ANTIGUA YACHT CLUB

The 2014 Heineken Light Caribbean Open Laser Championships were held in Orient Bay, St. Martin on June 14 and 15.  Four Antiguan youth sailors participated in the Radial Class in the event this year, coached by Antigua Yacht Club's chief instructor and former Olympic sailor, Karl James.  Karl, five-time Open Laser Champion, was nursing an injured knee and therefore was not on the race course himself.

“It’s painful to watch not being out there,” said James as he sat on the committee boat before jumping into a dinghy to coach his young hopefuls between races. “This is Lewis’ first international regatta and the others have done a few small ones. But this one is a real test for all of them.”

Two members of Team Antigua made the podium in a class of 13 sailors. Lewis Fitzgerald, participating in his first international regatta, finished 2nd in class followed by Jules Mitchell in 3rd.  Another member of Team Antigua, Rhone Kirby, finished 5th in class and the team's youngest sailor, Vincent Anfi, at only 13 years of age, finished 7th.

Class results can be found here.

For the Overall results the team sailed in a fleet of 25 including the Masters class (sailors over 45), the Open Class (Laser Full Rig) and the Radial Class. In the Overall results, Lewis finished 6th, Jules finished 8th, Rhone finished 11th and Vincent was 13th . The Team did a great job and proved itself once again, confirming that the continued investment by their sponsors and financial supporters is a worthwhile cause.

Overall results can be found here.

Next on the agenda for the Antiguan youth team is the Premier's Cup Regatta in Tortola, BVI in a few weeks' time.  The Team took all three podium positions in the Premier's Cup last year.  If you would like to provide financial assistance to help make participation possible, please contact Susan Athill Mitchell at sathillmitchell@gmail.com.