Reprinted from " St. Thomas Source"

©Dean Barnes Photo

Sept. 3, 2001 - Charcoal clouds, blustery winds and rain pelting down so hard that it was difficult to tell where the sky stopped and sea began spelled the conditions for the first day of racing in the 2nd annual Island Marine Outfitters KATS (Kids and the Sea) Cup International Multi-Class Regatta held Saturday and Sunday out of Coral Bay. If those conditions fazed Ian Barrows, it didn't show. The St. Thomas 6-year-old
valiantly crewed with Sunfish Doubles partner Addison Caproni, 13, sometimes even taking the tiller between races. "He's never sailed before, but he's watched his older brother and really wanted to do it," Ian's dad, Shep
Barrows, said. Ultimately, Ian and Addison won their class -- and with their
fellow St. Thomas sailors took home the top team trophy.
But more important, Ian signified the spirit of the regatta -- first-time
sailors testing their skills, more experienced juniors tackling progressively
more difficult boats, and adult sailors demonstrating their love of competition
in the sport.
The six-class event attracted 58 sailors from St. John, St. Thomas, St.
Croix, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Sint. Maarten and Trinidad
and Tobago. They competed in Laser singles and doubles, Sunfish singles
and doubles, and Optimist advanced and Green fleet. The short, sprint-style
courses were triangular or straight-line windward/leeward.
"Through this event, we wanted to generate interest for the Caribbean
Dinghy Championships, which we'll host next year, and to acquaint sailors
with team racing," regatta organizer Robin Clair Pitts said.
Competition was keen in the Laser singles class, with winner Beech
Higby from St. Croix being one of only two sailors to finish the first race
when a squall blew through the course. Higby went on to rack up six more
wins to take the class -- with final second- and third-place finishers Tom
Kozyn of St. Thomas and Robbie Ferron of Sint Maarten, respectively,
riding his tail in more than one race.
Thomas Barrows from St. Thomas, who has long excelled at Optimist
sailing, proved with teammate Nathan Rosenberg that he's equally adept at
handing a Laser. "He sailed Laser Radials up in the states this summer, as
well as Optimist," Thomas's dad, Shep, explained. The pair won this class
just four points ahead of the St. Croix duo of Scott Stanton and Andrew
Loe.
Two veteran St. John Opti sailors, Callie Burks and Valerie Trahan,
graduated to Lasers for this event and handily placed third. "It's a more
difficult boat than an Optimist, but doubles are fun," Burks said afterward.
The colorful sails on the Sunfish cut dashing figures across the course as
St. Croix's Peter Stanton sailed to a nearly flawless first-place finish. Peter
has sailed Sunfish since 1999 and competed in two Sunfish Worlds. "Lasers
are physically demanding, and weight is all important," he said. "But with
Sunfish, there's less emphasis on weight and more on tactics." Peter, his
brother Scott, fellow St. Croix sailor Tim Pitts and St. John's Angelo
Raimondi will compete in the Sunfish Worlds in Antigua Oct. 5-15. In this
weekend's sailing, St. John's Ian Beam and Dane Tarr placed second and
third, respectively, in this class.
Caproni and Barrows captured the Sunfish doubles, but close in pursuit
were two St. John duos, Zach Trahan and Lonnie Tarr, and Chutney
Mohler and Nicole Barbier. In the end, Zach and Lonnie won the
tie-breaker for second place by having garnered more first-place finishes
than Chutney and Nicole.
Three fleets raced in the advanced Optimist class. St. Thomas's Cy
Thompson won in the Red Fleet (for ages 13-15); St. Thomas's Taylor
Canfield took the Blue Fleet (ages 11-12), and Puerto Rico's David
Alphonso finished first in the White Fleet (10 and under). Alphonso was one
of four competitors who traveled from Puerto Rico for the event. "We're
working to promote more small boat sailing," David Kerr, president of
Puerto Rico's Federacion de Vela, said.
Experience at the Optimist National Championships in Barrington,
Rhode Island, paid off for Optimist sailors earning medals in the Green
Fleet. "I gained a lot of experience and confidence," Tyler Rice of St.
Thomas, who won the class, said. St. John sailors Sarah Burks and Hugo
Roller, who also sailed at the Nationals, ended second and third,
respectively.
The theme of sportsmanship played out many times throughout the
two-day regatta: Class competitors rigging their boats side by side on the
beach, "good job" called out to fellow sailors, and assistance given to
"turtled" boats between races. "Sportsmanship is almost even more
important in this regatta than how you place out on the course," Pitts said at
the start of the event. "It's what sailing is all about."
One sportsmanship trophy was awarded to Elsa Meyers of the B.V.I.,
who got a conk on the head from her Optimist boom during wild weather
the first day but didn't give up sailing. Another went to St. Croix's Curtis
Diaz, who volunteered to tow a boat in to shore where it could be repaired.
And a third went to Puerto Rico's David Kerr Jr., who volunteered to sail in
Sunfish singles -- in a boat that was new to him -- since he was too big for
an Optimist and too young to sail Laser singles.
At the awards presentation, Ian Barrows happily accepted the shiny
golden team trophy for the St. Thomas delegation. Tom Petrone, director of
retail operations for the regatta sponsor, presented the Island Marine
Outfitters KATS Cup trophy. "I'm impressed with the dedication shown by
these sailors," Petrone said. "We're proud to be involved and hope to
contribute again in the future."