Kids set sail into Buzzards Bay

Jul 11, 2015

Hundreds of youngsters got their feet wet this weekend.

This year’s Junior Regatta at the New Bedford Yacht Club drew kids and teenagers from Vermont, Maine, Florida and around the country for two days of racing. The event started in the early ‘90s and has given young sailors a chance to race around the bay since then.

“Buzzards Bay is a wonderful place to start. I love to be out there,” said Junior Regatta Chair Alice Root. “You can see the islands and other boats and see it all happening. And the wind conditions, in general, are really nice.”

There were 213 boats registered for the event, with more than 300 sailors participating over the weekend. The regatta included four separate boating events, which varied in age groups and skill levels. Three of the races were for sailors piloting solo, and the 420 event tasked two teens to work in tandem.

The Junior Regatta began with a slight delay as winds were calm on Saturday morning.

“The forecast for today is two knots of wind. That’s nothing,” said Bryce Kerr Abraham, 16, of Swansea. “On a stormy and windy day, when it’s blowing 18 to 25 knots, it’s prime. It’s amazing.”

Lincoln said that despite the gentle winds, racing is fun at slower speeds, too.

“The race aspect of it changes when there’s slower wind. You want to win, you want to go fast, so you gotta make everything perfect,” said Abraham.

Marina Barzaghi, 16, of Saunderstown, Rhode Island, said she’s been sailing since she was seven and was looking forward to another race in Dartmouth.

“This is my second year doing this event, and it’s definitely one of my favorites. It was a ton of fun last year,” said Barzaghi, adding that she loved the handouts — like the shirt and custom water bottle — given to participants.

“You can always count on Buzzards Bay to have a ton of wind. Right now it’s pretty light, but I’ve never been here before when it hasn’t filled in heavily,” she said.

After an hour delay, the wind picked up and sailors formed a line to enter the water. Sailors raced on multiple circuits before heading back into shore later in the afternoon for a cookout held at the yacht club.

Ollie Meyer, 14, of Rockport, Massachusetts, said that he and his partner, Nina McCoy, were able to complete three races during the regatta despite the delayed start.

“[The wind] was light at the beginning, but it picked up toward the end,” said Meyer.

He and his sailing partner agreed that their first two races went well, and Meyer said they likely entered the top 20. But their last race didn’t pan out the way they would have liked.

“Our start was very bad,” said Meyer. “When the starting sequence is going, 100 percent of the boats have a chance to win. Once one minute goes by, only 50 percent have a chance to win. If you have a bad start, automatically it’s a bad race for you.”

Ryan Vittimberga, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, entered the race with his 14-year-old brother, Max. Both are Massachusetts natives, and they returned to compete at Buzzards Bay.

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“It was pretty shifty,” said Vittimberga regarding the wind conditions. “But for the most part, it was good racing. Sailing here is really nice.”

A couple years ago, Ryan Vittimberga had won a race while sailing solo. Since teaming up with his brother, he’s learning how to sail as a duo. He said they get along “for the most part.”

“We’re getting better. We’re working on it,” he said.

The weekends winners were: Ashley Herir of the Nantucket Community Sailing came in first in the Opti Green division; Justin Callahan Coral Reef Yacht Club won overall in the Optimist division; Matthew Safford and Emma Perry of Sandy Bay Yacht Club placed first in the 420s; and Gabrielle Rizika of Wianno Yacht Club won in the Laser Radial division.