JOLLY HARBOUR YACHT CLUB

Developments in the Kids Programme since my last newsletter have kept me breathless.

The big breakthrough for us as an entity was our first regatta on Sunday 6th November. We could only field five Lasers. With two per boat, it allowed ten of our juniors to race. A series of five races was held, changing boats each race, which meant every helmsman raced every boat, therefore making certain no one could claim a fast boat advantage.

The results were nail-bitingly close. The overall winner with only 7 points was Tyrese Locktar. In second, only one point behind, was Jules Mitchell, and in third with 9 points was a young man we are very proud of. He has been sailing for only three months and is already challenging the best junior sailors in Saturday races. Ricarlo Richards is our top-performing novice and I am certain a future winner for both club and the National Sailing Academy of which we hope to soon be a part.

I’m still not certain who enjoyed the day the most, the Kids or the Parents who had a bird’s eye view of the racing from the jetty in front of Al Porto, an Italian Restaurant in Jolly Harbour. The races passed the front of the restaurant on one leg and crossed the finish line directly in front as well. I’m sure the enthusiastic verbal support for their offspring could be heard all over the harbour.

A spinoff from the regatta was fund raising and we did very well. We raised another $2,500 to support disadvantaged kids through a one year sailing scholarship bringing the total scholarship fund to $8,000. A further $1,030 was raised from a raffle and Angie Dickinson, the owner of Al Porto, kindly donated 25% of the food money from the excellent all you can eat brunch, adding another $240 to our kitty. Angie was also kind enough to supply all three raffle prizes and free use of the premises for the day.

The story goes on. This last weekend we managed to put four Optimist dinghies in the water along with our Lasers and a Topper. My three instructors definitely earned their keep this weekend and the aim now is to field six Lasers and six Optimists for our next regatta.

Future plans are for an open regatta for Valentine's Weekend, inviting the best dinghy sailors from the whole island to take part over the two days, a fitting tribute to 20 years of Jolly Harbour life.

Expectations are running high that before the end of the year we will be established in our new dinghy park behind the sports bar. The negotiations have been going on for almost a year so we hope that things are about to start to happening. At that time we will come under the umbrella of the National Sailing Academy heralding an even brighter future for Jolly Harbour Dinghy Sailors who are going to take on the title of “The Dolphins” in the next week.

By Chris Chitty
Director of Youth Sailing in Jolly Harbour