When this Harlemite watched 14-year-old Imani John Polanco on a nearly 30-foot J30 sailboat named Absolute Properties Blue Peter in the sparkling blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean in English Harbor, Antigua, two thoughts immediately came to mind: the teenager displayed poise well beyond her years, and her confident command was comparable to a seasoned professional. Both observations proved accurate as she helped navigate the J30, a high-performance family cruising and racing sailboat, with a cabin large enough for six people.
“Well, I first started sailing when I was seven years old,” John Polanco said on Monday to this writer after disembarking from the boat which she competed in at the 56th annual Antigua Sailing Week 2025, one of the longest-running Caribbean regattas that began on April 26 and closes on May 2.
“And then by the time I was 12, I said I wanted to work on boats.” John Polanco, who hopes to have a career in boat engineering or as a member of the deck crew shared her experience at the event. “It was fun, it was really hot,” she said. “We got enough wind. I think we did well today, and we did good as a team, but we did have some struggles, but we got over them.”
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For 24-year-old Ta Janica Thomas, like John Polanco, a native of Antigua, sailing became a fix for her competitive nature after she tore ligaments in her knee playing soccer, altering her dreams of becoming a professional footballer. “There really isn’t much difference because you’re part of a team when you play football (as soccer is known in most countries) and when you sail,” she said upon getting off the Cal40 sailboat Huey Too, owned by Antiguan Bernard Evan-Wong.
“One is on the pitch, and one is on the water, and that’s basically it,” added Thomas. She referenced dealing with the high heat, which hovered in the low-to mid-80s, as the hardest part of the competition and credited the crew with helping her to build sailing mileage with the goal of eventually earning the status of Yachtmaster and then further ascending to work on larger boats. Connar Imhoff, 14, was primarily inspired to sail by a young family member. “My (17-year-old cousin) was a sailor, and he told me I should start, so I started,” he said. “He told me it was fun and I could do really fine in life with it.”
For Imhoff, the best part of sailing is being around his teenage friends, which includes John Polanco, and having a good time. But they are also serious about the sport and mindful of the rewards that come with winning their competition. “Sunday we came in first, Monday we came in third, and today we came in second,” he recited. For these young sailors, as they continue on the journey of their budding careers, they hope to inspire other youth to engage in the sport as a hobby or competitive activity.