The youth sailors from the Sint Maarten Yacht Club Racing Team have concluded their
2024–2025 regatta season, looking back on great progress and achievements.
The first international regatta of the season was the Caribbean Dinghy Championship (CDC) in
October 2024, hosted this year in our home waters of Sint Maarten. With 46 sailors from 9
countries competing, the competition was fierce—but this didn’t stop our Sint Maarten sailors
from excelling. The CDC features both individual and national rankings.
Individually, Nathan Sheppard showed his skills to the other countries in the Optimist class with
a 1st place finish, winning 9 out of 15 races. Harper and Adilyn
Treadwell followed with 7th and
10th place finishes respectively. Axel Vanden Eynde, sailing with his dad Joris, won the RS
Quest fleet in a tight battle, securing victory by just 2 points. Oskar Jarrett Versteegden and
Chris Meekhof won the RS Zest fleet by a larger margin, clinching the title with 5 points ahead
of second place—so far ahead, in fact, they won the regatta before the final race was sailed. Rio
Stomp secured 2nd in the ILCA 6, and Massimo Lapierre placed 4th in the ILCA 4. Sint Maarten
finished 2nd in the Nations Cup, getting closer than ever to winning the Caribbean Dinghy
Championship—great motivation for the rest of the season.
Next up was the 19th edition of the Sint Maarten Optimist Championship in November 2024.
This edition saw a record number of participants: 45 sailors from 9 countries, ages 7 to 15, all
racing in the Optimist class (a solo-sailed 8-foot boat). A big shoutout goes to Budget Marine,
the main sponsor of the event. Organizing high-level events like this in Sint Maarten wouldn’t be
possible without such support, and the sailors are very thankful for involved sponsors like
Budget Marine.
Sint Maarten dominated the second level of the podium, keeping all silver medals at home in all
three divisions. Axel secured 2nd in the Green Fleet—a division designed for the youngest and
least experienced sailors. Adilyn placed 4th, while Oskar earned 2nd in the Benjamin Fleet for
experienced sailors under 12. Chris, Harper, and Nathan battled it out in the top fleet. Nathan
took 2nd, with Harper finishing 12th and Chris 14th, making this another successful regatta for
the Racing Team.
After a period of intense training, reflection, and improvement, it was time to head to Martinique
for the Schoelcher Sailing Week this past March. This regatta attracts top sailors from across
the French islands and mainland France. For this event, we teamed up with our friends from the
French side—Saint Martin Voile Pour Tous (SMVT) in Friars Bay.
It was heartwarming to see the camaraderie between our clubs. Though usually fierce
competitors, they showed real sportsmanship and willingness to help each other improve. This
collaboration is particularly special since the sailors compete individually in the end.