VI youth sailors shine @ USVI Friendship Regatta in St Thomas

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St Thomas, USVI- The Royal BVI Yacht Club (RBVIYC) youth sailing team went on tour to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands (USVI) this past weekend with Optis loaded up on the bow of a mothership for the first time since 2017, and put up a spirited performance in tough conditions.

According to a press release from the RBVIYC on November 14, 2023, the first day of racing started early with some of the children getting up before the sun!

"There were 14 sailors racing in the green fleet representing the St Thomas Yacht Club, St Croix and all of the VI team. However, we discovered that the green fleet was starting with the Opti Championship fleet so they were on a starting line with 27 other boats. The conditions also made this challenging with above 25 knots gusts rolling through with big wind shifts and a challenging cross sea. We all got a good bit of practice bailing out Optis on day 1!

"Not to be phased, the RBVIYC sailors gritted their teeth and went for it. They had a steep learning curve and all of our sailors rose to the challenge. We saw huge improvement from all of the sailors throughout the day. After three races they were all getting the hang of it and we saw the best result of the day from Aerin Westlake who got a third place. As well as all of the sailors pushing at the starts. The sailors all worked on their downwind skills throughout all seven races and this really paid off on Sunday," RBVIYC stated.