2022 Youth Nationals Sailing Championships

This year’s Youth Sailing Championship was one for the ages. Cayman sailors were pushed to the brink of their sailing limits over two days of competition. In what most described as ‘on the verge of survival mode’ conditions; thirty-nine youth sailors battled it out for 2022 sailing supremacy on the North Sound. Sailors were split across four classes of boats – Optimist Green (beginners), Optimist Championship (advance), Hartley 12 (double hander) and International Laser Class Association 4 (ILCA 4) (single handed). In the end, reigning Hartley champions Molly DeSeram and Stella Dean were the only ones to successfully defend their title and three new champions were crowned.

Saturday was the windiest of the two days, sailors had to contend with 20 knot gusty winds from the North northeast, coupled with the infamous North Sound chop, which made sailing on the day an arduous task, especially on the upwind legs. But these conditions only strengthen the sailors resolve. Race officer Peta Adams who had a front seat view of the action said, “I was in awe by what I saw from the sailors today”.

In the optimist championship fleet (15yrs and under), there was a hard-fought battle between Cameron Lloyd, Bronwen Burt and Russell Wilson. Cameron led the first day with two bullets and both Bronwen and Russell had one a piece. They would go into the final day on 6, 9 & 9 points respectively. Bronwen took the fight to Cameron on Sunday, tying up the points with two bullets of her own, which meant that it was all to play for going into the final race. Ebba Collins, who had a remarkable day two, took first place in the final race closely followed by Cameron. Cameron was crowned optimist champion with 10 points, Bronwen second place on 11 and Russell third place on 14.  In the beginner’s optimist class, Red Bay Primary student Zaiden Doctor took first place, followed by Harrison Hewitt and Alexander Butterworth.

In the ILCA 4 fleet there was another three-way battle between Allie Capasso, Lyndon Pickering and Victoria Rowlette for the championship going into the final race of the day. With just one point separating 1st and 2nd, and one between 2nd and 3rd, it was all dependent on the final race. In the end it was Allie who was unfazed by the pressure and sailed her way into first place to take the championship. Even though Victoria finished ahead of Lyndon in the last race (which meant that they were tied on points after their discarded race), Lyndon was awarded second overall because he had more first place finishes than Victoria; this was in accordance with ‘The Racing Rules of Sailing Appendix A’.

Hartley 12 Defending champions, Molly and Stella were the standout performers at this year’s event, finishing the regatta with six bullets from 7 races. This was the third consecutive championship across two fleets that dynamic duo has won. Most improved sailor of the year, Claudia Bullmore and her crew Dominic Gunn were second, followed by Nicholas Sved and Kaden Ramos in third.

The Cayman Island Sailing Club would like to thank all sailors, parents, volunteers, and the coaches for making this event a huge success.