The International Junior Sunfish Championships hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club came to a close on Saturday at Montague Bay with Ecuador's Jonathan Martinetti claiming the championship title.
The International Junior Sunfish Championships hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club came to a close on Saturday at Montague Bay with Ecuador's Jonathan Martinetti claiming the championship title.
After two days of competition Martinetti was able to secure the best results after six races. In total, Martinetti was able to secure four first place, a third place and a sixth place finish, netting seven points for the victory after dropping his sixth place finish.
Prior to the awards presentation Martinetti said the sailing conditions were “kind of good because the winds were around 10-15 knots which made the regatta competitive."
The senior World Sunfish Championships are scheduled to start today (Oct 19). 17-year old Martinetti is the current World Youth Laser Champion and the North American Senior Champion, but he does not have a boat to participate in the Worlds this week.
"I am still waiting to see if I can participate because I do not have a boat yet, but if someone does not show up for the regatta, I can get his boat," explained Martinetti.
Regatta Committee Chairman Paul Hutton said it was two days of exciting competition but they were on touch-and-go on the
Saturday morning because the wind was very light until it picked up later in the day.
A total of 10 countries with 25 junior sailors participated and Hutton hailed them as top flight sailors for their remarkable accomplishments.
Two females participating in the championship, and Curacao's Philipine Van Aanhoit finished third which shows the high level of competition said Hutton.
"The Bahamian team participated well in these championships. It is not often that they are exposed to this level of competition especially with top flight sailors coming to The Bahamas. The fact that we were able to get these juniors together and they performed as well as they did is quite remarkable," he said.
16-year old Christopher Sands was the top Bahamian finishing in the top ten with an eighth place finish. That is a “tremendous accomplishment” for his ability according to Hutton.
"It shows if we can get them in this top flight competition, they are going to do well," he said.
With the World Championships scheduled to start today and four Bahamian juniors joining the seniors in the competition, Hutton said it is going to be "spectacular" seeing 72 boats on the water lined off at the starting line.
Meanwhile, top Bahamian finisher Sands said the competition was really good and there was top competition coming from the international visitors.
"It was a different level of competition but there wasn't any surprises on the water for me. The foreign guys are really fast with a lot of experience. Through this competition I have learned to stay with the leader and don't go off course," said Sands.
As he heads into the World Championships today, he said the start of each race is important if he expects to be within the top 25 of the competition.
"I think the juniors are going to be more competitive than some of the seniors once the World Championships start. For instance Martinetti is really good; he won the North American Championships by beating out all the seniors," noted Sands.
Also participating in the junior competition was Family Islander Torrington Cartwright out of Long Island who received an e-mail stating that he was going to be a part of the competition.
"I was not scheduled to compete but I was in Nassau for an appointment and when my mom showed me the e-mail that Iwas a part of the team I almost hit the roof," said Cartwright.
The 15 year old added that it is difficult to train in Long Island by himself but he is grateful for the opportunity to have represented The Bahamas finishing 19th overall.
International Sunfish president Andres Santata encouraged the junior sailors to continue pressing forward as one day they will have that opportunity to represent their nations at the Central American and Caribbean Games and at the Pan American Games.
He thanked the local organizers for a job well done in hosting the "future of sun fish sailing."
