The Sint Maarten Yacht Club racing team participated in the 32nd sailing week of Schoelcher. With over a hundred boats competing from Canada, Corsica, St Barts, Sint Maarten, Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Martinique it was a well visited event with a high level of competition. Sailors from the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, Massimo Lapierre, Melina de Vries and Rio Stomp all competed in the ILCA 4 class. They were accompanied by coach Sam Peeks.
The event included 4 days of racing, in total 13 races have been sailed under good wind conditions. The races sailed out on sea, but close to shore which made the wind very shifty and tactical decisions were very important. Going to this competition in Martinique made for big improvements for our sailors’ performance. The start line consisted of a total of 43 ILCA boats, which is something they never experienced before. As well as making tactical decisions around these 43 boats, with some boats going faster than others due to the size of the sail (ILCA consists of 3 sail sizes, ILCA 4, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7, they sail on the same course but are ranked separately).
Out of 22 sailors in ILCA 4 Rio Stomp finished 5th overall. Having some great battles with Saint Martin neighbor Emilien le Normand changing places throughout the event. Emilien placed 4th overall. “I am very happy with how I performed for my first time here, and I am planning on coming back for the event next year because it’s a great event” said Rio. Massimo Lappiere finished 15th overall. “I had a really good comeback the last day of the regatta, finishing 12th and 11nd in the last 2 races which made me finish on 15th place overall, I learned from my mistakes which made me do better” Said Massimo. Melina de Vries finished 17th overall. “I learned a lot from this regatta, left other people behind me and am happy overall but I can and will do better next time”. Said Melina.
Nathan Wehrle from Martinique won the 32nd Sailing Week of Schoelcher in the ILCA 4 class, Luk Moreau Dhallenne from Martinique got 2nd, and Lolie Osswald from St Barts got 3rd. “This was a great regatta organized by Cercle Nautique de Schoelcher and I want to thank them for inviting us and assisting us going to Martinique. I am happy with the performance of our sailors, and proud to see how much they were able to learn in 4 days. They are all winners and we will be back next year.” said SMYC Racing Coach Sam Peeks.
