Simpson Bay, February 20th, 2023
Seventeen (17) participants raced in the second day of the Hoedemaker Series, last Saturday, February 18th. The Hoedemaker Series are part of the Grant Thornton Dinghy Season Championship and is hosted and organized by the Sint Maarten Yacht Club. During the second day of the series the race committee saw competitors from Club de Voile de Friars Bay and the Sint Maarten Yacht Club.
The very shifty and gusty conditions made it challenging for the competitors to complete the courses. Shifts of 70 degrees blew through the lagoon and switched up the fleet during the race. Where your starboard tack was favorable, the port tack was favorable the next minute. Typical Simpson Bay Lagoon sailing weather.
Race officer Grace Cheasley was able to start 4 races in these challenging conditions for the RS Zest, the Laser and the Optimist Class.
Sahana Rinker participated in the RS Zest class as the only competitor and took home the win.
In the Optimist Class Harper Treadwell from the Sint Maarten Yacht Club took third place. Nolan Pacton from Club de Voile de Friars Bay took second place and Nathan Sheppard took the win in the class with 13 points out of 8 races. Well done Nathan!
Lots of the well known Optimist sailors from the Saint Barths Yacht Club and Club de Voile de Friars Bay were participating in the French Championships in Martinique.
In the Laser class 8 participants raced in the second day of the Hoedemaker Series.
Alex Speetjens came in third, Francener Faustin came in second and Emma Lennox took the win. All three sailors are representing the Sint Maarten Yacht Club.
Ilian Halbertsma, sailor from the SMYC program years ago, was back at the island and participated in a laser in the regatta. Halbertsma is now living in Canada and is a certified sailing instructor there. Worth noticing was Rio Stomp his performance in the laser class last Saturday. He won 2 out of 4 races! A young promising sailor to keep our eyes on.
In the RS Quest Class, Joris vd Eynde and his 6 year old daughter participated in the race. As they were the only competitor in this class, they took home the win!
The results for Hoedemaker Day 2 can be found on the Sint Maarten Yacht Club Website.
The next Dinghy Race will be on April 15, the Hope Ross Series.
Pictures by Tjalling Halbertsma @tjallingphotography