Anguilla KATS sailors earn Gold!

Anguilla Youth Sailing Team Brings Home Gold in International Youth Regatta

Anguilla has a lot of celebrating to do! The Anguilla Youth Sailing Club Team captured 1st place in the KATS 2011 Premier’s Cup International Youth Regatta held July 8th to 10th in Tortola.

The six-member team consisted of Kendall “Kenny” Richardson, Ethan “Rumple” Lloyd, Starlin Rosario, Romero “Butchie” Gumbs, Kadeem Joseph and Derick “Fritz” Carty. They out-sailed seven other teams from five neighboring islands, Peurto Rico and the USA in a hard fought competition, emerging victorious and bringing home top honors.

In the first photo, Team Anguilla Leads the pack in KATS Premier’s Cup Regatta.

With perfect sailing conditions of 10 – 15 knot winds, Team Anguilla launched into first place from the beginning, taking five 1st place wins and one 2nd on Saturday morning. The dazzling start to the weekend filled Team Anguilla with great confidence for racing the IC24’s, boats which Anguilla race only during this annual competition.

In the second photo, Team Anguilla Sails Around Mark in KATS Premier’s Cup Regatta

Sailing got a little tougher for Team Anguilla in the afternoon. With a required boat change, a few bad starts and short courses, the team had difficulty fighting their way to the lead during the last six races of the day. Final afternoon results were varied with a 2nd, a 5th, a 4th, a 1st, and two 3rd place finishes and St. Croix had a 1 point lead over Anguilla.

Team Anguilla showed up on Sunday with renewed focus and determination knowing that the final six races were going to be hard fought battles with their fiercest competitors from St. Croix. Anguilla’s positive attitude and their stellar racing tactics proved a winning combination as they battled it out for 1st place. Sunday’s racing proved spectacular with ideal sailing conditions and a fantastic effort from the entire team that led to their eventual success.

“I am very proud of this team”, said AYSC Sailing Instructor, Chris Simon. “We don’t have IC 24 boats in Anguilla. These guys are used to sailing the two-person 420’s. With almost no experience in these boats, the team adapted very quickly and worked together really well as a team. They all have a lot to be proud of. They sailed a great event from the first race to the last. Team Anguilla has shown themselves to be first class sailors who not only can compete on an international level, but they can be champions!”


Team Anguilla receiving Gold Medals and Trophies in KATS Premier’s Cup International Youth Regatta in Tortola.

Left to Right - Rotary Club of Anguilla, Seymour Hodge; Romero Gumbs; Kadeem Joseph; Derick Carty; Starlin Rosario; Kenny Richardson; Sailing Instructor, Chris Simon; Deputy Premier and Minister for Health & Social Development, BVI, Hon. Dancia Penn Q.C; Rotary Club of Anguilla, Harris Richardson

Final scores of the racing were: Anguilla, 42 points; St. Croix, 46 points; St. Lucia, 66 points; BVI 68 points; Puerto Rico, 71 points; Antigua, 103 points; Grenada, 115 points; and USA, 135 points.

Kids and the Sea (KATS), along with the Rotary, Rotaract and Interact Clubs of the BVI annually host the Premier’s Cup International Youth Regatta at Nanny Cay Resort in Tortola.

The Rotary Club of Anguilla annually sponsors the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club team to attend the Premier’s Cup in Tortola.

“After ten years, Rotary Club of Anguilla has finally seen its investment come to fruition. Rotary has believed and invested in the youth sailors for many years and are extremely proud of their capturing gold medal excellence!” says Rotary Club Team Leader, Harris Richardson. “Last year, Team Anguilla won 2nd place in the regatta, so this year’s 1st place win is another testament to their excellent sailing abilities and hard work.”

The Rotary Club of Anguilla and the Anguilla Sailing Association would like to thank the Caribbean Commercial Bank of Anguilla, D3 Insurance, Anguilla Aluminum, Apex Hardware, Caribbean Juris Chambers, Caribbean Associated Attorneys of Anguilla, Mr & Mrs. Peter Oliver and all the members of the Rotary Club of Anguilla for their financial support for this event.

The Anguilla Sailing Association is the parent organization of the AYSC. Their mandate is to provide all Anguilla children with the opportunity to sail while learning seamanship, boat safety, environmentalism, and leadership skills. The children of Anguilla today are growing up in an environment that offers a limited number of wholesome activities that foster confidence and self-worth. Having an opportunity to participate in what is an international sport as well as embracing the national sport of Anguilla is vital to the future of our youth.

Rotary Elixir - Week of July 11, 2011

Rotary trips open eyes – Focus on Youth
By PAUL MORDEN, The Observer

Sarnia's Yasmeen Ibrahim told Rotary Club of Sarnia members Monday how a trip to Ottawa gave her a better appreciation of Canada.



The 16-year-old Northern Collegiate student went to the capital in May with 219 other young people for a Rotary-sponsored Adventure in Citizenship.

"Every day you would end up meeting about 20 different kids from across Canada, which was very cool," Ibrahim said.

They toured museums, visited Parliament, heard presentations from diplomats and attended a citizenship ceremony where they heard stories from some new Canadians.

Ibrahim said it encouraged her to have a conversation with her parents back in Sarnia about their experience coming to Canada from Egypt before she was born.

"I appreciate my country so much more now."

The group also met Governor General David Johnston, and Ibrahim was one of six program participants selected to ask him a question.

Ibrahim said she asked her question in French and, after repeating it several times, discovered her French was better than Johnston's.

"But," she added, "he was very nice."

Ibrahim was one of three young women involved in Rotary youth programs who spoke at the club's weekly meeting.

Tanya Rand, president of Twin Bridges Interact, spoke about the Rotary-sponsored club for youth that provides leadership development and opportunities for community service.

"It's a great way to meet new friends and have a lot of fun," Rand said.

Members volunteer at the Inn of the Good Shepherd, packed Christmas care packages for soldiers serving overseas and raised money at bake sales, car washes and other events.

Mary Crawford, who received this year's Rotary International Ambassador honour at the YMCA Celebration of Youth awards, talked about visiting the Dominican Republic on an Rayjon awareness trip.

"We were shown the faces of absolute poverty," Crawford said, adding it inspired her to want to work to help make the world a better place.

"It makes me very proud of the youth of Lambton County," club president Johnna Johansen said following the presentations.

Most community projects Rotary supports are aimed at helping young people, she said.
"It's very nice to have them come back and tell us how they enjoyed these things."

Source: http://www.theobserver.ca
pmorden@theobserver.ca

******************
Rotary Club of Sarnia website -
http://www.rotarysarnia.com/
Twin Bridges Interact Club -
http://www.rotarysarnia.com/main/session//ns/33/doc/5

Where is Sarnia, Ontario, Canada?
Sarnia is a city in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada (city population 71,419, census area population 88,793, in 2006).

It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River. See the map below:

Rotary Elixir - Week of July 4, 2011

Week of July 4, 2011

A little about what other clubs are doing – for some interesting ideas:

THE new president of the Hunstanton and District Rotary Club was sworn in at the organisation’s annual dinner.

And Brian Devlin, who has worked selflessly for many years to help the club’s charities, pledged to carry on the good work of the club during the coming year when he was elected to succeed John Hornsby-Bates last week.

Over the past year, the club raised around £12,000 for good causes, mostly from their annual kite fair and the Norton Hill Railway weekend, as well as a range of smaller events.


At left - Hunstanton and District Rotary Club president, Brian Devlin (second left) with his wife Lyn (left), outgoing president John Hornsby-Bates (centre) with Elaine and Richard Bird.

During the dinner held at the Le Strange Arms, Old Hunstanton, Mr. Hornsby-Bates said: “The money mainly goes to support a host of local causes.

“This last year, for example we have helped the Hunstanton scout group, the town’s day centre, Smithdon High School and the North West Norfolk Phobbies Club based in Dersingham, which is a hobbies club for the physically disabled in the surrounding area.”

But he added that their help also goes abroad through Rotary International.
The club contributed to the relief effort following the Japanese nuclear disaster.

Published on Monday 4 July 2011
http://www.lynnnews.co.uk

********************

For your interest, have a look at their website – http://hunstanton-rotary.org.uk

What does their club do?

• A meeting every week
• Two formal dinner dances each year
• An informal evening social event most months
• Major fundraising events at the Kite Festival, and Norton Hill
• Projects supporting the local schools
• Projects supporting local youth, old people, and the disadvantages
• International projects in conjunction with local clubs overseas