Regata in Luperón

Passing the heart of hurricane season in Luperon harbor I have volunteered for the past two months as sailing coach for the Luperon sailing school. Since I don’t speak Spanish, I was fortunate to enlist the aid of the kind and beautiful Paola from the argentine flagged Tango as translator. The Main work of the school since it’s founding 9 months ago has been by Nathalie Gendron and Olivier Michaud , who have been kind enough to let me teach and who have asked me to write this entry about the first ever Luperon regatta. The regatta was held the first weekend in October.

Paola and Runyon teaching

The new Luperon sailing School has yet to celebrate its first anniversary. Classes are held every Saturday, Sunday and the occasional Wednesday. The children have had a lot of fun and learned to sail along the way, but nine months ago none of these kids had ever sailed. Now here they were going to be in front of family and friends, starting on the gun, beating up to the mark ( well..some beating better than others ), rounding, jybing, finishing and occasionally capsizing. They were very excited.

Eduardo reviews the starting flag
Five sailors came from Boca Chica, where the Dominican sailing federation is headquartered, to serve as the regatta committee. Included among them was Eduardo, their Spanish speaking sailing coach, Irina and Sebastian, her son. Teaching young sailors to race while not speaking their language is a bit of a challenge. This was not an issue for Eduardo.

Regatta Saturday began with the first serious race ever for the young sailors of Luperon. Wind at 10 knots. The course fourshortened by the bluff opposite the harbor entrance. The young sailors listened quietly and politely as Eduardo of the race committee explained the course and the starting signals in the sand. We had been practicing the signals and course for two weeks, but the bigger flags and the impending event made this lesson serious. The course was windward, reach, leeward, finishing with a second windward leg.

Frantz

Berlin

Angel

Nathalie had asked me to divide our sailors into two classes.

Class B: Angel, Berlin, Reny, Frantz, Ymer, Wally and Oscar and Kayla together ( they’re so light it takes two to make one of the others).

Class C: Chrismarie, Vicmarie, Yorfrey, Jesus, Aris, Rachel, Nadia (with Fany), Ayendi

One minute left before a pratice start

The horn went off and the 5 minute warning flag went up. For the last minute , I asked Eduardo to count the time outloud because our sailors didn’t have stopwatches. At the start of class B, Berlin, Franz and Reny all hit the line in good time, beating to windward. Ymer, Angel and the rest following behind. Order of finish: Frantz, Reny, Berlin, Angel, Wally, Ymer, Oscar/Kayla. Vicmarie gets disqualified. I didn’t see what happened , but this usually means the sailor failed to round a mark.

The first Class C race was won by Wally (crossing classes, how did that happen?) with Jesus second and Chrismaire powering up at the end for third. Vicmarie had the best start but Jesus, Chrismarie and Wally beat past her to the windward mark.

Lunch by Lenin
There were family and friends watching from the beach. There where hot dogs between races. Lots of swimming and horsing around. The federation representatives were full of compliments for the young sailors.

Oscar shows Kayla how to hike for a cool head
Afternoon race saw a real upset with Oscar and Kayla winning the race in Class B! Oscar has always reached well, but sometimes likes to reach so much he doesn’t sail to windward. Not this time! Angel also places. Order of finish: Oscar/Kayla, Frantz, Angel, Berlin, Ymer, Reny. A disappointing finish for the usually swift Reny.

I’m not quite sure what happened in the afternoon race for Class C. the results show Frantz and Wally crossing classes, but I don’t remember that. Right after the start of each race, Eduardo, Paola and I would follow behind the slower racers and correct technique, which often meant we missed the finish. Official order of finish: Frantz, Jesus, Wally , Vicmarie, Rachel, Chrismarie, Aris. A good finish for Vicmarie. A disappointment for Chrismarie, who can sail so well (if not consistently). The real story in Class C is turning out to be Jesus, with two seconds so far.

That night there was a party at Puerto Blanco hosted by Luperon sailing club president Lenin. Red caps and t shirts for all.

Sunday began with a parade through the harbor , our ten optimists following Kayla and me in the taller Xcite. We ran into Puerto Blanco where family could see their young sailors close up. Lots of pictures and waving.

Then came an excellent lesson from Eduardo about handing on a tack, which Vicmarie did perfectly in her very next race. There was lunch on the beach courtesy of Lenin. Lobster and beer, hot dogs and sodas. Lots of laughter and swimming.

Reny

Results of third race:

Class B: Reny (who can always power off so well), Berlin, Frantz, Wally, Angel, with a DNF for Oscar /Kayla and Ymer. Berlin has now performed consistently well in each Class B race, as has Frantz. Both Angel and Wally have almost broken into the top 3, but need more speed to windward.

Ymer follows Frantz

Class C: Jesus (again!), Aris (beginning to sail well), Nadia and Fany, Chrismarie, Rachel, Yorfrey, Vicmarie.

Then it was back to Puerto Blanco for the awards ceremony, with cetificates and medals.

Final results: Class B: Frantz 6, Berlin 9, Reny 10, Wally 12, Angel 12, Oscar/Kayla 16, Ymer 19. Consistent sailing from Frantz and Berlin put them on top. Oscar/Kayla and Ymer pay the price for not Finishing (DNF).

Class C: Jesus 5 ( the low point leader for the entire regatta and a very promising sailor), Crismarie 13,

Aris 14, Rachel 14, Nadia/Fany 18, Vicmarie 20, Yorfrey 21, Ayendi 27.

Nathalie, who rarely held still

My view of the regatta was not comprehensive, but focused on the young sailors and their performance. I know a good deal of hard work was done by helpers I did not see. I do not omit them by design, but must leave to others a description of their contributions. One who stands out is Juan Carlos, who righted countless capsized dinghies and always had a smile for each kid.

In my 54 years of sailing and racing, I’ve been to countless regattas, regional and national championships, but until I had lobsters on the beach at the first ever Luperon regatta, I didn’t really know what a happy regatta could be. When I sail away, I will miss the children and their happy highjinks very much. I will miss the light that enters their eyes when they understand something new.

If you find yourself in Luperon, come help the school.

Runyon Colie Woods