Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten – 11/29/2025 – There was a fresh face on the race course for Saturday’s racing action in the Sint Maarten Budget Marine Optimist Championship and it wasn’t a new competitor. It was the eagerly anticipated arrival of our Race Officer (RO) from France — Mathieu Maudet.
As sailboat racers, we all learn about adversity early on and how to persevere through those challenges to come out with the best results we can. Well, the same can be said of Mathieu and his circuitous route from Paris that had his plane make a mid-Atlantic emergency U-turn for the Azores where he waited for another plane. He then made it back to Paris and finally on to Guadeloupe, only to hit technical difficulties there, too. So close, but so far.
Fortunately, Mathieu was able to get a flight into the French side of St. Martin on Saturday morning and, after fighting the island’s infamous traffic, his 88 hour journey across the Atlantic to the Sint Maarten Yacht Club was over, and he joined the race committee. Well done, Mathieu, thank you for pushing through to make it here for our sailors!
LIke Mathieu, the sailors fought through adversity on Saturday as well. The easterly breeze was generally a tick higher than Friday’s 12-15 knots, and it was also a lot more shifty in velocity and direction, which put a premium on maintaining boat speed and choosing the correct side of the course to attack. Along with challenges posed by the wind, there were also a handful of capsizes and a couple gear failures that racers had to overcome. And overcome they did.
With the start time pushed back to accommodate the arrival of the RO, racing began at 10:30 a.m. on Simpson Bay with the same course as the day prior. After a general recall in the first race, sailors found their footing and it was evident that many enjoyed having a bit more breeze. The tough call on the day seemed to be the decision between going right out into open water, heading left into the beach, or working the middle. Going right looked to have more breeze, but also had a steeper chop. While going left had less chop, but an inconsistent breeze coming off the shore. Was the middle the perfect mix of both? It was hard to say. Sailors did well going left, right, and middle, so there was no perfect answer. That’s sailboat racing for you, right?
As good ROs do, Mathieu changed up the race course for the last two contests of the day to create some variety and to put the competitors in a better position to sail back to the bridge after the final finish. When the last start was over, the race committee repositioned farther up the course and set their anchor to the west of the reaching mark, which acted as a new pin end of the line. This gave sailors long downwind and upwind legs to contend with and the finish of the race was extremely tight and fun to watch. Tactics and boathandling were superb and five boats crossed the line within seconds of one another. Bravo! What a great way to end another beautiful day of racing.
Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (insert drumroll) … The results after the second day of scored racing are here: In the Optimist Championship Fleet, Nathan Sheppard from Sint Maarten Yacht Club (SMYC) remains in third place, Lourenço Couto Jorge from St. Barth Yacht Club (SBYC) is in second, and Tao Carmona Bouvrais from SBYC moved into first place.
In the Optimist Benjamin Fleet, Ethan Blanchet from SBYC is in third, Léo Favreau from SBYC remains in second, and Stanley Haes from SBYC is in first place.
Rounding out the Green Fleet, Magnus Cross from SMYC is in third place, Emijah Maynard from St. Kitts & Nevis Sailing Association (SKNSA) moved into second, and Clijae Christmas-Mulley from SKNSA is in first place.
Thanks once again for another wonderful day of racing! Not only was Mathieu a welcomed new face, but there were several volunteers making it out for their first day of the regatta to help as well. Thank you all!
The Sint Maarten Yacht Club would also like to take this opportunity to thank Budget Marine as the Optimist Championship sponsor. Without their support and that of our dedicated volunteers, this quality event for our young sailors would not be possible.
Full event details and results can be found at www.smyc.com/optimist-championship.
By Andy Cross
Photo credit to Laurens Morel (www.saltycolours.com)
