At the prestigious Beverly Junior Regatta, the skipper Grace Gear hailing from York and the crew member John Thomas O’Rourke also from York and Potomac, Maryland, finished at the fifth place and it was the tie. The secured the fifth position beating the fleet of 85 boats. The tournament held on Buzzards Bay on Aug. 14 and 15.

Probably it might her final regatta as the junior sailor, and in this regatta, Gear finished in the first position among all the female skippers who participated in the event. There were 30 female sailors participated in the regatta but only three got the place in the top 30 position.

O’Rourke and Gear sailed for the Agamenticus Yacht Club in York Harbor and race at Club 420. Both the boats have three sails and this included a spinnaker. During the race the crew may be trapped to a trapeze to keep the boat flat and let it face the heavier wind. The success in sailing requires mixing of teamwork, endurance, athleticism, strategy and tactics as the team’s race around multiple courses in different conditions over two days.

The competition of Gear on Buzzards Bay has many old teammates when she was sailing for FAST. While taking the training with FAST, she got considerable success at a national level in regattas all over the country. She also qualified to race in the Opti US Team Trials in the year 2014 as well as 2015.

In the race five former FAST members secured the top 10 position and they are Jack Howard of Hyannis Yacht Club. Connor Macken of Wild Harbor Yacht Club, Joe Serpa finished at 2nd position, Tommy Styron finished in the 3rd position and Harrison Stevens at the 4th place.