SIMPSON BAY – Darius Berenos from Curacao won the 11th annual Sol St. Maarten Optimist Championship on the weekend. Organized by the St. Maarten Yacht Club, the two day sailing event attracted 34 young sailors from six Caribbean islands.
Nathan Haycraft from the British Virgin islands was second and followed by Bas van der Gulik from Curacao. The competition was divided into two classes by age and ability. Berenos won the top or Blue class. The Orange or intermediate group was won by Matéo Guy from St. Barths. Peter Wiggin from Anguilla was second and Elio Boutin of St. Barths finished third.
Sponsored by Sol St. Maarten, the completion featured both male and female sailors ages 8 to 15 sailing in the one-design Optimist dinghies. The fleet sailed seven races in the lagoon with 20 to 25 knots of wind Saturday and three outside in Simpson Bay Sunday.
The fleet consisted of four sailors from Anguilla, five from Antigua, seven from Curacao, seven from St. Barths, four from St. Maarten and seven from the BVI.
The Sol St. Maarten Optimist Championship is a qualifying regatta for the Optimist World Championship, held June 2016 in Vilamoura, Portugal.
There were also awards given to the top girls in each class: Roos Wind (Curacao) in the Blue class and Emese Wurth (St. Maarten) in the orange class, as well as a sportsmanship trophy, awarded to Maurice Belgrave (Antigua).
