – Puerto Rico
2nd | Thad Lettsome – BVI
3rd | Kai Holmberg – St. Thomas
420
1st | Sam Morrell, Daniel Petrovic – BVI
2nd | Teddy Nicolosi, Margaret Bartlett – St. Thomas
3rd | Alec Scasabelli, Johanna Loser – St. Maarten
IC-24
1st | Frits Bus, Ian Hope Ross, Ryan Hope Ross, Chuck Pessler – St. Maarten
2nd | Chris Sharpless, Jr., John Holmberg, JP Montegue, Ryan Hunter – St. Thomas
3rd | Andrew Waters, Ted Reshetiloff, Mike Hirst, Kevin Wrigley – BVI
