By Jacqueline Hale
Rough winds and pounding rain during the 14th Buccaneer Blast Regatta failed to put a damper on the spirits of the 268 participants, the event’s largest ever fleet of competitors.
Why? Well, 9-year-old, Alec Voss Del Vecchio, first-year sailor from Coral Reef Yacht Club, gave his answer.
“In sailing, I just feel like it’s my happy place. I feel like I’m so open to do anything,” Voss Del Vecchio said.
First-year sailor Victoria Don, 7, had a more straightforward answer.
“I love water, especially rain,” Don said.
These kids, simply put, love being on the ocean, rain or shine.
The regatta, which took place Feb. 4 and 5 at Rowell’s Park in Key Largo, hosted youth competitors in the Optimist or “Opti,” ILCA/Laser, Club 420 and Windsurfing classes. Sailors came from nearby clubs like the Upper Keys Sailing Club and Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and from as far away as Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands and California.
The event, through raffles and sponsorships, netted around $40,000 for the Mark Sorensen Youth Sailing Program, according to executive director Rosa Lamela. The money will go toward equipment and scholarships for local kids to attend the program’s summer sailing camps.
According to the event organizers, parents, coaches and kids, the opportunity to learn sailing means a lot more than just competing in a sport.
“There’s so many life lessons on a daily basis,” Lamela said. “When these kids are out there on their little boats, it’s them, their boat and the elements. And they have to learn to figure things out. They adjust. It’s like a chess game out there. And it builds character mentally and physically.”
The regatta displayed the impact of youth sailing in a particular way during the weekend, as the young sailors not only showed off their talents but also put into action the life skills gained on the water.
Clouds rolled in early on Feb. 4 with an occasional shower, but during the second race of the day, the sky opened in a downpour that seemed to stall directly over the competing sailors.
Organizers canceled the race, and the sailors headed back to land. The high school Club 420 and ILCA/Laser sailors arrived on land first, with the Opti green fleet, the newest sailors, right behind. The young sailors fought against the increasing rain and wind, and the few parents and volunteers on land struggled to help the kids, many of whom had water filling the small dinghy boats.
The high schoolers jumped into action. A group of sailors took control of the boat ramp area while another went out to rescue the Opti sailors drifting in the bay. Though windblown and wet, everyone landed safely.
“They were just downright heroic,” Lamela said. “It was very impressive to see them take leadership and initiative and just take total command of the situation.”
And for some of those young Opti sailors, it was a chance to prove the maturity and strength they’ve gained in sailing.
“At home last night, my 11-year-old is sitting there, and we were reviewing the day, and I said, ‘Mommy and Daddy came, we rescued you and brought you back to shore.’ She looked up at me and said, ‘I did not need to be rescued,’” Erik Brenstein, the father of a first-year Opti sailor, said, recalling their conversation after the storm. “That’s why I’m doing this. It’s things like that, where your heart stops because you see your kids growing up into who they’re going to be.”
Feb. 5 brought calmer winds and blue skies, so after a morning weather delay, sailors and windsurfers took to the waves for a full day of competition. The event ended with an awards ceremony for the top competitors in each division.
“These are stories that they’ll tell their grandchildren,” Lamela said. “They won’t tell you about the easy sunny day of racing. They’ll tell you about the stormy, scary ones.”
