Laser Sailor Thad Lettsome kicked off the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador, with a promising performance for the BVI that saw him finishing 8th overall out of 16 participants after day 1.
Competing in the ILCA 7 men’s single-handed event, Lettsome managed a clean start that saw him sailing a conservative first leg, rounding the top mark in 5th position.
A change in weather conditions had an impact on Lettsome’s placement on the second upwind, but he rebounded well thanks to a speedy downwind to finish 8th overall.
Lettsome’s approach to the second race was more on the aggressive side as wind speeds clocked 14-15 knots.
He was first off the line at the race committee end, which allowed him to tack out cleanly; going to the right hand side of the race course. He capitalised on a few errors made by his opponents and fought back to pass boats on the last downwind, finishing 9th.
Lettsome’s remaining schedule includes 10 races over the next five days as he competes for the last spot for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in Chile this fall.