When the first Sint Maarten Optimist Championship took place in 2005, a young sailor named Stephen Looser came out on top. He went on to win the next two years as well. Growing up in a sailing family on Sint Maarten, his parents still run the Tropical Sail Loft in Sint Maarten. They put him in Optimist lessons when he was little, and he quickly fell in love with racing. Today, Stephen is an engineer aboard the famous three-masted 210ft schooner Adix, one of the most admired classic sailing yachts in the world. We asked Stephen some questions about his journey in sailing.
Even though the early events were small, they felt serious to the kids taking part. “For us it felt very competitive,” Stephen says. “I’ve always been that way, so I took it pretty seriously.” One year stands out in particular: strong winds hit the fleet and most of the boats capsized. There’s still a photo of Stephen hiking hard, centerboard halfway up, just trying to make it to the finish.
From 2005 to 2007, Stephen won every edition of the Sint Maarten Optimist Championship before moving on to Lasers. Along the way he raced against close friends like Jolyon Ferron and Harry Antrobus, who kept him pushing harder. “We practiced together all the time, but when it came to racing we really went for it. I got them in those first few—and I think that was the last time I ever beat Jolyon in a regatta.
After Optimists, Stephen raced Lasers, other dinghies, and Sunfast 20s in the lagoon. The variety helped him build a strong base in sailing. “When you sail dinghies you do everything—steer, trim, navigate—so it gives you a really good understanding of how boats work,” he says.
Although he always took racing seriously, Stephen didn’t plan to make sailing a career. After university in Scotland—and almost seven years without sailing—he realized he didn’t want an office job. So he booked a flight to Mallorca to look for work on yachts. And ended up working on Adix now, “She’s a beautiful boat with an experienced crew, and it’s amazing to sail her all over the world.”
Looking back at his Optimist days, Stephen has simple advice for his younger self: “Just keep having fun. Bigger, faster boats might seem cooler, but my favourite sailing is still jumping in a small boat or dinghy and doing some casual racing.”
