Belize National Championship Regatta for skippers aged 8 - 14

You are cordially invited to the 2011 Belize Optimist Class National Championship Regatta. Approximately 20 Optimist sailing dinghies and 40 skippers, ages 8 – 14, from communities throughout Belize will compete in this all day event - the first ever of its kind to be held in Belize. The regatta will take place on Saturday, November 12, at Caribbean Villas Hotel on Ambergris Caye, which is a short taxi ride or a pleasant ten minute stroll along the beach, heading south from the San Pedro air strip.

The host organization for this regatta is the San Pedro Sailing Club, an affiliate of the Belize Sailing Association. The first of two qualification races will begin at 9:00 am. A series of 5 races will follow that will make up the Nationals. The final race for the championship trophy will begin at approximately 4:30 pm. Each race consists of two laps around an Olympic regulation triangular course. There will be an awards ceremony following the conclusion of the Final.

Winners will also be rewarded with an invitation to represent Belize in the 2012 Optimist Regional and World championships. The 2012 North American championship will be near Mexico City; the 2012 World Championship will be in Santo Domingo. According to the Belize Sailing Association, “funding support is available from ISAF and Belize Olympic and Commonwealth Association. See www.optiworld.org and www.sailing.org."

The course for this year’s National Championship Regatta will be close to shore, offering spectators easy viewing of a very colorful event from the beautiful beach at Caribbean Villas. Refreshments to suit most everyone’s taste and budget will be available, and Caribbean Villas’ Catamaran Bar will be open, as will the resort’s restrooms.

Two of the four attachments to this email provide additional specifics about the regatta, the third shows an Optimist sailing dinghy, and the fourth is a brief primer about sailing. The Belize Sailing Association, the San Pedro Sailing Club, and all their young skippers look forward to your attendance and your coverage of this national event.

===================

The 2011 Belize Optimist National Championship

Saturday 12th November 2011
San Pedro Sailing Club, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye

NOTICE OF RACE

1. RULES

1.1. The regatta will be governed by the ‘rules’ as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012.

2. CHANGES TO RACING RULES

The Racing Rules will be changed in the Sailing Instructions in accordance with Rule 86, Changes to the Racing
Rules, as follows:

2.1. Boats failing to finish within 20 minutes after the first boat sails the course and finishes will be scored DNF, “Did Not Finish”.

3. ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY

3.1. The 2011 Belize Optimist National Championship is open to all boats of the Optimist class that have all valid measurement certificates.

3.2. The 2011 Belize Optimist Open Championship event is open to all competitors whether Belizean National, Resident or Non Resident.

3.3. These Championships incorporate the Belizean representative selection trials. The trials are only open to Belizean Nationals or Residents.

3.12. All entries must be submitted to the Commodore of the San Pedro sailing club by Wednesday 9th November 2011. Late entries may be considered on a case by case basis.
3.13. There will be pre National qualifying races on the morning. The number of these and how many entrants will go through from each qualifier will be determined upon confirmation of the number of entrants.

4. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

4.1. Saturday 12th November 2011,

Registration 08:00
Sailors Briefing 08:30
Qualifier 1 09:00
Qualifier 2 09:45
Qualifier 3 10:30
Race 1 11:30
Race 2 12:30
Race 3 13:30
Lunch 14:30
Race 4 15:30
Race 5 16:30
Prize Giving will be as soon as possible after racing is complete.

4.2. At the discretion of the Race Committee the day’s schedule of racing may be altered to suit changes in circumstances.

5. SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

5.1. The Sailing Instructions will be available upon registration and from the San Pedro sailing club’s Facebook page.

6. RACING AREA

6.1. The races will be held on the waters off Caribbean Villas Beach, San Pedro.

7. COURSES TO BE SAILED

7.1. The course will be a traditional Olympic triangle consisting of a windward mark, a wing mark and a bottom mark. Details of the course will form part of the sailing instructions.

7.2 The start and finish line will be placed at the “bottom” marker.

7.3 The number of laps per race will be determined before the start of each race.


8. FORMAT

8.1. All boats will race together in the same fleet.

8.2. Each registered competitor will be allocated 1 boat and will remain with that boat for each of the 5 races.

9. SCORING

9.1. A boat’s score will be based on their finishing position. 1 point for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd etc…..

9.2. Four races to count with the worst score being discarded.

9.3 Lowest score wins.


10. PRIZES

10.1 The following trophies will be awarded

1st Belize National Championship
2nd Belize National Championship
3rd Belize National Championship
1st Female Competitor
1st Team
2nd Team


11. FURTHER INFORMATION

Andrew Milner : [email protected]
Phone: +501-632-4101

KILLER VIDEO:

The mainland is promising to bring 12 boats to the Nationals, adding to our newly augmented fleet of 7. Therefore, we will have 19 boats racing each other throughout the day. Very colorful. Instead of giving you a brief recap of what our skippers did this weekend, I invite you to watch it on Youtube:

MARK YOUR CALENDAR.Saturday Nov.12 San Pedro Youth Sailing Team competes in BELIZE NATIONALS rite here in San Pedro. Location: On the beach at Caribbean Villas. Here's a look at the team making prepartations for the event. Show your support to the San Pedro Youth Sailing Team by attending this event.

The video, courtesy of Michael Davis Photography, will win hearts. The young lady with one of Michael’s cameras mounted in her boat for much of the video is Samantha Velasquez, age 12, of Holy Cross Anglican School.

We've got Liberty Kids coming out with three boats for this race!
This is such a wonderful confidence-building program - so healthy and FUN.
Come out and support these children !!!!

Last Sunday, Maria Novelo from Love Television visited the San Pedro Sailing Club's Youth Training Program during preparations for this Saturday's National Championship Regatta. Here is her superb video and commentary, which aired yesterday.

This is a nice preview to this Saturday's National Championship Regatta.

In the video you will see 7 boats competng. On Saturday there will be 19. The spectacle will be well worth attending, and a crowd of about 200 is anticipated, half of them supporters from the mainland.

National Kids' Regatta HUGE Success in San Pedro

Cool and cloudy weather on Saturday did not keep San Pedro from coming out in droves to support this super cool event.  All day long, kids from around the country sailed their little hearts out for the Belize Optimist National Childrens' Regatta at Caribbean Villas Hotel.

I saw kids from San Pedro, Belize City and Consejo, Corozal competing.  In fact, a big water taxi was chartered to bring out the Belize City team and their large cheering section.

This is the view as I walked up...and being the big baby I am, I was tearing up.  How cute is it to see kids bobbing around in the sea and learning what their forefathers have been doing in Belize for hundreds of years.  I'm telling you...I get choked up just thinking about it.   There can be no more picturesque way to spend an afternoon.
And get this...SanPedroScoop was on the press boat.  With the real press!

Nineteen little sailboats in all.  These kids are incredibly skilled.  I had no idea how difficult sailing really is.  A handful of motor boats supervised the event and picked up sailors in distress.  4 or 5 capsized.  The wind was strong and the sea incredibly choppy.  It certainly didn't help when dive and tour boats cut it a little too close.  (You guys know who you are.)

Click for more photos and information: San Pedro Scoop

Qualifying Races

38 Children from around Belize were selected by their trainers and invited to sail in the National Championship Regatta . Open Optimist Regatta Data (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet): click here to see the list of entrants. Click on the Entrants tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Each race consisted of two laps around a regulation Olympic triangular course.

With only 19 boats available, the 38 divided up into two groups. The first column on the Entrants’ spreadsheet shows which qualifying race each skipper was assigned to. Also in Optimist Regatta Data. The tabs “Q1” and “Q2” at the bottom of this excel spreadsheet list the skippers in each qualifier.

These qualifier results, lists those from each qualifier who progressed to the finals. They are the top nine finishers in each qualifier and, to fill the 19th boat, the #10 finisher in the qualifier with the fastest time.

                                     Qualifier 1


Position             Sailor                                   Team
                          Sail #               Sponsor

1st           Mitchell Sersland                   SPSC Barracudas
           3              James & Jayne Pearce

2^nd           David Verralls                        SPSC Barracudas           22             Ambergris Lakes Villas


3rd         Samantha Velasquez            SPSC Wahoos                  5              Playa Blanca Resort


4th          Joshua Mckenzie                  Sea Scouts
                       2              Sea Scouts

5th          Jorge Olivarez                       SPSC Tarpon
                  19             Caribbean Villas Hotel

6th          Zulema Ayala                        SPSC Bone Fish              23             San Pedro Weather.com


7th          Kevin Velasquez                   SPSC Tarpon                    4              Catamaran Beach Bar


8^th           Morgaine Jones                    SPSC Bone Fish              25
             Belize Sailing Association

9th          Clifton Everett Cain               SPSC Tarpon                   26              Belize Sailing Association

 

                                    Qualifier 2

Position             Sailor                                   Team
                          Sail #               Sponsor

1st            Alexander Rhaburn             SPSC Barracudas
            19             Caribbean Villas Hotel          

2nd           David Puc                            SPSC Permits                    5              Playa Blanca Resort


3rd            Nathaniel Avila                    Sea Scouts                        21             Sea Scouts


4th            Joshua Pott                         Sea Scouts                          2             Sea Scouts


5^th            Faith Noel                            SPSC Wahoos                    3             James & Jayne Pearce


6th           Tyrone Usher                       Sea Swagger                    12             Belize sailing Association


7th           Delroy                                  Liberty Home
                    24             Liberty Children’s Home

8th            Blanca Velasquez               SPSC Permits
                     4             Catamaran Beach Bar

9th            Jerdon Anderson                 SPSC Wahoos                   20             Palapa Bar & Grill          

10             Beverly Medrano                  SPSC Permits                   22             Ambergris Lakes Villas

 

Note: SPSC = San Pedro Sailing Club.

Finals

Click on the Finals tab of Optimist Regatta Data (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet): click here. The finals consisted of 5 races. The spreadsheet shows how each skipper finished in all five races. The worst finish for each skipper is tossed out, so only his or her best 4 races count.

Any examination of the Finals spreadsheet will tell a story of determination and endurance. After surviving a qualifier, the sailors dueled one another for 5 more races. They sailed under grey skies, in chop, and in the face of gusting, variable, winds that became very strong for the last two races. Some skippers who placed well in the early races encountered fatigue, faced difficulty concentrating in the late going, and lost their edge.

Heart is what all of these sailors showed the crowd, and at the end of the day, 4 of them showed endurance as well as especially fine seamanship and sailing skills:

Although he finished out of the trophy places, Sea Scout Joshua Potts, skippering boat 25, missed 3rd place by only 1 point, while outdistancing his nearest competitor for 4th by a full 11 points. It was another Sea Scout, Joshua McKenzie, in boat 25, who edged Josh Potts out to win the 3rd place trophy.

Only 4 points separated Joshua McKenzie from the Second Place finisher, San Pedro Permit team leader David Puc in boat 3, Palo Alto.

The Belize National Champion

The Belize Optimist Class 2011 National Champion sailed to a very quiet and very efficient racing-clinic victory. His final score was 2 points less than perfect, and that is no mean feat. His coaches say, “Hmmm…. He was our dark horse.”

So, Belize, meet your National Champion: Alexander Rhaburn, age 11, of Holy Cross Anglican School, San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye. Alexander sailed to victory in boat 23 sponsored by San Pedro Weather.com. In his best 4 races he took a very convincing 3 Firsts and a Third.

They Sailed On San Pedro

On Saturday, in San Pedro, the Belize Sailing association, held an all-day Optimist class National Championship Regatta for 8 - 14 year olds.

The idea is to continue to build a core of well-trained youth skippers who grow into the sport and lead Belize to international glory in the once familiar now faded sport of sailing.

Here's a look at some of the optimist vessels and their able young skippers on Saturday:..

Allan Usher, Secretary, Bze Sailing Association
"The skipper as these kids, are learning self-confidence, the kids are learning - there is a whole lot of character building that comes with learning to sail, being able to make decisions and pay for those decisions instantly."

Delroy Hinds, Team Liberty
"I like sailing because I can be up there in the water having fun and think to myself because I am doing something good."

Joshua Pott, Sea Scouts Team
"The course was very challenging and at the same time a lot of the small children are moving faster than us. For me I can't out run them so in a sense I have to out maneuver them, in the way that they are going around the buoys."

Joshua McKenzie, Sea Scouts Team
"I like the water of course and I got involve in the Sea Scout team this year in summer, like in June. I got involved in it and I like it. So it just came perfect and it got bigger and bigger."

Joshua Pott, Sea Scouts Team
"Although there's an age limit to the boat class that we have, I hope to spend my time racing on the water a lot."

Andrew Milner, Commander of San Pedro Sailing Club
"The kids are so passionate about their sailing, it just drives us."

There were 7 races, featuring 19 boats and 38 skippers. First in Qualifier one was Mitchell Sersland of the San Pedro Sailing Club Barracudas and first in qualifier two was Alexander Rhaburn also of the Barracudas.

Channel 7