SLYC Sailing Calendar 2011

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ROUND ST LUCIA REGATTA

2 DAYS : 19th & 20th FEBRUARY 2011

Ten boats lined up for the second Round St Lucia Regatta on 19^th February with leg 1 starting in the middle of Rodney Bay and ending in Vieux Fort.  The first boat over the line was veteran local Boat Cider of Rosie followed by Kaiso. The fleet headed for Pigeon Point and then hardened up for a windward beat towards the northern tip of the Island. The wind was blowing 10-12 knots to start with.  The first boat around the north cap was Cider followed closely by Caol Ila, Sweet Surrender and Kaiso.  After rounding the cap, the boats eased off a little on a close fetch. In the early afternoon the wind dropped completely and one or two yachts with the current were finding themselves perilously close to the rocks.

Mary Murray, a Pearson 42 and Avocet a Pacific Seacraft as well as  Cider decided to retire back to Rodney Bay. The rest of the fleet for safety reasons decided to motor sail to Vieux Fort. One or two boats decided to do a spot of fishing. Kaiso caught a Spanish Mackerel much to the delight of the young crew.   Despite the light conditions the Vieux Fort team were on hand to welcome the boats over  the line.  The fleet anchored in Anse Benson and a water taxi was arranged to take the crew ashore.

All the various crews headed to the Old Plantation Restaurant, a traditional creole establishment where the food is prepared in coal pots. Fresh chicken and fish was served and everyone enjoyed a great evening

LEG 2

Crews woke up to seemingly perfect conditions with a 10-12 knot breeze blowing. When the horn went,  Kaiso was first over the line 08.30 followed by Sweet Surrender. Several boats set kites which made a spectacular site as they headed towards the majestic Pitons.  Sweet Surrender, a Beneteau 46 gradually pulled ahead. Towards the Pitons the wind shifted north and then started to drop. Near Soufriere the wind dropped to barely a whisper.   By lunchtime, there was  still barely any wind and boats were lucky to register  1 knot in  speed.  It was a frustrating time for the crews with especially those sitting without shade in the scorching heat.  One by one boats retired until only the Beneteau 46 and Caol Ila, the Hanse 54. One of them was determined to win.   Their persistence paid off as the wind started to build by mid afternoon 10 knots was blowing from the north east.

Sweet Surrender was first to cross the finish line at 16.44 followed by Caol Ila at 17.14.  Prize giving was presented at the clubhouse where first prize was given to Sweet Surrender who won a free Haul out & pressure wash, courtesy of IGY Marinas.  Second prize went to Caol Ila who won vouchers for Delirious restaurant and Café Olé.  There was live music and free Heineken beer handed out for crews and all enjoyed the occasion despite the fickle winds.

Sean Fuller Sailing Captain
Have a look at the pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/SaintLuciaYachtClub

DIAMOND DASH RACE

Rodney Bay – Diamond Rock Martinique  – Rodney Bay

St Lucia Yacht Club Sailing & Social Calendar 2010 / 2011

YOUTH SAILING PROGRAMME:

EVERY TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY: ALL DAY

INFO: LILY lilybergasse@yahoo.com 484.2517

MAX: toddymaxmax@hotmail.co.uk 719.8406

INFO J24’s MAX = YOUTH & ADULTS

INFO SAILING EVENTS: SEAN seanfuller@talk21.com 722.0077

SLYC Sir John Compton Memorial Trophy

SLYC Round St Lucia Non-Stop Race 21st August 2010

Emancipation Day Race

ANNUAL SLYC EMANCIPATION DAY TROPHY RACE 31^st July 2010

Rodney Bay to Marigot and Return Race

Despite an unsettled weather forecast, 9 boats turned out for the second annual Emancipation Day Race organised by the St Lucia Yacht Club.  The smallest Boat was a 16’ Fireball and the largest Breeze Away, a 50’sloop with a scattering of J24’s, the popular 24’ race boat.  Two of the J24’s were crewed by youth teams.

The race conditions were near perfect with a 12-14 knot breeze blowing from the north east. The race started at 10 am.  just off the St Lucia Yacht club start line at Reduit Beach.
Claudia Vogel, a J24 took the lead early on but the main fleet were very closely grouped as they headed towards a rounding mark at Pigeon Point. The fleet then headed south to Marigot Bay on a run with the wind almost behind them and then the wind moving more on the beam.  The J24’s put up spinnakers which gave them an advantage as they took the lead followed closely by the larger keel boats which prefer higher wind strength.

Just outside of Rodney Bay, near Barrel O’ Beef Rock, the 16’ Fireball with two crew capsized with the crew ending up in the water. The IGY safety rib was close by for assistance and towed the boat back to the club.

The fleet headed for the Hess mark and then the finish line outside Marigot Bay. Claudia Vogel was first to finish followed by Attitude and Jabal. The boats headed into Marigot Bay for a lunch stop and then returned to the start line at 2 pm. The start line was between the red buoy and the Marigot Marina Patrol boat.

The larger boats Breeze Away, Kaiso and Out of Sight got off to a flying start in the race going north with the wind almost on the nose. Out of Sight took a course close inshore and gained extra speed approaching Barrel O’ Beef rock.  There were close duels between the boats as they approached the mark on diverging courses, making for some exciting racing.  The fleet rounded the Pigeon point mark to starboard and then headed for the finish line with Out of Sight first over the line off Reduit beach.

The finish places on elapsed time for the race from Marigot to Rodney Bay were First, Attitude, second, Claudia Vogel and third Jabal.

Overall first three places on elapsed time based on a handicap system went to to the J24’s:

1. Claudia Vogel
2. Attitude and
3. Jabal

CONGRATULATIONS to the Claudio Vogel crew as they are our youth sailors (Luis Meixner, Marcus Sweeney, Stephanie Lovell, Jasia King, Scott Anthony) WELL DONE !!!

Thanks go to prize sponsors Heineken (free Heineken cans for all participants), Digicel (mobile phone & miscellaneous items) , Rain Forest Skyrides (voucher), St Lucia Rums (Bounty Rum) Café Ole (voucher), as well as Edwin Chavez from IGY Marina for assistance with Race support, Ted Bull & Adam Slayed (Rodney Bay start & finish line) and Bob Hathaway from Marigot Bay Marina for support at the Marigot finish line.

Special thanks to the organizers Sean Fuller (Stand-in Sailing Captain),  and Danielle (pictures) (Social Secretary) http://picasaweb.google.com/SaintLuciaYachtClub

Submitted by SF & DDR

click on picture for pictures

Saturday 12^th, Sunday 13^th & Monday 14^th December 2009

Hosted by St. Lucia Yacht Club in cooperation with the Yacht Club de la Martinique

Diamond Dash sponsored by Diamonds International

On Saturday 12^th December at 09.00 a reduced entry of seven boats turned up in squally conditions for the start of the St Lucia to Martinique race series known as the Sir John Compton Memorial Race. The annual event is held in honour of the late Prime Minister of St Lucia, a keen yachtsman who served the island for over 30 years. The start was off the St Lucia Yacht Club in Rodney Bay and within the fleet included two ARC entries Akanara and Boundless and also two Martiniquan boats. The smallest entry was a J24 skippered by Edgar Roe.

As the yachts headed off round Pigeon Point, they were soon into the teeth of a strong north easterly blowing at between 25 and 30 knots. Akarana, a Swan 46 which had only recently finished the ARC Atlantic race, took the lead as the boats headed off to Fort de France , a distance of some 25 miles. The fleet soon encountered big rollers accompanied by some heavy rain squalls with gusts up to 35 knots. Some boats had two reefs in their mainsails as they headed on a close fetch.

This was the first occurrence of the race for two years. Last year’s race was cancelled due to the general strike in Martinique. The race was being hosted by the Yacht Club de la Martinique for the first time as previous races ran to Le Marin on the south west coat.  The first boat to cross was Akarana followed by Vaguely Noble, a Martiniquan boat which won on handicap. The winds were gusty and testing right to the finish off Fort de France.  Some boats encountered damage along the way. Kaiso suffered a torn genoa leech more than 10 feet long but the crew managed to stitch a repair overnight.

The boats berthed at the docks provided courtesy of the Yacht Club de Martinique. Later in the evening, the Club hosted a dinner for all the participants which was attended by the St Lucian Consul General Keats Compton. There was entertainment in the form of a traditional costume and dance troupe which was enhanced further by an impromptu performance by one of the male crew from Kaiso dressed in drag.

The following day entailed a leisurely sail down to Grand Anse D’Arlet, a bay on the south east side of Martinique. All participants met up for a classic gallic lunch with plenty of wine. As there was no public holiday in France on Monday, it was left for the fleet to arrange an ad hoc start. The time and the start using a rusty boat as ODM and a mark on one side was arranged by Edgar Roe on Loose Cannon living up to the name by firing the starting gun. Needless to say he wasn’t over the line.

The return leg from Anse d’Arlet includes a provision to round Diamond Rock to starboard. All boats record their time when they reach Diamond Rock on a bearing of 270 degrees. The weather for the start of the return leg started off squally with winds up to 22 knots. Akarana was first to Diamond Rock after putting in two tacks. They were followed by Loose Cannon. The weather cleared by mid morning to leave clear skies  as the boats again head on a close fetch back to Rodney Bay on account of the strong west flowing current. Akarana, the Swan 46 was the first to cross the line after approximately 4 hours sailing. Kaiso , A Sovereign 400 manage to squeeze in front of Loose Cannon and came in a few minutes ahead.  Loose Cannon was followed by HyTime which was limping along slowly after suffering sail damage during a tack.

Later in the afternoon, prize giving was held at the St Lucia Yacht Club with prizes awarded by Lady Janice Compton. Akarana won first overall and Diamonds International awarded first prize to Loose Cannon for ‘The Diamond Dash’, sponsored by Diamonds International, being the fastest time between Grande Anse D’Arlet and Diamond Rock. Prizes were also awarded with the Skipper and crews each averaging several bottles of Bounty Rum and Chilean wine to take home thanks to St Lucia Distillers & Peter & Co.   Heineken beer was provided courtesy of Windward and Leeward Brewery.

Lady Janice Compton donated a picture to the Yacht Club featuring Sir John Compton at the helm.

All in all a great event was enjoyed by participants and thanks go to the sponsors: Heineken, Diamonds International, Peter & Co, St Lucia Rum Distilleries, Delirious, Spinnakers , Rain Forrest Sky Rides and to the St Lucia Yacht Club and Yacht Club de Martinique for organizing the race!

Submitted by Skipper Sean (Kaiso)

SLYC “EMANCIPATION DAY RACE 1^st August 2009”

Appropriately on this day the two sailing areas of St Lucia, Rodney Bay and Marigot Bay celebrated the occasion with a friendly sailing event joining the two sailing resort bays in competition on the water. 2 races were held starting in Rodney Bay at 10am and finishing around one and a half hours later. This race was an unusual start sequence where yachts started at pre determined times according to their own handicaps as determined by their measurement ratings, thereby giving the slower boats an earlier start with the intention of getting the boats to the finish at Marigot Bay as a more collective group.

14 yachts turned out to compete on the almost perfect sailing day conditions, 15 knots of wind from the ENE, sunshine and a gorgeous blue Caribbean sea—MAGIC!

Perfect for some but as is the fate of others, a dismasting of the yacht Doubloon from Discovery at Marigot Bay put paid to their racing for the day. Luckily there were no injuries and the mast was recovered by the experienced crew without any assistance from the race committee and returned safely back into Rodney Bay marina.

After a short break in Marigot for lunch where all the yachts rafted up, the game was on for the return battle! This, albeit a beautiful sailing breeze which had whipped the fleet down to Marigot earlier now turned into a beat into the wind or at least a fine fetch to the Pigeon Island turning mark into Rodney Bay and then to the SLYC finishing line in front of the beach. Horn blowing to greet the finishers and to record their times kept the scene of fun and sport going on for the visitors and guests and for the anxious parents awaiting the return of their sailing youngsters.

Prize giving followed their trip ashore, wet and tired but ready for the club BBQ and refreshments kindly donated by Heineken.

Click on picture to go to web album

Our Sponsors, Heineken, Diamonds International, Rodney Bay Marina, Marigot Bay Marina, Discovery Marigot, Rain Forest Sky Rides and Digicel made this, now to be the annual Emancipation day event, possible. Representatives present were duly thanked by the committee for their participation.

The new Trophy, which was kindly donated for the event by Frank Capers Senior, was duly won by his son Frank Capers junior in the club J24 Grayling and the oldest participant in the event!  71 !

The two races were individually scored but amalgamated to give the final positions as follows:

Racing class:

1^st.    J24 “Grayling”  Frank Capers and the winner of the Overall Trophy

2^nd J24 “Loose Cannon” Edgar Roe

3^rd J24  “Banana Wind” Marcus Sweeney

Cruising class:

1^st “Beneteau 50 ” Spirit of the Wind” Christian Richings

1^st “Elvira D 49”  Sun Odyssey  Ulrich Meixner

3^rd “Sovereign 40 “Kaiso” Sean.Fuller

Bosun Ted Bull

Photography and filming by our professionals Danielle and Ian from the SLYC.

St. Lucia BMW J24 Invitational Championship 6th-7th-8th November 2009

Click on picture to go to web album

St Lucia Yacht Club hosted the Third St Lucia BMW J 24 Invitational Championship over the weekend in Rodney Bay. With teams from Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and St Lucia, six teams sailed eighteen races over the weekend to decide the winner.

Hosted in the “The Landings” private Marina with teams staying in five star luxury apartments and two beautiful BMW’s on show this regatta was very much a five star event. Friday nights briefing and cocktail party was held on “The Landings” marina with the six J’s tied alongside made for a wonderful sight.

Racing started Saturday morning right outside the marina just off the beach with great viewing for those lazing on the beach or aboard the Endless Summers large cat giving great viewing on the water. Courses were short windward leeward’s with twenty minutes races giving close exciting racing. After the mornings six races it was very tight at the top with the two St Lucian teams Trinidad and Grenada split by just a few points. Short lunch break and off again for a final six afternoon races with clear blue skies ten knots of breeze you could not ask for better racing conditions. Again the sailing was extremely tight with many different teams up the front and positions changing minute to minute. After a long days racing the six teams headed back to the Marina and a few well earned beers and to check how they ended up for the day. Again it was extremely close amongst the top five with only three points separating Trinidad, Barbados, the two St Lucian teams and Grenada.

Sunday dawned with more blue skies and perfect sailing breeze and a few headaches after a night in Rodney Bay! The Trinidad team came out fast with four bullets to basically seal the regatta while some of the other crews suffering from the night before took a little time to wake up and made some bad errors with over the line problems for Edgar in St Lucia one, plus a mixture of penalties for other teams let the Trini’s slip away to an unassailable lead but second to fourth was a close fought battle right to the last race with again just a few points separating them all. The top three were Edgar Roe, St Lucia 1 in third, Robbie Yearwood from Grenada in second and Stephen Bushe with Andrew, Wesley and John from Trinidad taking the trophy.

Again many thanks go to BMW “Prestige Motors” as the main sponsor along with the “Landings”, “St Lucia Distillers” and “Peter and company” for prizes and the committee boat II Restless. All monies raised holding this event goes towards the youth sailing program held by the Yacht Club.

Michael Green (SLYC Vice Commodore)

Click to go to the picture albums.

SLYC OPTIMIST RACING FOR GROWN FOLKS

SUNSET GET TOGETHER + BIRTHDAY PARTY

SLYC COMMODORES BALL Saturday 19th March

The evening started with sparkling wine & appetizers on the beach and after a while we all went upstairs to enjoy the dinner that was prepared by volunteers & staff. Many danced the night away as you can see in the pictures album.

A big Thank You to Monique (our temporary manager), Jannell, Juliana, Ricard & Genevieve (our wonderful staff), Lily (appetizers & dessert) Stephanie & Raina (for helping serving), Duncan (who managed the bar downstairs and who kept on carrying stuff up and down the stairs), Kennedy (the DJ who played the perfect music to create the perfect atmosphere) and all the others that helped out.

Also a big Thank You to all people that joined us and made the evening successful.

Last but not least, we really appreciate the donations for the Youth Sailing Programme.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and that you will be joining next time as well. (We’re planning already!)

Danielle (SLYC Social Secretary)

LUNCHES AVAILABLE ON SATURDAY & SUNDAY.

Every Sunday we serve a special meal!
BAR FOOD AVAILABLE IN THE EVENINGS.

Catering possible for special events.

HOLIDAY SEASON 2010 PICTURES

“LET’S GET TOGETHER” PARTY 2010!  

CAROLS AFLOAT 2009 Christmas Flotilla

“It is Christmas in the Heart that puts Christmas in the air” (W.T. Ellis)

CAROLS AFLOAT 2009

What a way to some up the inaugural Carols Afloat. I don’t think any one of the people who participated would be able to argue with that.

On Tuesday the 22^nd December a total of 13 uniquely decorated boats and 2 IGY RBM boats participated in what was hopefully the 1^st of many Carols Afloat Christmas events. Certainly from this writers view point the event was a tremendous success! The boats that participated brought the joy that is Christmas spirit from their hearts and souls to many boats around the Rodney Bay Area.

On Tuesday afternoon, if you happened to be passing the IGY Rodney Bay Marina around 4.30pm a great many preparations could be seen, be it large inflatable Santa’s (palm tree included)(thanks to Hullabaloo) or as many large decorative flags as could possibly be acquired from various sources!

At precisely 5.30 (Caribbean time) all of the 15 boats participating met outside the entrance to the Rodney Bay Marina, craft participating ranged in size and shape from the lead boat “Hullabaloo” through various sizes of yachts (some of which had only just arrived on island through the ARC event last month) down to the St Lucia Yacht Clubs crew on board “Lucia” an Impulse 21 keelboat.

Come 6pm the whole graceful procession set of with our in house DJ pipeing an eclectic mix of traditional carols with a few carib vibes mixed in for good measure.

No sooner had we set off than disaster struck! One of the many Christmas torches on “Lucia” died so we had to improvise; with our extensive instructor background prepared for every event a spare mag-light was brought forth and held up the show for us. Oh and a few more unfortunate of us hit bottom near pigeon island.

After these few teething problems the rest of the tour went extremely well with most getting into the Christmas spirit by singing joyous melody’s, at least this was the case on “Lucia” as we couldn’t hear much over the noise of our outboard motor!

With a cool beer in sight the flotilla headed back from the terrors of the open seas into the “Well Lit” inlet for a fly by on the Edge restaurant and the end of the parade.

After tying up all crews converged on H20 restaurant and bar for the Prize giving and free beer courtesy of Heineken brewery.  Prizes were given to the best decorated, most improvised, best crew uniform as well as a whole host of others! All prizes were donated by local companies, amongst which featured “Fire Grill”, “Delirious”, “The Edge” , “Columbian Emeralds”, “Café Ole”, “Rain Forest Sky Rides” , “Steel Pan Band Harmonites”, “Spinnakers”, etc.

In all an extremely enjoyable evening was had by all and if you are to talk to anybody who participated I’m sure you’d receive many a tall tale of the high seas, possibly even a few about the joy brought to all through the wonder of Christmas and all who participated.

Special thanks goes to : -

IGY Rodney Bay Marina (free birth for the night for the participating boats & DJ Mickey), St Lucia Yacht Club, All sponsors and the boats – “Hullabaloo”, “Lucia”, “Catar”, “Kaiso”, “Gizmo”, “Nomad”, “One Time”, “Boldly Go”, “Reel Extreme”, “Twice Eleven”, “Guiding Light”, “Fair Encounter”, “Endless Summer” and both IGY boats that participated. I’m sure that next year the fun will continue and for many years to come.

Submitted by Callum (Sailing Instructor SLYC)

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Beach Lunch BBQ 2009

New Years Eve 31^st December 2009

“World ARC welcomes in 2010 with a Bang! (News article from World Cruising Club Website)

World ARC 2010-11 participants enjoyed a fantastic New Year’s Eve party at the St Lucia Yacht Club last night. With a complimentary barbecue and drinks, and free bubbly at midnight, the New Year was welcomed in with style.

St Lucia Yacht Club, located near the entrance to Rodney Bay on the warm sands of Redruit Beach, provided the perfect viewing platform for the spectacular fireworks display, which illuminated the bay to loud cheers from the revelling crowds beneath.

World ARC participants took no time in joining in with the local crowds in their New Year’s Celebrations, with the street parties carrying on into the small hours. Even with a week still to go before setting sail, it seems the World ARC 2010-11 has already socially become a success!

Many participants have chosen an adrenaline-packed way of getting rid of their New Year’s hangovers today – on the Tree Top Canopy Adventure Tour. Heading into the rain forest of St Lucia’s eastern coast, adventurers zip through the air on 11 different lines between the trees at up to 50ft above the forest floor – rapidly cleansing their heads of any over-indulgence from last night!”

Squash courts are available at the club.

The Youth Sailing Programme is up and running if one of your kids would like to learn to sail.

Also at the club house, bar snacks available in the evenings. Lunches served on Saturday’s and Sundays! Don’t miss it !

Members testimonies:

Donn Carr:

“Never, ever had a bad time at the Yacht Club!! Gotta love the people, the attitude, camaraderie and the fun!”

INFO YOUTH SAILING PROGRAMME: please contact Lily lilybergasse@yahoo.com or 484.2517

History of the Youth Sailing Programme

The St. Lucia Yacht Club Youth Sailing Programme, now known as the “Kids’ Sailing Programme”, was started in 1995 by Dr. Michael Camps, at the suggestion and with the help of Robert Geoffroy. Over a period of ten years Dr. Camps, ably assisted by Dr. Brigitte Schuling, taught sailing to hundreds of young people in St. Lucia. In 2005, sadly, Dr. Camps had to retire through ill health.

Boats

Beginners learn the basics of sailing on the small, easy to handle, Optimists. Those with the ability and desire to do so go on to learn racing techniques.

St. Lucia has been represented at several international Optimist Championships over the years.

The older kids, with the necessary skills and strength, can progress to sailing and, thereafter, racing lasers.

ST. LUCIA YOUTH SAILORS CROSS THE CHANNEL

FOR INTERNATIONAL REGATTA IN MARTINIQUE 2011

The St. Lucia Yacht Club’s Youth Sailing Programme sanctioned by the St. Lucia Sailing Association saw a team of 8 young Optimist and Laser sailors and coaches off to Schoelcher, Martinique on Thursday March 3, 2011 to compete in the 21^st annual Semaine Internationale de Schoelcher. Sailing coaches, Max Todd and Omari Scott, have put the sailors through vigorous training on the water for the past month and are eager to see results at this international regatta where sailors will meet on the start line with 60 or so competitors from around the region and from as far as Canada.

For the first time the St. Lucian team consists of 6 laser sailors: Marc Spurway, 14, Dylan Charles, 14, Raina Bergasse, 16;  2012 London Olympic candidates, Beth Lygoe, 30, and Stephanie Devaux-Lovell, 15, who also joins team mate Scott Anthony, 17, at the 2011 Laser Youth Worlds in Croatia in August. The Schoelcher regatta serves as the first of several international regattas in which the top sailors will be entering in preparation for the “big” regattas.

Sailing in the Optimist class, Marcus Sweeney and Luc Chevrier will be using Schoelcher as their first international regatta for the year which will prepare them for the North American Championships this summer and, for Marcus, the Opti Worlds.

The sailors and coaches are grateful to their sponsors: IGY Marina and Ferrands Dairy and to the kind members of the yachting fraternity who have volunteered their yacht and their time to sail the team across the channel to Martinique and accommodate this St. Lucia Youth sailing team. Competition starts Saturday March 5 and sailors race daily through to Tuesday March 8 and are due to return to IGY Marina on Wednesday afternoon.

Back at Reduit Beach the Sailing Programme continues successfully with weekly sessions for sailors varying in age from 6-17.

NATIONAL OPTIMIST & LASER SAILING CHAMPIONSHIP 12th & 13th June 2010

The National Optimist and Laser Sailing Championships were held this weekend, hosted by the St. Lucia Yacht Club. This was the 4^th annual Championship regatta and the biggest, most exciting yet!

This year’s new sailing class, Benjamin Optimist , had 8 young participants aged 6-10 who were new comers to the sport of sailing but raced well in perfect conditions on Saturday morning. The Optimist Class had 9 competitors aged 8-14 yrs who fought through variable conditions on the water on Saturday , including extreme winds of 23 knots, ( that ‘s white caps in the bay!) and heavy rain . They all showed great determination and perseverance and wonderful sailing skill which made for exciting races both on Saturday and Sunday. The laser classes had a record 10 competitors, the biggest fleet ever. Again, there was exciting competition in this class on both Saturday and Sunday.

The prize giving ceremony was attended by St. Lucia Olympic Committee President Mr. Richard Peterkin and regatta sponsors, including IGY Marina manager Adam Foster who publicly committed his support of the St. Lucia Youth Sailing programme and to providing sponsorship for 20 young people to join the SLYC sailing programme. Sponsorship will include sailing lesson fees and transportation to the sailing facility at the SLYC. Mr. Foster’s commitment to sailing was gratefully acknowledged by SLYC Commodore, Dr. Stephen King. In his address, Dr. King celebrated the sport of sailing and the opportunity this sport provides to young St. Lucians for the development of character, self esteem, self confidence, self discipline and self respect as well as respect for others including the sea. Congratulations were given to all sailors and prize winners as well as regatta organizers, especially coaches, Max Todd and Fredric Sweeney. The regatta committee and sailors thank the regatta sponsors: IGY Marina, Island Water World, Bryden & Partners, JE Bergasse & CO., Mr. Chris Renwick and Home Services Ltd.

St. Lucian sailors will be travelling over the summer months to compete at a North American and World level: Stephanie Devaux-Lovell, Luc Chevrier, Marcus Sweeney compete in the North American Optimist Championships in Kingston, Ontario, Canada at the end of this month; Jasia King will compete for her second time in the VOLVO Youth World Laser Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, in July; and Stephanie Lovell travels with the St. Lucia team to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August. All are training intensely for these upcoming events and we wish them success.

REGATTA RESULTS:

BENJAMIN OPTIMIST CLASS

1^st – Danny Dillon

2 d – Amit Zevi

3d – Kai Wagstaff

OPTIMIST CLASS

1^ST – Stephanie Devaux-Lovell

2^nd – Marcus Sweeney

3d – Luc Chevrier

4.7 LASER CLASS

1^st – Stephanie Devaux- Lovell

2^nd- Raina Bergasse

3d – Marc Spurway

RADIAL LASER CLASS

1^st – Beth Lygoe

2^nd- Thomas Meixner

3d – Jasia King

SCHOELCHER REGATTA 2010

Day 1

On the 11^th of February Sailors from the SLYC Youth Program set sail for Martinique for the 20^th Semaine Nautique de Schoelcher.

The team: Luc Chevrier, Thomas Meixner, Stephanie Lovell, Jasia King, Erik Simmons, Marc Spurway, Marcus Sweeney, Marion Bardies, Raina Bergasse.

Many in the team were embarking on a first experience. Although they may have competed in the regatta before some sailors were racing a boat they had never competed in before. Some sailors were having their first real regatta experience and one of the team was building on previous experience.

Ben and Callum, SLYC Sailing Coaches, left at the crack of dawn to get a head start on the faster boats with one opti aboard of II Restless. The sailing team set sail with Les and Judy on Maverick, a San Fran 67. Arriving in the afternoon of the same day the team helped the coaches unload all the laser dinghies as we waited the arrival of Duncan and Danielle on Sephina and Norman and Sue on Clara. These two boats delivered the remaining opti’s. In the evening the other boats arrived and all dinghies were unloaded in record time and with efficiency not seen before from a Lucian team. This was partly due to the assistance of Callum Mcardell who was an invaluable asset on this trip, and also due to some of the more experienced sailors mucking in and rallying the young ones to help.

Day 2  Approx  10-12knts

Registration and measurement was completed by all sailors by lunch and a training session was run in the afternoon. That evening the Team attended the opening ceremony in the Club Nautique de Schoelcher and yes, they appeared to be the best dressed team as you can see in the pictures.

Day 3  Approx  12-15knts

A slow start with racing starting at 1400. The team now started to adapt to the new classes of boat and their first regatta experiences with a few good starts from both the opti and lasers.

Day 4 Approx  14-17knts

An early start and 4 races for lasers and 3 for optis. Luc Chevrier moved up to 2^nd place overall in his category in his first regatta. Exceptional performance. The laser sailors were still adjusting to the intensity of laser sailing at an international level and finding their feet on the downwind legs.

Day 5 Approx  18-22knts.

Another early start and some tired faces looked out onto a windy race course. In the days racing our laser sailors seemed to excel in the windy conditions with Thomas Meixner scoring some top 5 finishes bringing him up the rankings and Stephanie Lovell fighting hard with the other females through the day. These other girls are a good foot taller and many pounds heavier than Stephi and she held on to get some good results. The optis had a mixed day with Marcus Sweeny enjoying the stronger wind also Marion Bardies making some exceptional good starts in the strong wind. Luc however had a poor day and could not finish 1 race due to time limit. This was due to a will to sail too hard almost. If he had accepted the fact that he was slow and just finished he would have had a better day. You however cannot knock his guts to keep sailing as hard and as fast as he can even if he was swimming every few minutes.

Day 6 Approx 20-26knts

With a morning briefing to just enjoy and gather experience due to the team not being in medal contention, the mood was buoyant after some disastrous racing the day before. Marion Bardies showed great determination after2 equipment failures and a big crash resulting in a huge hole in her bow and finished strong on the last day. Luc having been given a brief on how to sail in survival mode and told ‘’just finish….others will retire!’’ not only finished but showed great application by adjusting his own sail throughout the race to come in ahead of 8 other sailors from is age group….great sailing in the wind conditions. Thomas Meixner also had a good day having realised in the stronger winds that hiking hard for the whole race makes you go a lot faster!!

The team then raced to pack up the boats and again showed a good turn of application and effort to get loaded. By 1600 the boats were on and ready to go.

The team then attended the closing ceremony and prize giving with Luc getting a spot prize for surviving the conditions at only 10 years old.

Day 7 Approx 18-22knts

II Restless left at first light to get a jump on the fast boats again and then was closely followed by the Maverick. Sephina and Clara left a good bit later and unfortunately Clara was dissmasted shortly after setting sail. Our condolences go out to Norman and Sue who have supported us so well over the years. Thankfully this did not occur in the channel and the boat was rescued by the French Coast  Guard.

The other boats returned safely and all equipment, bags and kids were unloaded by 6pm.

Our thanks go out to all food and provisioning sponsors that gave us dinner, Les & Judy, Duncan & Danielle, Norman and Sue and Teresa  for all their help and to Jonathan Everett for kindly loaning us his boat II Restless.

Finally, special thanks must go to the parents who supported their children with racing sails and personal racing sailing equipment as it made a huge difference to the children’s comfort, confidence and sailing ability. Case in point……Luc finished 5^th in his under 12 age category at 10years old with no previous regatta experience. This would not have been remotely possible without a Racing opti sail.

Overall Results :

LASER 4.7

8^TH Thomas Meixner

10^th Stephanie Lovell  (3^rd Girl)

15^th Raina Bergasse (5^th Girl)

LASER RADIAL

10^TH Eric Simmons

15^th Jasia King (2^nd Girl)

Opti

5^th Luc Chevrier (under 12 and 27 competitors)

16^th Marcus Sweeny (Over 12)

35^th Marc Spurway (Over 12)

42^nd Marion Bardies (Over 12)

Submitted by Benjamin Todd SLYC Head Coach

Pictures by Danielle SLYC Social Secretary

Tortola Premier’s Cup 2009  International Youth Regatta

July 10^th – 12^th 2009

A youth team from the St. Lucia Yacht Club traveled to Tortola, the British Virgin Islands to compete in the Premiers’ Cup presented by Digicel. The competition was tough but our young team managed to fight back for the silver.

The Premiers’ Cup is an annual fund raising event held by Kids and the Sea “KATS” for young sailors of age 17 and under. It is hosted by the Nanny Cay marina in Tortola. Each year the cup is sailed in IC24 sail boats. These are modified j24’s with a more open cockpit initially designed for cruising.  The number of entries in this years’ regatta was low but teams from the United States, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands were represented.

Saturday was the first day of racing. The four boat fleet saw winds gusting above 15 knots and the race course was heavily chopped. St. Lucia’s young team helmed by Marcus Sweeney 13 had a nervous start placing 3^rd in the first two races behind the teams from Anguilla and the BVI. The next two races the team managed to sneak back to gain two silvers. At this point, the team from the BVI had already won all four races and was well ahead of the fleet. The battle was now for second between the teams from Anguilla and St. Lucia both with 10 pts. In the final race of the day team Anguilla had a magnificent start ahead of the fleet and in clear wind. At the first mark team Anguilla was well ahead of the pack with St. Lucia and BVI closely competing for second. In the end team Anguilla held off for the win and team BVI pulled away from St. Lucia.

Leading into the following day, the team from the BVI still had a comfortable lead while Anguilla had a two point advantage over St. Lucia. Tactician Stephanie Lovell 13 had an important task ahead of her if St. Lucia was to make a come back on the final day of racing. The winds now were up above 17 knots and each team was defining itself. St. Lucia had two superb starts in the first two races but could not manage to keep ahead of team BVI. BVI was simply quicker in the waves and was more adept to these sailing conditions. Anguilla finished 3^rd and 4^th putting them back a position. The next race team St. Lucia chased team Anguilla from the start after being forced over the line early by  BVI but managed to regain second on the last leg. Two seconds in the last races finished off the Anguilla team, for St. Lucia to capture the silver. Our young team performed exceptionally well compared to previous years and considering their experience level. They have shown that there is some true potential for youth keelboat sailing in St. Lucia. Thanks go out to the St. Lucia Yacht Club and all the parents who supported the team and to the owners of “Unbridled” the j24 used for training and Danielle, Social Secretary SLYC for chaperoning.

Team St. Lucia

Marcus Sweeney 13 Helmsman

Stephanie Lovell 13 Tactician

Thomas Meixner 13 MainSheet Trimmer

Aidan Cox 16 &

Matthew St. Paul 13 Jib Trimmer

Marc Spurway     13 Mast man and Advisor

Story by Fredric Sweeney Coach SLYC

The St. Lucia Yacht Club Youth Sailing Programme would like to thank KATS and the Rotary Clubs BVI for their hospitality. We had a great time in Tortola, a warm welcome from Abby O’Neal from KATS (organizer regatta), at Nanny Cay and we were presented with complimentary food & drinks (BVI Rotary Clubs)

A big Thank You to Simon, skipper of the hospitality boat, who made it possible for Fredric to watch the kids at sea and myself to be able to take pictures, close by.

Also thanks to all the sponsors, especially the BVI Rotary Clubs and Digicel.

Danielle SLYC Social Secretary

6th ARC FLOTILLA

click on picture for the web-album

Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC)

Since 1990 when the ARC came to St. Lucia for the first time, the St. Lucia Yacht Club has been delighted to welcome its participants.
As in previous years the Club looks forward to greeting all the ARC sailors in 2011 and hopes that they will visit us, participate in the events and perhaps join our Club as Overseas members, depending on their length of stay in St. Lucia.

The ARC is an important annual event for St. Lucia and has the full backing of the St. Lucia Tourist Board and the government, as well as IGY Rodney Bay Marina and the sponsors of the many events organized with a view to making the ARC participants’ stay in St. Lucia memorable and enjoyable.

Over the years the ARC has helped to make St. Lucia a favored destination on the international yachting scene and St. Lucia owes World Cruising Club a debt of gratitude for that.

Please feel free to contact us at slycsocialsecretary@gmail.com should you need any local knowledge. You might also find some useful information from the links listed in the Links section of this website.

“World ARC welcomes in 2010 with a Bang! (News article from World Cruising Club Website)

World ARC 2010-11 participants enjoyed a fantastic New Year’s Eve party at the St Lucia Yacht Club last night. With a complimentary barbecue and drinks, and free bubbly at midnight, the New Year was welcomed in with style.

St Lucia Yacht Club, located near the entrance to Rodney Bay on the warm sands of Redruit Beach, provided the perfect viewing platform for the spectacular fireworks display, which illuminated the bay to loud cheers from the revelling crowds beneath.

World ARC participants took no time in joining in with the local crowds in their New Year’s Celebrations, with the street parties carrying on into the small hours. Even with a week still to go before setting sail, it seems the World ARC 2010-11 has already socially become a success!

Many participants have chosen an adrenaline-packed way of getting rid of their New Year’s hangovers today – on the Tree Top Canopy Adventure Tour. Heading into the rain forest of St Lucia’s eastern coast, adventurers zip through the air on 11 different lines between the trees at up to 50ft above the forest floor – rapidly cleansing their heads of any over-indulgence from last night!”

“WORLD ARC FLOTILLA 2010″

It started with a chance conversation on ‘C’ dock in Rodney Bay Marina (St Lucia). I’d recently arrived with the ARC and was chatting to the crew of one of the boats going on to the World ARC. “Our partners are trying to get out on a boat to wave us off from the start” said Graham the skipper. “I was thinking of taking ‘Sephina”’ (my 35ft ketch) out to the bay, would they like to be my crew” I replied. After a couple of phone calls, arrangements were finalised and the scene was set. With a much smaller fleet, it wouldn’t be as spectacular as the start of the ARC in Las Palmas but I’d seen that as a participant, so this time as a spectator should be fun.

During the next two weeks, life in Rodney Bay changed considerably. I’d found and joined the St Lucia Yacht Club, spent Christmas and New Year on the beach, been invited to various events, made new friends, and my planned trip out to the bay had turned into joining the ‘World ARC Flotilla’ for the day. The Yacht Club flier for the flotilla offered a prize for the best dressed yacht. Sorting the flags to suit the length of the stays took three hours, and ‘Sephina’ looked a treat when all three strings were hoisted.

January 6th dawned bright and sunny, unlike my crew of ladies who cried off at the last minute having had a heavy night of partying. Fortunately, I quickly managed to find a crewmate from another ARC yacht and slipped the lines at 11.00 to join the rest of the fleet in the bay. With a mixture of power and sail, the flotilla took shape in the wake of the World ARC fleet as we set a course for Castries.

click for pictures

Now the most interesting yacht in the flotilla was ‘Guiding Light’, a Maurice Griffiths design from 1936 sailed single handed across the Atlantic by ‘Roy’, a Liverpudlian and a sailor for most of his life, with enough stories to keep us enthalled for months. As I’d used the halyards to hoist the flags, sailing wasn’t an option for ‘Sephina’ but true to his word, Roy (even wearing his captains hat) raised his sails and ‘Guiding Light’ looked a picture as she sailed on a broad reach, surrounded by the rest of the fleet.

We followed ‘Hullabaloo’ (the lead boat) into and around Castries harbour with Danielle (our photographer for the day) whizzing around on an IGY rib snapping away with the camera. After the parade of sail for the cruise ships, the power boats soon took off at speed back to Rodney Bay, leaving the four remaining yachts ‘Hot Chocolate’, ‘Grayling’, ‘Guiding Light’ and ‘Sephina’ to sail (or in my case motor) back at a more leisurely pace. As we came past ‘Barrel o’ Beef’ rock, the clouds were gathering and by the time we’d sailed into the bay the heavens had opened. Coming through the anchorage was a challenge in the poor visibility of the squall, but fortunateley as we reached the entrance to the marina, the rain had stopped and was soon followed by bright sunshine as we moored back onto ‘C’ dock.

‘Cafe Ole’ in the Marina hosted the gathering of the crews during the rest of the afternoon, their new ‘Boardwalk’ bar is proving to be a real success as it provides just the right ambiance, right on the waterfront, informal and friendly. Needless to say, a few bottles of ‘Piton’ were consumed as we waited for the results of the ‘best dressed’ competition. ‘Hullabaloo’ took the ‘powerboat’ prize and I’m pleased to report that ‘Sephina’ took the ‘sailboat’ prize, to each a bottle of Bounty Rum.

Many thanks to Danielle from the St Lucia Yacht Club for all the efforts put into organising the ARC and World ARC events, and for taking the photos (browse the SLYC website’s Gallery www.stluciayachtclub.com to have a look). All in all a very enjoyable day !

Submitted by Duncan Gray, skipper of ‘SEPHINA’, ARC-2009 entry number 230

ARC FLOTILLA 2009

The ARC 2009 started from Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay St. Lucia on the 22nd November . To mark the occasion we organized another ARC Flotilla, which was a huge success !

click for pictures

SLYC – WORLD ARC NEW YEARS EVE PARTY

Click on picture for the web album

“World ARC welcomes in 2010 with a Bang! (News article from World Cruising Club Website)

World ARC 2010-11 participants enjoyed a fantastic New Year’s Eve party at the St Lucia Yacht Club last night. With a complimentary barbecue and drinks, and free bubbly at midnight, the New Year was welcomed in with style.

St Lucia Yacht Club, located near the entrance to Rodney Bay on the warm sands of Redruit Beach, provided the perfect viewing platform for the spectacular fireworks display, which illuminated the bay to loud cheers from the revelling crowds beneath.

World ARC participants took no time in joining in with the local crowds in their New Year’s Celebrations, with the street parties carrying on into the small hours. Even with a week still to go before setting sail, it seems the World ARC 2010-11 has already socially become a success!

Many participants have chosen an adrenaline-packed way of getting rid of their New Year’s hangovers today – on the Tree Top Canopy Adventure Tour. Heading into the rain forest of St Lucia’s eastern coast, adventurers zip through the air on 11 different lines between the trees at up to 50ft above the forest floor – rapidly cleansing their heads of any over-indulgence from last night!”

“WORLD ARC FLOTILLA 2010″

It started with a chance conversation on ‘C’ dock in Rodney Bay Marina (St Lucia). I’d recently arrived with the ARC and was chatting to the crew of one of the boats going on to the World ARC. “Our partners are trying to get out on a boat to wave us off from the start” said Graham the skipper. “I was thinking of taking ‘Sephina”’ (my 35ft ketch) out to the bay, would they like to be my crew” I replied. After a couple of phone calls, arrangements were finalised and the scene was set. With a much smaller fleet, it wouldn’t be as spectacular as the start of the ARC in Las Palmas but I’d seen that as a participant, so this time as a spectator should be fun.

During the next two weeks, life in Rodney Bay changed considerably. I’d found and joined the St Lucia Yacht Club, spent Christmas and New Year on the beach, been invited to various events, made new friends, and my planned trip out to the bay had turned into joining the ‘World ARC Flotilla’ for the day. The Yacht Club flier for the flotilla offered a prize for the best dressed yacht. Sorting the flags to suit the length of the stays took three hours, and ‘Sephina’ looked a treat when all three strings were hoisted.

January 6th dawned bright and sunny, unlike my crew of ladies who cried off at the last minute having had a heavy night of partying. Fortunately, I quickly managed to find a crewmate from another ARC yacht and slipped the lines at 11.00 to join the rest of the fleet in the bay. With a mixture of power and sail, the flotilla took shape in the wake of the World ARC fleet as we set a course for Castries.

click for pictures

Now the most interesting yacht in the flotilla was ‘Guiding Light’, a Maurice Griffiths design from 1936 sailed single handed across the Atlantic by ‘Roy’, a Liverpudlian and a sailor for most of his life, with enough stories to keep us enthalled for months. As I’d used the halyards to hoist the flags, sailing wasn’t an option for ‘Sephina’ but true to his word, Roy (even wearing his captains hat) raised his sails and ‘Guiding Light’ looked a picture as she sailed on a broad reach, surrounded by the rest of the fleet.

We followed ‘Hullabaloo’ (the lead boat) into and around Castries harbour with Danielle (our photographer for the day) whizzing around on an IGY rib snapping away with the camera. After the parade of sail for the cruise ships, the power boats soon took off at speed back to Rodney Bay, leaving the four remaining yachts ‘Hot Chocolate’, ‘Grayling’, ‘Guiding Light’ and ‘Sephina’ to sail (or in my case motor) back at a more leisurely pace. As we came past ‘Barrel o’ Beef’ rock, the clouds were gathering and by the time we’d sailed into the bay the heavens had opened. Coming through the anchorage was a challenge in the poor visibility of the squall, but fortunateley as we reached the entrance to the marina, the rain had stopped and was soon followed by bright sunshine as we moored back onto ‘C’ dock.

‘Cafe Ole’ in the Marina hosted the gathering of the crews during the rest of the afternoon, their new ‘Boardwalk’ bar is proving to be a real success as it provides just the right ambiance, right on the waterfront, informal and friendly. Needless to say, a few bottles of ‘Piton’ were consumed as we waited for the results of the ‘best dressed’ competition. ‘Hullabaloo’ took the ‘powerboat’ prize and I’m pleased to report that ‘Sephina’ took the ‘sailboat’ prize, to each a bottle of Bounty Rum.

Many thanks to Danielle from the St Lucia Yacht Club for all the efforts put into organising the ARC and World ARC events, and for taking the photos (browse the SLYC website’s Gallery www.stluciayachtclub.com to have a look). All in all a very enjoyable day !

Submitted by Duncan Gray, skipper of ‘SEPHINA’, ARC-2009 entry number 230

Click on the picture to go to the ARC website.

The 18th St Lucia Squash Open came to an end on Saturday following a number of matches to decide the winners in the different categories. This was immediately followed by the prize giving ceremony at the St Lucia Yacht Club.

The tournament was sponsored by the St Lucia Electricity Services, Bank of Nova Scotia, IGY Rodney bay Marina, Harmony Marina Suites, Coco Resorts, Cap Maison, Treetop Adventure Tours, Heineken, Dominos, Village Inn and St Lucia Yacht Club commenced play at 5.30 pm with the results for the evening as follows:

In the Mens Open division:-
· For 7th place Ben Gilmore and Carlos Segovia both of St Lucia had a long five setter to determine the winner. Segovia took an early win taking the first two games 11/4 and 11/8 before Gilmore came back to win the next two games 13/11 and 11/9 to level the games at two each. In the third game Gilmore took an early lead to 5/1 before Segovia fought back to bring the game to 9/6 and following the exchange of points a few more times and two match points Segovia won the final game 13/11

· For 5th place Barbadian Nigel Griffith defeated Jason Noon of St Lucia in four. Noon took the first game 11/6 and took an early lead in the second game as well as had two game points but Griffith took the second game 13/11 Griffith won the third game 11/7 and the fourth game there was a struggle for winning position as each competitor went point for point. Griffith emerged the winner at 11/9

· For 3rd place St Lucian Charlie Sonson was able to reverse the scores of the previous match defeating Vincentian Kevin bailey in four to keep St Lucia in the top three spots. Sonson won the first game 11/9 and Bailey retaliated to win the second game only giving Sonson one opportunity to serve. The score was 11/1. Sonson took the lead in game three to 10/1 before Bailey came back to take some points – the game went to Sonson at 11/6. Game four saw both players assertively trying to make the game theirs with Sonson coming out the winner at 11/9

· The finals lasted over forty five minutes between #1 seed Colin Ramasra of Trinidad and Tobago and #2 seed Joycelyn Martin of France. The first three games were close and exciting with Ramasra taking the first game 13/11 but unable to win any other games despite getting close. Martin won the next three 12/10 11/9 11/4

In the ladies division:-
· St Lucian Monique Lovel and recent winner of the ladies OECS title defeated St Lucian top female junior Megan Piper in four. Lovel took the first two games 11/9 11/8 and Piper took the third game 11/8 but was unable to sustain the win into the fourth game. Lovel won the fourth game 11/3

In the bowl category
· David Piper defeated Nick Devaux both of St Lucia in an exciting five setter. Devaux won the first and third games 11/5 11/6 while PiPer took the second and fourth games 11/7 11/5 to level the games to two each. The fifth game was nail biting to the end with Piper emerging the winner at 12/10

· Randolph Khan of St Lucia defeated Chris Defreitas in three straight games 11/3 11/4 13/11

In the consolation draw juniors Daniel Piper and Andre Segovia played the final match to determine the winner of the consolation draw. Piper won the match in three straight games 11/5 11/7 11/5

The prize giving followed immediately afterwards at the St Lucia Yacht Club

ST LUCIA SQUASH OPEN 2011 SPONSORS

BRONZE

Dominos Pizza

ST LUCIA SQUASH OPEN 2010

ST LUCIA SQUASH OPEN 2010

CLOSES CURTAIN

Hystory

The St Lucia Yacht Club boasts two fully air conditioned glass backed squash courts with sprung floors and viewing gallery.

The Club is open Mondays to Fridays from 3.00pm and from 11.00am Saturdays and Sundays with the last court booking at 8.00pm.

The squash courts can be pre-booked up to forty eight (48) hours in advance by calling tel. #452 8350 between 3.00-8.00pm or at the Bar when open outside these hours.

Tokens for a 45 minute game can be purchased from the Bar. The court fee is $15 for Club members or $30 for non-members.

For the squash fanatics we offer the following packages:

For Yacht Club Members

10 games @ $7.50 = $ 75.00 less 10% discount $ 67.50

25 games @ $7.50 = $187.50 less 15% discount $160

50 games @ $7.50 = $375.00 less 20% discount $300

100 games @ $7.50 = $750.00 less 25% discount $675

For Non-Members
10 Games @ $15 = $150 less 10% discount $135
Yacht Club Membership is encouraged for all squash players and forms can be obtained from the Bar, for more details on membership follow the Membership link.
The Club organizes squash leagues, ladder matches and tournaments and anyone interested in participating should check the notice board and sign up at the Bar.

Tuesday night is Club night where squash players of all standards come along from 6.00pm and mix and match until 8.00pm.

Ladies Squash night is penciled in for a Wednesday between 6.00pm & 7.30pm but is not always well attended so those interested should contact the club prior to coming along.

There are monthly leagues which as the title suggests are played monthly and are keenly contested with the top and bottom players from each league being promoted or demoted respectively.

There is a weekly junior clinic on Saturday afternoons from 2.00 pm and all interested juniors are encouraged to come along and join in. The Club is always looking for volunteers to assist in running these clinics and anyone interested in helping should contact David Piper at stluciasquash@gmail.com.

The St Lucia Yacht Club is the home of the St Lucia Squash Association which is extremely active. The Association organizes several tournaments during the year including the Independence Team Tournament and the St Lucia Squash Open which attracts top regional and international squash players. In fact, St Lucia boasts being the only island to have had six world ranked players participate in our annual tournament, the St Lucia Squash Open. In 1997, Jonathon Powers, Anthony Hill, Tony Hands and Martin Heath competed in an elite division.

Squash Club Calendar 2010 >>> see below

The St. Lucia Open Squash Tournament 2010

This annual tournament, now into its 17th year, targets top regional and international players but is also open to all senior squash players.
Dates: June 28th through July 3rd 2010
Location: The St Lucia Yacht Club, Reduit, St. Lucia
(on the beach front)
Closing Dates for entries: June 18th
Mens and Ladies – Open Divisions

Minimum Prize Money of U.S. $2,000 in total
Entry Fee: Local Players – EC $50
Visiting Players – U.S. $ 50
Accommodation: There is limited free accommodation available on a shared
basis. Priority will be given to the top male and female player of each country
For further information please e-mail :
David Piper – Tournament Director – stluciasquash@gmail.com

Squash Club Calendar 2010

Please find below a tentative calendar of events for squash this year

March

Junior team training and selection for the OECS tournament.

March 25^th to 28^th

The Vitamalt Junior Open will be held in Trinidad

April 9^th to 11^th

The Junior OECS Squash Tournament will be held in St Vincent – players from Antigua, Dominica, St Vincent, the BVI and St Lucia will compete in age categories under 13, under 15, under 17 and under 19 in both boys and girls categories. The top players will be selected to play on an OECS team at the Junior Caribbean Squash Championships

April 21^st to 25^th

The Trinidad and Tobago Squash Open

May 20^th to 23^rd

The Senior OECS Squash Championships will be held at the Yacht Club in St Lucia. The Squash Association will be organizing a play off to determine the full team

June 21^st to 26^th

The Barbados Squash Open

June 28^th to July 3^rd

The St Lucia Squash Open – this annual tournament, now into its 17^th year, targets top regional and international players but is also open to all senior squash players and any interested parties should contact David Piper at stluciasquash@gmail.com. Matches commence in the evening to allow our visiting competitors the opportunity to sightsee and enjoy our beaches during the day

July 10^th to 17^th

Junior Caribbean Squash Championships – are taking place in Grand Cayman. St Lucia participates as part of the OECS team and our top juniors hope to be selected to the OECS team at the Junior OECS tournament in St Vincent in April.

August 12^th to 23^rd

Caribbean Squash Championships – are taking place in St Vincent. As with the Juniors, St Lucia participates as part of an OECS team which will be selected at the OECS tournament in St Lucia in May

October 4^th to 14^th

The XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. The Squash Association are hope to have 2 players represent St Lucia at the Games.