SIMPSON BAY-- Team Antigua won the Nations Cup during the 2022 Caribbean Dinghy Championship held in Simpson Bay Friday to Sunday. St. Barth finished second and St. Maarten was fourth.
Antigua won in 2018 and 2019. They returned to the top this year winning three of the six race classes.
Jules Fortunati from St. Barth took first place in the Laser 4.7 fleet. Fortunati and Emma Lennox from St. Maarten finished the three days of racing tied. The tie breaker rule awards the winner of the final race the advantage. Jordan Pieterse from St. Maarten was third.
Ozani Lafond, representing Antigua, dominated the Laser Radial Fleet and took first place. Cindy Brin, from St. Barth was second and third place went to Pascall Belle from St. Martin.
Rhone Kirby, from Antigua, won 12 of his 13 races to win the Laser Standard Fleet. Second place went to Benoit Meesemaecker, from St. Barth and St. Maarten’s Jolyon Ferron was third.
The team of Paul Pages and Jules Lamort from St. Martin won the RS Zest Class. They had a nine-point advantage over number two team Rio Stomp and Dax Henriques, representing St. Maarten. Deshawnte Durat and Jahvon Hector from Antigua took third place.
St. Barth’s team of Christophe Maxor and Lucca Magnan topped the RS Quest Fleet. They had an 8-point advantage of number two team of Joris van den Eynde and Alex Speetjens from St. Maarten.
Bernard Sillem and Henry Krugler, representing St. Martin, took third.
Antigua’s Emily Gilliard won every race in the optimist fleet. She was the only sailor to take first place in every race they sailed over the three day long competition. Sarah Michaux was second
and Correntine Corroy, from St. Martin was third.
The competitors were challenged with light conditions during the final day of the 2022 Caribbean Dinghy Championship.
” It was great to watch the racing on the water and see all the competition going on,” said Frits Bus a skilled local Laser Standard sailor and Commodore of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club. “The racing showed a high level and I’m happy to see that the local sailing programs are creating these great sailors and educating the sailors of the future.”
