Jorge Olivares Wins the San Pedro Sailing Club's Upper Division Winter Racing Series


This winter the ranks of the San Pedro Junior Sailing team swelled to 30, with more to follow, They were divided into two fleets. Fifteen relative newcomers form the Tarpon Fleet, while fifteen who have been members from the beginning are the Barracudas. For the past 10 weekends, each fleet raced elimination heats and finals. The heats were necessary because the team has only 7 Optimist dinghies. For those 7 boats, the team is extremely grateful to the sponsors: Ambergris Lakes Vilas, Caribbean Vilas, Catamaran Beach Bar, Palapa Bar, the Pearce family's Palo Alto, Playa Blanca, and San Pedro Weather.com.

The last day of racing was Sunday before last and the outcome was too close to predict in advance. Davin Puc was atop the standings while Jorge Olivares was only 2 points behind. Christian Trejo was 2 points behind Jorge, and Kevin Velasquez, the National Champion, was a point behind Christian. All four qualified in their heats for the final, but it was won by Jerdon Anderson, while Faith Noel took 2nd. Christian finished 3rd.

But when all the points were summed, Jorge Olivares had won the series. Davin Puc captured 2nd; Kevin Velasquez, 3rd; Christian Trejo 4th; Faith Noel, 5th; and Jerdon Anderson, 6th.

The Tarpon's series was dominated by Rashawn Gonzales, Michael O'Farrell, and Joshua Marin. They finished the series in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively. Rashawn finished only 3 points ahead of Michael, who bested Joshua by only a point. The next closest was 9 points away.

The team will take a short break to do some R&R sailing, before starting a Spring Series.