Orange Bowl regatta will be ‘a test of character’

No sooner will some of Bermuda’s brightest young sailors have licked their plates clean of turkey and cranberry sauce, than they will jet off to compete in one of the world’s biggest junior events.

Six sailors from The Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and nine from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club will line up at the Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, Florida, which takes place between December 26-30 and features 689 competitors from 27 states and 23 countries.

The RHADC will take Brandon Adams, Mikey Wollmann, Joe Arrowsmith and Charis Todd to compete in the optis and Ceci Wollmann and James Amaral to battle it out in the lasers.

Strength of mind

For Ceci it’s her first international regatta in the laser class after wrapping up her opti career with a win in the Bermuda Nationals.

RHADC coach Nico Stefani believes that strength of mind is the most important thing for the sailors competing in the under-18 regatta.

He told the Bermuda Sun: “A lot is going to depend on the start — they are going to be out there with 100 boats. They have to have a lot of character to get their own spot where they want to start — don’t be afraid of the other kids.

“Be where they want to be rather than where they think they can be. That’s the key in a large regatta like this.

“We have to make sure they sail with a focus on what they’re going to do. For some, it’s difficult because there are so many kids. Sometimes they have fun but don’t concentrate on the race.”

The RHADC team will be bolstered by a number of US sailors, while Ceci Wollmann will stay on to compete in the 29er US Nationals from January 1.

Stefani said: “We have different expectations because the kids are at different levels — some of them we hope can finish in the top 10 while others we are looking at it as getting experience.”

He added it is likely to be a good eye-opener for the four optis to get used to sailing in big fields.

“It’s going to be quite a big event for them. In the lasers, Ceci is more used to going over to race in the US but for James it’s going to be a big regatta.” 

Next week, we get the thoughts of the RBYC squad.