6 motivated sailors traveled to Martinique in the weekend of October 27th till 29th to participate in a sailing regatta in which all Caribbean Islands are invited to send their best sailors to participate in 5 different boats.
The delegation from Sint Maarten was as follows; Nathan Sheppard sailing in the Optimist fleet, Veronica Destin and Oskar Jarret Versteegden sailing in the Fusion fleet, Frits Bus sailing in the ILCA 7fleet, Emma Lennox sailing in the ILCA 6 fleet and Rio Stomp sailing in the ILCA 4 fleet. The team was accompanied by Racing Coach Sam Peeks.
A total of 23 teams from 6 different countries were represented at the event. Team SXM faced competition from Antigua, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and a team from Tinidad and Tobago.
Team SXM managed to sail very well individually; Veronica and Oscar became second in the Fusionfleet. Rio Stomp became third in the ILCA 4 fleet, Emma Lennox became 4thin the ILCA 5 fleet, FritsBus became 4 in the ILCA 7 fleet and Nathan Sheppard became third in the Optimist fleet.
Peeks:“ It was great to take the team to Martinique where we arrived a few days before the event to get used to the wind in the local racing area. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were very challenging with a lot of rain and not a lot of wind, but the team practiced as much as we could and were all well prepared for the regatta. I’m very proud of all the sailors, they have showed great improvements throughout the regatta. For some of the sailors it was their first big regatta, and it is always challenging to sail in different conditions then that we are used to.
The Caribbean Dinghy Championships is known for their individual ranking, but for their team ranking as well. The best results of the team are put together for the calculation of the Nations Cup.
Team Sint Maarten managed to become third in this years Nations Cup, which is a great achievement!
In second place; Team Martinique and in first place, for the third time in row, Team Antigua proven themselves the strongest team in this regatta.
Team SXM is traveling back to Sint Maarten tomorrow.