SInt Maarten Yacht Club (SMYC) — Racers couldn’t have asked for better weather on Simpson Bay to compete in the Sint Maarten National Dinghy Championship on May 2 and 3, 2026. Proudly sponsored by Island Water World, 34 boats came out for this annual championship organized by SMYC, which is now in its fourth year as a standalone event.
The championship featured sailors from Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, and Saint Barths in the Optimist Green, Optimist, ILCA, RS Zest, and Sun Fast 20 classes.
After a short postponement, the racing action began on Simpson Bay around 9:45 am on Saturday with the Sun Fast 20s in start one, ILCAs and RS Zests in start two, and Optimist Green and Optimist in start three. Right away, you could tell this was going to be a fun and fast day of racing. The wind was generally out of the east at 12-17 knots with some southeast shifts, and the pin end was slightly favored.
“Saturday morning was an exciting start to the championship.” Race Officer Andy Cross remarked. “Getting three races in before lunch was perfect, and besides one general recall in the Optimist fleet, everything was clean.”
The Sun Fasts were done for the day after completing the morning round, and the other fleets stayed out to sail three more races in the afternoon. After lunch, conditions didn’t change much and the racing seemed to get tighter as sailors dialed in their starts, tactics, and sail trim. By the end of the day, tired and salty sailors made it back to the SMYC dock for a reward of Domino’s pizza.
Sunday dawned with somewhat similar conditions to the previous day, and the mark set crew was able to get out early to set the course, so racing started right on time at 9:30. Right after the first start, a new wrinkle was thrown into the game—there were some large lulls throughout the course that were then followed by higher gusts that shifted as much as 30 degrees. The sailors fought through the adversity and some made gains while others were left wondering what they’d done wrong. It’s conditions like these that can mix up the leaderboards, and there were some impressive results to show for it.
In the RS Zest fleet, SMYC’s Juan Espitia-Caiza came in third and also took the National Championship trophy, SMVT’s Achille Le Normand grabbed second, and AS MDA’s stood atop the podium in first place.
For the Optimist Green fleet, it was SMYC’s Ryan Etwaroo in third, SBYC’s Louisa vanden Eynde in second, and SMYC’s J’amari de Groote in first place and also claiming the National Championship.
The Optimist fleet was competitive as always with a fleet of 12 boats. SBYC’s Leo Favreau came in third place, SMYC’s Nathan Sheppard won the tie break to claim second place and the National Championship, and SBYC’s Lourenco Couto Jorge claimed first with a resounding performance.
Similar to the Optimists, the ILCA fleet was also highly competitive. Taking third place was SMYC’s Adilyn Treadwell, SBYC’s Maximilian Greaux came in second place, and SMYC’s Massimo Lapierre sailed to an impressive first place and also claimed the National Championship.
Finally, in a fun-to-watch battle in the Sun Fast 20 fleet, Team IGY Marina came in third place, Ian Martin took second place, and Team Budget Marina sailed to the top of the podium. Well done to all!
It was a fun and competitive weekend of racing for the Sint Maarten National Championship. Big thanks go out to the event sponsor Island Water World and to Zee Best for providing delicious pastries and lunch for the sailors and volunteers. For more information and results, visit smyc.com.