28th International Optimist Regatta

Fourteen-year-old Tanner Krygsveld won the 28th International Optimist Regatta (IOR), held June 18-20 in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The local sailor led the event from the first day, and despite a strong field of fellow competitors representing 6 nations – Antigua, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S.A, and all three U.S. Virgin Islands – and winds 15-18-knots, Krygsveld won the 10-race regatta by 16 points.

This makes Krygsveld the third U.S. Virgin Islander in the IOR’s nearly three-decade history to champion the event, with Cy Thompson, Teddy Nicolosi, and Mia Nicolosi having done so in 2000, 2015, and 2016, respectively.

Krygsveld’s first place also put him at the top of the 13- to 15-year-old Red Fleet.

Krygsveld will be traveling to Lake Garda, Italy, with his fellow USVI Optimist teammates to compete in the 2021 Optimist World Championships on June 30-July 10.

Fellow Red Fleet sailor, 14-year-old Sophia De Leon Urban, from Miami, FL, earned the Top Female award. De Leon Urban finished 7th in Red and 10th overall.

“I try not to think I’m sailing against the boys, but that they are just other competitors. It’s getting past that and sail fast,” says De Leon Urban.

In the age 11- to 12-year-old Blue Fleet, 12-year-old Alfonso Lanseros (Miami, FL) finished first and third overall.

“This was the second time I’ve sailed in St. Thomas. That experience helped me to know the conditions and what to do in the waves, winds and currents,” says Lanseros.

Rounding out the Championship Fleet, 10-year-old William Michael (Austin, TX) topped the age 10- and under White Fleet.

“I’ve experienced this much wind before, but not this big of waves,” says Michael, speaking of the 4- to 6-foot seas off the south side of St. Thomas where racing took place. “In the Clinic, I learned to hold my spot on the line in a lot of wind, and that helped during the regatta.”

Meanwhile, it was 12-year-old Juan Gonzalez (Salinas, PR) who won the Beginner Green Fleet after a total of 18 races.

“It was very windy, and the winds variated a lot. I liked it. My goal was to start between the middle and the pin end of the line because that’s where there was the most wind,” says Gonzalez.

In other awards, it was Florida’s Isabel Veiga, from Lauderdale Yacht Club, who earned the Pete Ives Award, given for a combination of sailing prowess, sportsmanship, determination and good attitude both on and off the water. Connecticut’s Avery Beck, from Indian Harbor Yacht Club, earned the Chuck Fuller Sportsmanship Award.

The 7- to 14-year-old sailors started the week by training in the three-day TOTE Clinic held June 14 to 16.

The Clinic was run by top local and international coaches: Esteban Rocha (Lauderdale Yacht Club), Manny Resano (California Yacht Club), Mike Dowd (Lakewood Yacht Club), Bernat Gali (Lakewood Yacht Club), Omari Scott (Coral Reef Yacht Club), Chris Craven (Coral Reef Yacht Club), Mykel Alonso (Coral Reef Yacht Club), Roberto Fabini (Lake Ontario Optimist Team), Martin Borrallo (Southern Yacht Club), Koky Gutierrez (Coconut Grove Sailing Club), and from St. Thomas Yacht Club: Argy Resano, Rayne Duff and Mateo Di Blasi.

The one-day TOTE Team Racing Championships took place, June 17. Out of 16 teams, the winner was Team CRYC Spectra. Team members are Alfonso Lanseros (Miami, FL), Sophie De Leon Urban (Miami, FL), Will Barnhart (Miami, FL), Sebastian Johan van de Kreeke (Miami, FL), and Tanner Krygsveld (St. Thomas, USVI).

The IOR was organized under the authority of the Virgin Islands Sailing Association, and it is a Caribbean Sailing Association-sanctioned event.

This year’s event followed an eco-friendly theme. Sailors were encouraged to recycle all plastic water bottles, use the reusable water bottle in the goodie bag throughout the regatta, keep all lunch bags and wrapping out of the water, pick up any trash on shore and accept drinks without straws.

Event details: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/21742

RESULTS – TOP 5 FINISHERS BY FLEET

RED FLEET
1. Tanner Krygsveld, St. Thomas, USVI (26)
2. Richard Sykes, CT, USA (42)
3. Will Barnhart, FL, USA (54)
4. Jose Guillermo Diaz, PR (76)
5. Gian Marco Piovanetti, FL, USA & PR (89)

BLUE FLEET
1. Alfonso Lanseros, FL, USA (51)
2. Beck Brill, FL, USA (91)
3. Emilio Bocanegra, FL, USA (101)
4. Kyla Benesch, FL, USA (188)
5. Diego Ewinger, ANT (200)

WHITE FLEET
1. William Michael, TX, USA (319)
2. Patrick McNamara, TX, USA (410)
3. Miles Gordon, CA, USA (482)
4. Jack Meade, LA, USA (553)
5. Kailee Moure, FL, USA (566)

GREEN FLEET
1. Juan Gonzalez, PR (79)
2. Diego Sepulveda, PR (82)
3. Diego Rivera Hermida, PR (108)
4. Kayaan Panthaki, FL, USA (116)
5. Rafael Vazquez, PR (120)