Nickbarg Nabs National Single-handed
Laser Championship — a V.I. First

By Jaime Elliott
St. John Tradewinds

For the first time ever, the na-
tional laser single-handed cham-
pionship medal is in the Virgin
Islands — and it’s on St. John.

Love City’s own Max Nickbarg
demolished the field last week at
the 2010 Interscholastic Sailing
Association (ISSA) High School
Single-handed Championship to
claim the title of best high school
laser single-handed sailor in the
country.

After two days of sailing in
Corpus Christi, Texas, Nickbarg
took home the Cressy Trophy on
Sunday, November 1, posting 85
points — a decisive 46 points bet-
ter than the second place finisher.

The Cressy Trophy, named in
honor of Morton Starr Cressy,
Jr., a graduate of the U.S. Naval
Academy and an avid sailor, has
been recognized since 1990 as
the ISSA National High School
Single-handed Championship —
the highest award in high school
single-handed laser sailing in the
United States.

Nickbarg’s high school cham-
pionship win is a first for the Vir-
gin Islands and a first for Antilles
School, where the St. John teen is
a senior.

After dominating his field in
laser radials, Nickbarg, 17, moved
up to laser fulls just this fall. In his
first regatta sailing the full rigs,
Nickbarg won the ISSA’s 2010
South Atlantic District Single-
handed Championship in Florida
in September. That win qualified
the St. John skipper for the nation-
al championship, where he cruised
past the competition.

The regatta at Corpus Christi
Yacht Club was Nickbarg’s first

 

St. John Tradewinds News Photo Courtesy of SAISA

After thumping the competition, St. John sailor Max
Nickbarg received the national high school laser sailing top

award.

time sailing in Texas waters, and
the St. John teen struggled early.
After the first three races, Nick-
barg hadn’t finished among the top
10 boats.

“T had a rough start,” said Nick-
barg. “The first few races I sort
of digressed. I didn’t really know
what was going on, but it wasn’t
going good, but then I started get-
ting the hang of it.”

Nickbarg quickly found his
pace and over the 18 races, he took
first five times and placed in the
top three in another six races.

“T felt confident the whole time,
but I tried not to jinx myself,”
Nickbarg said. “I didn’t want to be
in the mind-set that I was going to
win. I like being the challenger, so
I kept that in my head.”

The Love City teen was so far
ahead by the end, with two races
still left, Nickbarg already had the
championship sewn up tight.

“The last two races my coach
pretty much told me that I had it in
the bag,” said Nickbarg. “I didn’t
really have to sail the last two rac-
es, but my coach wanted me to get
a huge lead.”

With no chance of losing the tro-
phy, Nickbarg went out and sailed
to first, third and second place in
the last three races and officially
took honors as the best laser sin-
gle-handed sailor in the country.

“It’s pretty sweet,” said Nick-
barg. “I’m stoked about it. It was
really exciting.”

With the Cressy Trophy in
hand, Nickbarg is eyeing college
next year when he is sure to shine
on an elite team — as soon as he
chooses a school.

Closer to home, fans can watch
Nickbarg’s sailing skills in De-
cember when he plans to compete
in the Carlos Aguilar Match Race
Championship off St. Thomas.

Landsharks Host Turkey Day 5K Run Nov. 26

St. John Tradewinds

Dust off those running shoes,
it’s time to get the holiday season
started right.

The St. John Landsharks are
hosting a fun-filled 5K run on
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, No-
vember 26.

Registration will be at 7:30 a.m.

and the race starts promptly at 8
a.m. Donations of $5 for adults and
$2 for children are appreciated.
Runners should meet at the An-
naberg parking lot to start a 5K
course that will loop through the
area of Maho Bay, Francis Bay and
Leinster Bay. Kids are welcome.
The course is partly on a road

and partly on a trail, so runners
should expect to get wet or muddy.
There will be fun Thanksgiving-
themed prizes and awards courtsey
of Baked In The Sun.

For more info email Louise
Wearmouth at louise@surfbvi.
com or call Jude Woodcock at
779-1416.

St. John Tradewinds, November 9-15, 2009

Working Out
Strengthens our Lives

Virgin Islands

Personal Trainers Available
State of the Art Equipment
Group Classes Available

776-0600

OPEN MON-SAT 7AM to 9PM
AT THE MARKETPLACE . 3rd FLOOR

St. Unsula's Church

presents

RENOWNED ORGANIST ALBERT A. LYNCH

and

CELLIST KENNITH PIERCE

and

é Berrefit Concert»

SPECIAL APPEARANCE
from The New School of Music Inc. AY
St. Ursula’s Youth Steel Orchestra & more NS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22
AT 4:00 PM

ST. URSULA’S CHURCH
CRUZ BAY, ST. JOHN

DONATION: $10 at the door.
All proceeds to to St. Ursula’s Church

5