Sailing fast and hitting the wind shifts just right is what led 11-year-old Wiley Rogers from Houston, Texas, to win the 19th annual Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta held out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, U.S. Virgin Islands, June 24-26.
“The waves and wind are what I like about sailing here,” said Rogers, who led going into the last day and held his lead in spite of 2010 defending champion Jorge Gonzalez from Puerto Rico, winning the last race and closing the score gap to a mere seven points after 11 races. “I also like meeting so many kids from other countries. Jorge is very good and very fast upwind. He has been like a brother to me the last three years I’ve sailed in this regatta.”
Gonzalez finished second, while St. Thomas’ Scott McKenzie placed third overall. McKenzie was also the top scoring U.S. Virgin Islands’ sailor.
Seventy-nine sailors ages 8 to 15 years-old from 10 nations – Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Trinidad & Tobago, the United States and all three U.S. Virgin Islands – set sail in this Virgin Islands’ Sailing Association sanctioned event. Eleven races were completed for the Advanced Red, White and Blue Fleets and 19 for the Beginner Green Fleets.
Gonzalez’s finish earned him a first place in the 13- to 15-year-old Red Fleet.
“I hadn’t sailed for two weeks before this regatta, so I felt nervous at first,” said the 15-year-old Gonzalez, who will compete in the Optimist North American Championships in Long Beach, California, next week. “Then, I started sailing and going fast. But it wasn’t that easy to win this year.”
Eleven-year-old Rogers also won the 11- to 12-year-old Blue Fleet.
Interestingly, Rogers’ 9-year-old brother, Zane, bested the 10- and-under White Fleet.
“Sailing in the clinic really helped me in the regatta,” said Zane Rogers, who credits his father for teaching him how to sail. “It helped me learn to get front row starts.”
The Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta marked only the second regatta that St. Thomas’ Christopher Sharpless had ever sailed. Still, the 10-year-old handily won the Beginner Green Fleet against 28 other sailors from a host of locations.
“My goal was to really try hard because I really wanted to win,” said Sharpless. “My coach definitely pushed me hard and trained me well. It was a lot of fun.”
Fifteen-year-old Justina Pacheco from the Dominican Republic finished as Best Female and fifth overall.
“I’ve been training very hard, four days a week,” said Pacheco, who had earned Top Girl and seventh overall at the Optimist South American Championships in Chile in April.
“Here, I looked at the wind and waves and tried to make the best calls. It paid off.”
Puerto Rico’s Miguel Monllor won the Pete Ives Award, given for a combination of sailing prowess, sportsmanship, determination and good attitude both on and off the water.
Also, Trinidad & Tobago’s Abigail Affoo won the Chuck Fuller Sportsmanship Award.
The regatta’s principal race officer, Ken Legler, who is also the head sailing coach at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, was impressed with the fleet. “All the kids handled their boats well, surfing downwind and wave jumping upwind,” Legler said.
The Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta has been sponsored by Scotiabank almost since the event’s inception. The week started off with the Sea Star Clinic, run from coaches from OptiSailors.com, and included the one-day Sea Star Team Race on Thursday.
Results (Top 3)
Red Fleet
1. Jorge Gonzalez, Puerto Rico (40)
2. Justina Pacheco, Dominican Republic (70)
3. Mack Fox, USA (80)
Blue Fleet
1. Wiley Rogers, USA (33)
2. Scott McKenzie, St. Thomas, USVI (53)
3. Sam Morrell, BVI (69)
White Fleet
1. Zane Rogers, USA (283)
2. Juan Martin Pacheco, Dominican Republic (331)
3. AnaClare Sole, USA (351)
Green Fleet
1. Christopher Sharpless, St. Thomas, USVI (45)
2. Jack Finley, St. Thomas, USVI (97)
3. Santiago Pacheco, Dominican Republic (105)
For full results, visit www.regattanetwork.com, and for more information about the regatta, visit www.styc.net
Scotiabank. Scotiabank is one of North America’s premier financial institutions and Canada’s most international bank. With more than 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $526 billion (as at October 31, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS).
Sea Star Line LLC. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Sea Star Line offers cargo transportation services from North America to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands. Sea Star’s RO/CON vessels are the most versatile in the trade – able to carry the widest range of unique and diverse cargoes. Company operations are certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and Green Office standards, and was selected for the QMS Company of the Year Award. Sea Star recently received top honors as a recipient of the 2009 Logistics Management Quest for Quality Award in the Ocean Carrier segment.
