Junior sailors prepare for Hua Hin Regatta

The junior sailors were still feeling the rush of crewing on Captain John Stalls 35’ cruiser class yacht during the International Samui Regatta and went into the month of July ready to hone their skills and prove their merit in the upcoming Optimist class competition. Every Saturday and Sunday the children could be seen at the Tradewinds practicing their starts, tacks and jibing while receiving sage advice from team leaders John Stall, Mike Holly and Mike Reeves.

Everyone was taken by surprise during a practice race on the last weekend in June when a sudden storm came in with wind speeds up to 40 knots; strong enough to blow the tops off the waves and create a white out with zero visibility. The Optimist didn’t stand a chance against such strong winds and after the storm passed all that could be seen of the Opti's were their dagger boards pointing upwards. Fortunately Commodore John Stalls and Mike Holley, quickly plucked the sailors from the drink and onto the safety boat. The storm passed as quickly as it arrived and John later said it was a rare opportunity for the children to experience sailing in such a storm and very unlikely they will see another any time soon. The kids were all happy and excited to share their stories with everyone on land and spend the rest of the day kayaking.

The Hua Hin Regatta will begin on July 30th and racing will end on the 3rd of July. This will be the 5th international regatta that the youth sailor will have participated in over the last 10 months. The Samui Yacht Club Regatta Team will be represented by 4 veteran sailors Martin Zach age 12, Amanda Lennartsson age 10, Sky Yudi age 10, Pa- Sweet Betancourt age 9, and the two newest yachtsmen to join the travel squad; Max Zach age 9 and Tanque age 10. We look forward to some great racing from this new SYCR team.

Special recognition must go out to the wonderful sponsors that have pledged to help in the continued growth of the Junior sailing program. Bill Bremner of Foxy Lady from Sigapore, Frank Pong of Jelik from Hong Kong and local Mike Langaskens of PROFMIL have all come to John Stall and offered to buy new boats, racing sails and provide the most appreciated financial support that goes into the everyday running cost of keeping this most worthy project afloat.

The Junior sailing program is free to all children on the island of Koh Samui. All children ages 6 years and up are invited to come join in for a fun day of sailing at the Tradewinds every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 to 1:00. Beginners will be matched with an experienced sailor and given the opportunity to crew and sit at the helm of an optimist boat. On a sadder note team member Amanda Lennartsson’s new baby brother passed away after just 20 days on board. Our sincere sympathy goes out to Amanda and her parents Marie and Tony Lennartsson.