Kids Take To The Water in 2015 BVI Dinghy Championships

The Royal BVI Yacht Club hosted the 2015 BVI Dinghy Championships at Nanny Cay on 16 and 17 May.

Racing took place on the Sir Francis Drake Channel just off Nanny Cay. BVI Sailors were joined by sailors from St Croix, St John and St Thomas; there were 52 dinghies out on the water. The wind was light and shifty requiring more skill and patience from the young sailors.

The main sailing course had the Optimist Championship Fleet, Club 420, Laser Radial and Laser Standard fleets competing. The second course was the Optimist Green Fleet (Novice racers) which had 24 boats – the largest number the event has had in Green fleet. Last year there were just six boats. The Green Fleet completed 14 races over the two days.

Nanny Cay’s general manager Miles Sutherland Pilch launches his son!

The light winds suited Mia Nicolosi from St Thomas who had three bullets coming first in Blue Fleet and first overall. This was the first time she had beaten her brother Teddy and Rayne Duff.

“It felt good to have beaten them rather than them always beating me,” Mia said.

There were nine boats in the Laser fleet split into Radial and Full rigs. Sam Morrell won the Radial class with Colin Rathbun winning the Full Class.

The BVI Dinghy Championships is also the third and final event of the VI Triple Crown which includes VIODA in St Thomas and the Cruzan Open in St Croix. The overall winner was the BVI’s Rayne Duff with Julian van den Driessche from St Thomas second and Lake Sanford form St Croix third.

The event was sponsored by Hellmann’s, Road Town Wholesale Trading, Nanny Cay and Moorings.