Vallarta Yacht Club’s big WESMEX

A very large member of the perimeter control team throws his weight around behind one of the Club 420s at Vallarta Yacht Club’s big WESMEX event last week. Shot is from Jay Ailworth.

98 Optimists, 67 Lasers, 34 Sailboards, and 20 C-420’s, mixed together in Banderas Bay in a 12-18 knot blender makes for some of the best small boat racing on the planet! Yup, it was WESMEX hosted by Vallarta Yacht Club! VYC has a reputation for being the little Yacht Club that can and does deliver, right up there with the big boys; in just the past few years we’ve held the Optimist North Americans, J-24 Worlds, MEXORC, Copa Mexico, Banderas Bay Regatta, and the Pan-AM Games…with plenty more to come.

WESMEX is a very special one for us; 239 youths from across Mexico are all working to qualify for the Mexican sailing team, while the upcoming Junior Olympics is also hosted by the VYC…so much great new blood for sailing. The event is often frequented by hot up and coming sailors with sights set on international competition. It was just last year that Tom Slingsby and Andrew Merdock showed up to use this event to get ready for the ISAF Worlds and the Olympics. This year the event saw some amazing young sailors that are really showing their drive, with RIO buzzing around in their heads. Keep an eye out for these up and coming Laser and RSX sailors. And please note that any purchase from Jay Aileworth’s photo gallery goes straight to the VYC Junior Program.
Viva Mexico!