Sailor Mimi Roller Forces Tie-break at Leiter Cup, Heading to New Zealand Next

Mimi Roller of St. John steers her laser to a close finish at the Leiter Cup in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy of Blake Jackson/Marblehead Studios

 

It was smooth sailing for St. John super skipper Mayumi “Mimi” Roller who finished a close second behind Carolyn Prioleau at last month’s U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded  Championship for the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial trophy in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

After three days of racing, the two girls actually tied in points, but Prioleau’s four first place finishes — compared to Roller’s three — put her ahead in the tie-break.

After discarding her worst finish of sixth place, fourth place was the farthest back Roller would get throughout the 10 races for the Leiter Cup. Roller finished the final race in third place, missing the first place honor by only one point and putting her in the tie with Prioleau.

Hosted by the Pleon Yacht Club, the laser radial regatta pitted Roller against some of the top women sailors in the country where she more than held her own. Roller was also racing against her biggest competitor in the territory, Sydney Jones, who finished in 13 place.

The win over St. Croix’s Jones means Roller will be representing U.S.V.I. women sailors in Auckland, New Zealand in the spring at the International Sailing Federation World Championship, the next Olympic qualifier.