SIMPSON BAY LAGOON-- Adam Gumbs sailed to first place in the Optimist Fleet of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s annual Dinghy Season Championship. Porter Cross was second and was followed by Axel Le Calvez in third. A total of 24 boats and crew took to the waters of Simpson Bay Lagoon on Saturday, April 11, for the Bus Dinghy Regatta, which was the final installment of the club’s annual Dinghy Season Championship. The younger sailors in the Optimist Green Fleet delivered their own share of excitement. Magnus Cross came in third place, Ryan Etwaroo held on for second, and J'Amari de Groote took home the top prize in first place. Three RS Zests came out for the regatta and it was Adrien and Stefan in third place, Harrison and Hunter Radican in second place, and Achile Le Normand taking first place. With the race course set south of the causeway bridge, competitors were in for a challenge in a 10 to 15 knot easterly breeze that was both shifty in direction and velocity. Sponsored by Grant Thornton, the ILCA, Optimist, Optimist Green, and RS Zest fleets were able to get in four races and the competition was tight throughout the morning. As is typical, the priority for racers was to get a solid start and then find clear air on the first upwind leg. Also, it was anyone’s guess as to how the wind would shift—sometimes changing as much as 30 degrees—and if you caught it right, you were going to make some big gains. Catch it wrong, though, and it was a fight to finish. Along with the shifts in direction, sailors had to navigate either big gusts coming down the course or lulls that seemed to put the brakes on. Overall, the conditions made for a fun morning of racing. In the hotly contested ILCA Fleet, Oskar Jarrett Versteegden took third place, Clement Le Normand grabbed second place, and taking the overall win was Massimo Lapierre. “Wow, that was a really fun morning on the water. It was great to see everyone competing at such a high level and I’m happy that we were able to get four races finished before noon,” said SMYC Race Officer and sailing coach Andy Cross. Next up on the schedule is the Sint Maarten National Dinghy Championship on May 2-3.
