St John Sailor Takes 'Top Girl' During International Optimist Regatta

113 Sailors competed during this past weekend

The 21st International Optimist Regatta took place in US Virgin Islands waters this past weekend. Winds were tricky varying widely over the three day race with gusty squalls to barely a breeze to move the boats along. 

Sail World reported that the trophy for Top Girl was awarded to 14-year-old Paige Clarke, from St. John, USVI. Clarke also finished an impressive eighth overall. 

'I felt more confident this year,' says Clarke, who has the experience of a number of continental Optimist championships now under her belt. 'I called every shift and always saw what was coming.' 

The USVI’s Clarke also won the Pete Ives Award, given for a combination of sailing prowess, sportsmanship, determination and good attitude both on and off the water. 

Covering the fleet and staying in front proved successful strategies for 15-year-old Romain Screve. Screve won the 21st International Optimist Regatta presented by Glacial Energy and held out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, U.S. Virgin Islands, from June 21 to 23. At the conclusion of today’s final two races, the San Francisco, California-based sailor lengthened his lead from three points to a very comfortable twenty. That’s quite a feat considering the keen level of competition in the 81-boat Advanced Optimist fleet. 

A total of 113 sailors competed in the Advanced Red, Blue and White Fleets and beginner Green Fleet. The Advanced Fleets completed 10 races and the Green Fleet a total of 18 races over the three days of competition. Sailors hailed from 9 nations – Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and the USA and USVI. 

15 year old Romain Screve took overall top honors

If you are interested in doing some sailing yourself when you are on St John check out these sailboats.

Our new St John swimming pool is finished and fabulous!

Early morning view to the west overlooking

Chocolate Hole Harbor from our new pool

What a week this past one has been!  Lots of great work was completed this week by the Carlson Construction crew.  

We re-plastered the existing wading and swimming pools

at the Main Villa

As soon as the pool was plastered we filled the pools with water:

Coby ensures the force of the water does not damage the new plaster

on the existing Villa pools

The existing Villa wading and swimming pools are filled:

As soon as the existing wading and swimming pool were filled with water

the crew then tiled and plastered our new pool

Carlson's whole crew was on site working hard to make our tight schedule:

Abraham laying the dark blue trim tile

on the new pool stairs and underwater bench

After another long, long day the plaster was finished and the new pool was filled with water:

Coby filling the new pool -- it took three truckloads of Henry's Pure Water 

While the rest of us are working in the hot sun,

Chuck (right) and Henry (left) congratulate each other on a job well done!

It took way into the night to fill the pool

but it was not hard duty watching the sun set over the Caribbean 

The next morning it was a pleasure to see the the finished product:

Villa wading and dip pools in foreground and

the new pool in the distance

Great, but physically exhausting week, so there was no better way to end the week but with a massage!

Chuck is ready for Tammi (owner of Massage & Bodywork) to give him a massage while listening to the ocean

break on the shore below Great Expectations

Now that we are 'refreshed' we are on to finishing the new pool patio...

St John USVI Olympian races today at noon (actually 12:10 PM!)

Mimi Roller giving the VI sign at the London Olympics

After years of practice and sailing today is THE day!  St Johnian Mayumi 'Mimi' Roller raises her sail today at 12:10 PM to compete in the Summer Olympics.  No matter the outcome of the race today, she is our winner for sure.  Keep up to date with schedule... and - almost real time - results...

More on Mimi:

Virgin Islands Daily News reports:

Experienced Roller steps into Olympic spotlight

BY AARON GRAY (DAILY NEWS STAFF), Published: July 21, 2012

Photo by GLENNON STRATTON St. John native Mimi Roller, front right, will represent the U.S. Virgin Islands in laser radial sailing at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Mimi Roller, 21, a St. John native, took a year off from St. Mary's College of Maryland to focus on her Olympic sailing quest. She punched her ticket for London after she finished sixth among 66 sailors at the 2012 Laser World Championships in Boltenhagen, Germany, in May. Roller finished eighth overall among 13 sailors at the 2011 Pan American Games, and led St. Mary's to a third-place showing at the ICSA Women's National Championship two years ago. This will be her first appearance at the Olympics.

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GO MIMI, GO! SAIL YOUR HEART OUT!

Young St John sailor takes top spot for Green Fleet in recent Caribbean Regatta

Sailors underway

You can never start sailing too early as young 9-year old Mateo DiBlasi from St. John, USVI, found as he became the winner of this year's Green Fleet during the recent 20th Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta, held out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club, U.S. Virgin Islands, June 22 to 24. 

Only four points separated the top five sailors going into the third and final day of racing at the 20th After three final races in 12 to 15 knot winds, it came down to a tie-breaker to determine 14-year-old Will Logue, from Riverside, Connecticut, the overall winner, topping nearly 100 other sailors.

“I didn’t do well in the second race this morning, so it was really close. But, I came back strong in the last race to win,” says Logue. “My strategy is always to stay positive and do the best I can.”

This was Logue’s first trip to the Caribbean. “What I really like here are the heavy winds,” he says. “It was great sailing.”

Logue won not only the overall championship, but also the 13- to 15-year-old Red Fleet.

In the 11- to 12-year old Blue Fleet, it was Ivan Shestopalov from Miami, Florida, who finished first.

“The winds were very consistent and that’s what I need, heavy air,” says Shestopalov, who added that he would be staying on St. Thomas another week with his team to train before leaving for the Optimist World Championships in the Dominican Republic in July.

The BVI’s Thad Lettsome won the age 10 and under White Fleet. This is impressive since Lettsome has been sailing only a little over one year in the Royal BVI Yacht Club Sailing Program.

“It was fun,” says Lettsome. “It was also the biggest regatta I’ve sailed in to date. I just tried to stay left or right, whatever direction the wind was coming from.”

The Dominican Republic’s Justina Pacheco earned the Top Girl award.

“I always tried to read the wind shifts correctly and get good starts,” says Pacheco, about her strategy for success.

In the beginner Green Fleet, it was Mateo DiBlasi from St. John, USVI, who took a commanding lead to win.

“I always went where there was the most wind,” says 9-year-old DiBlasi. “Now, my next race I get to go in White Fleet. That will be hard, but I’m ready.”

The USA’s Logue also won the Pete Ives Award, given for a combination of sailing prowess, sportsmanship, determination and good attitude both on and off the water.

Meanwhile, the USVI’s Maggie Finley earned the Chuck Fuller Sportsmanship Award.

A record 127 sailors competed in the Advanced Red, Blue and White Fleets and beginner Green Fleet. The Advanced Fleets completed 11 races and the Green Fleet a total of 16 races over the three days of competition. Sailors hailed from 16 nations – Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, St. Maarten, Trinidad & Tobago, the USA and USVI.

The Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta, organized under authority of the Virgin Islands Sailing Association and a Caribbean Sailing Association-sanctioned event, has been sponsored by Scotiabank almost since the event’s inception. The week started off with the Sea Star Clinic, run from coaches from OptiSailors.com, and included the one-day Sea Star Team Race on June 21, which was won by the USA Worlds Team.

RESULTS (Top 3)

GREEN FLEET

1. Mateo DiBlasi, St. John, USVI (23)

2. Luke Sanford, St. Croix, USVI (48T)

3. Mia Nicolosi, St. Thomas, USVI (48T)

RED FLEET

1. Will Logue, Connecticut, USA (37)

2. Romain Screve, California, USA (37)

3. Nic Muller, Florida, USA (38)

BLUE FLEET

1. Ivan Shestopalov, Florida, USA (39)

2. Wiley Rogers, Texas, USA (82)

3. Maria Paz Pacheco, Dominican Republic (153)

WHITE FLEET

1. Thad Lettsome, BVI (242)

2. Rayne Duff, BVI (247)

3. Zane Rogers, Texas, USA (256)

Full 2012 Results

Some more pictures of the high's and low's (literally):

Is there a boat there?

That is some great balancing

Oops!

This sailor has found his balance Lots more photos

Summertime on St John is relaxed yet lots (or nothing) to do

Come to St John and watch magnificent sunsets like this one...

Sunsets on St John are spectacular especially as captured by photographer extraordinare Steve Simonsen

June/July News flashes & fun St John clips:

• Carnival season is 'rapping' up with a traditional Caribbean parade and big bang (fireworks planned for the night of July 4th!). Carnival, as promised, has been filled with music, sports (bike, boat, & swim races), Coronations, and, of course, more music and food. As you can see, this year's Food Fair has been spectacular; we have had great weather, and of course, fabulous food offerings!
• Support the USA Olympics and a terrific young St John woman, Mayumi 'Mimi' Roller, a life-long St Johnian and college student, who is heading to London on the USA Olympic Sailing Team. To send Mimi good wishes or donations please either sign on to her Facebook page or e-mail her directly.
• Speaking of sailing...this month marked the 20th annual Scotiabank International Optomist Regatta where more than 100 boats captained by young sailors from 16 nations vied for the #1 spot. St John sailor Mateo DiBlasi won the Green Fleet's tier! St Thomas and St Croix sailors also did incredibly well.
• Dolphin sightings this summer have been plentiful and every time exciting. On this video, Captain John of St John's Palm Tree Charters captures a couple of young dolphins playing and jumping out of the water (about one minute into the video and worth watching).

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EDITOR's NOTE: The above comments are excerpts from our recent newsletter.  E-mail us to let us know if you want to subscribe.

Perfect ending for Caribbean Regatta - Virgin Islands sailors (St Thomas, St Croix & St John) all in top scoring boats!

Silver Flight start race 10 June 24 2012 photo courtesy Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta

So proud of the Virgin Island sailors!  Here are the results from this weekend's Scotiabank International Optimist Regatta with St John, St Thomas and St Croix sailors all in top tier of sailors.  St John KATS made it into very top as well winning the Green Fleet in #1 position with St Croix and St Thomas in number #2 and #3 position.  Way to go!

More pictures and results...

Dean Barnes captured this photo of Optimist sailors

Virgin Islands Rolex Sailboat Regatta - Spectacular winds and sailing

Pillsbury Sound

Our friend, Andy Arnold, was lucky enough to hop on board Bad Kitty to watch today's leg of the Rolex. Yesterday was quite raining and overcast and as you can see today was spectacular with sun and great winds. Check out the current results and enjoy more pictures (with photo credit to Andy!)...

Tough duty Andy. Job well done!

St John comes together (again) to support its own

Anyone who has passed by the Post Office or Uncle Joe's BBQ has, I bet, 'met' Russ who manages the information booth.  A couple of weeks ago now Russ was badly injured in an early morning collision.  Russ was in his dinghy which was hit by the Caneel ferry. With broken bones and a severe head injury Russ was transported to the St Thomas hospital and then airlifted to Miami where he continues to be in intensive care.  His St Johnian buddies have rallied to support him and are hosting a benefit sail this coming Friday.  If you are on island it will be a great event - fun and giving to a good cause.  If you are not on-island but would like to help, please check out his Facebook page  and indicate you want to help Russ heal and return to St John! Thanks for caring......