Breaking

ST. CROIX — Forty young sailors from St. Croix, St. Thomas and Puerto Rico took to the seas of Teague Bay this Saturday and Sunday in the Crucian Open Regatta. Thirty skippered small Optimists boats singlehandedly; ten sailed the 29ers in teams of two, according to a St. Croix Yacht Club release issued late Sunday.

This year, Puerto Rico teen Guillermo Mendez won the Optimist title after persisting through high winds and seas.

With winds at 18 knots and gusts north of 20, the St. Croix Yacht Club race committee held the regatta inside the reef. Under normal circumstances, advanced Optimists and 29ers compete in the Buck Island Channel. Not this weekend. The Optimist Green Fleet, beginners who always race in Teague Bay, competed even closer to shore this year.

Advanced Optimists and 29ers shared a course, although the 29er raced to a farther mark.

Waves pounded the reef for a dramatic backdrop. Safety boats kept watch for sailors overboard and counted heads. (29ers are tippy; most capsized at least once.)

“The work never ends for a 29er,” said Chris Hanley, vice commodore at the St. Croix Yacht Club. Even between races, 29ers are exerting themselves while waiting for the start, he said.

The Crucian Open, a one-design regatta, is the second of three qualifiers for the the 2018 Optimist World Championship in Cyprus, August 27-Sept.6. All racers had this in mind as they hoisted their sails.

The regatta also serves as a team qualifier for the 2018 Optimist North American Championship in Vallarta, Mexico, June 24-July1.

Sailing coaches Santiago Galan (Tino) on St. Croix, Austin Resano (Argy) of St. Thomas, and Gabriel Del Campo of Puerto Rico, all on hand on the water, counseled the kids between between races.

Although Hurricanes Irma and Maria interrupted sailing practice, Puerto Rico shone this year among the Optis. St. Thomas took limelight, too.

Caroline Sibilly of St. Thomas came in third overall and said, “I went to Thailand last year, and I want to go to the Worlds again this year.”

Milo Miller ranked top among St. Croix Advanced Optimists and positioned himself well for the starts. “My strategy was to start at the pin and take a port tack. You get lifted,” he said. Like most, Miller holds visions of Cyprus.

As 29ers are far and few between in the Caribbean, Crucians raced against each other. St. Croix, with its fleet of six, has had 29ers for just over a year.

Taylor Hasson and Steven Hardee came in first with Rider Odom and Lake Sanford as their biggest competition.

“Tino had sailed skiffs in Argentina for three years,” said Hardee. “So, if he was uncertain about something, he asked his friends back in Argentina.”

After the first day of races, Hasson reported that his legs felt like jello, and Hardee swore he would wear gloves the next day.

Rider Odom and Lake Sanford took second place. They had only sailed together three times before the Crucian Open.

By Sunday, they had discovered how to make the boat sail fast, Odom said. “We got the hang of it today,” he said.

There were mishaps among the 29ers: boats capsized in the high winds, asymmetrical spinnakers hooked up, and Lucy Klempen almost went overboard.

“I held on by my legs,” Klempen said. Her sister Kate righted the boat in the nick of time, and they sped away.

Some of the young visiting sailors will return for the St. Croix International Regatta, March 9-11. Nine year-old Pablo Mugica, a Green Fleet Optimist from Puerto Rico, is one. He lived on St. Croix until he turned four.

“I really liked playing with all my St. Croix friends,” he said of the Crucian Open.

Top Crucian Open Winners:

Advanced Optimists:

First Place – Guillermo Mendez (PR)

Second Place – Tanner Krygsveld (STT)

Third Place – Caroline Sibilly

Optimist Green Fleet:

First Place – Tyler Jones

Second Place – Coby Fagan (STT)

Third Place – Elijah LaRose (STX)

29ers:

First Place – Taylor Hasson and Steven Hardee (STX)