Red, White & Blue

Optimist RWB Fleets are age group fleets that Green Fleet sailors graduate to after proving proficiency at sailing and racing. The RWB Fleets are solely driven by the sailor’s age as follows:

White Fleet is for skippers who are 10 years old.
Blue fleet is for skippers who are 11 or 12 years old.
Red fleet is for skippers who are 13, 14 or 15 years old.

Sailors receive world class racing instruction from top coaches in small groups and are supported with coaches and motorboats at designated regattas. The program emphasizes focus, personal responsibility and the principles of Corinthian yachting excellence. CRYC team racers are renowned for being among the best prepared and highest achieving young sailors in the nation. These skills are highly valued at private high schools with sailing programs and the best Northeastern Colleges and Universities.

Coaches

The CRYC RWB Fleet Program has some of the highest caliber, highly experienced, and winningest coaches that Biscayne Bay and the sport have to offer.

Omari Scott

Opti RWB Program, Head Coach

Coach Omari Scott is from the tiny island of Antigua. He earned a Sports Management degree from Hampton University in 2008, where he was the leader and captain of the sailing team for four years. Omari arrived at Coral Reef Yacht Club (CRYC) in 2013 after serving as the National Sailing Team Coach for Antigua, St. Lucia and the British Virgin Islands. Omari currently serves as the Head Optimist Coach at CRYC and coach of the US National Optimist Team. Over the past 12 years, Omari has coached and competed in numerous regional and international regattas and clinics. Such regattas include, but are not limited to; St. Thomas International Optimist Regatta, Orange Bowl Regatta, Flanders Regatta in Belgium, Trofeo de Palamos in Spain, US Optimist Team Trial, US Optimist Nationals Championships, Schoelcher International Regatta in Martinique, IODA North Americans Championships etc. With his aggressive coaching style Coach Omari has developed many top sailors. Recent results include the Bronze medal at the 2016 South American Championships, Gold and Bronze medals at the 2016 North American Championships, winning two US National Championships - 2014 and most recently 2016, Silver medal at US Team Race Nationals and Gold medal at 2016 New England Championships. Omari believes that sailors race the way they train and with that in mind, maintains a high level of intensity at each practice.

Nikki Barnes

Opti RWB Program, Coach

Nikki Barnes has been a resident of Miami for the past seven years. She started sailing at the age of 6 in the US Virgin Islands, and the first time she came to CRYC was as a participant in the Orange Bowl Regatta, sailing Optis. Nikki sailed Optis until she was 15, competing in three World Championships, two South American Championship, and three North American Championships. As a teenager, she sailed in the International 420 and won a bronze medal at Youth Worlds. She attended the Coast Guard Academy, where she won Women’s College Sailor of the Year and the College Sailing Sportsmanship award. After graduating, Nikki was stationed in Miami. During her active-duty status, she trained for and competed in the 2020 Olympic Games in the 470 class as the first active-duty Coast Guardsman to compete in the Olympics. Currently, she is coaching the White Fleet at CRYC.

Bernat Gali Bou

Opti RWB Program, Coach

Coach Bernat Gali Bou brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to CRYC’s program. A native of Spain, he most recently served as Head Coach of the top-performing Lakewood Yacht Club Championship Team. Coach Bernat is no stranger to our team, having coached CRYC sailors in past USODA and IODA events. Coach Bernat’s impressive resume includes his personal success as an Opti and Laser sailor, as well as more than a decade of coaching elite youth sailing programs in Spain, Myanmar, New Zealand, and the United States.

Practice

During the Fall and Spring racing seasons, the RWB Fleet meets at CRYC to practice three times per week - once during the week and twice over the weekend. For the current racing season, practice is held, weather permitting, based on the following schedule:

Saturday and Sunday from 10:30am to 3:30pm
Wednesday from 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Private coaching is also available for non-practice days and can be scheduled directly with the CRYC coaches. On weekends that our sailors are participating in a regatta, our coaches will determine if practice will be held and will communicate this to the team in advance. See our guide for Practice Details for more information.

Regattas

During the Fall and Spring racing seasons, the RWB Fleet may attend one or more local or regional regatta per month - primarily within a one to three hour drive from CRYC. You may opt-out of attending a regatta if your sailor has already qualified for a national team or international regatta.

Communications

If you are already a RWB Fleet sailor or family member, you can request access to our dedicated and active TeamSnap account that we use to communicate information about practices, regattas, and other events. Contact [email protected] to request access or if you already have an account you can login to TeamSnap here .

How to Sign Up

Please contact Waterfront Director Stuart deLisser at [email protected] to inquire about registering for the Opti RWB program.