Jean-Yves Fillion Wins Again in Florida Masters Regattas

For the second year in a row, Jean-Yves Fillion put on a masterful display of sailing in the Florida masters laser races. He won the 2024 ILCA Masters Midwinters East regatta (held Feb 27-Mar 1) across all ILCA6 divisions and came in second overall for the ILCA 6 at the Palm Beach Florida Masters (Feb 23-25), winning his "Grand Master" division.

The Palm Beach event offered a variety of conditions, with Jean-Yves excelling in light air and speed off the starts.

Midwinters East had 37 sailors in the ILCA 6 rig and Jean-Yves finished top 2 in 9 of the 11 races in the regatta. Two days were blowing over 20 knots and 2 days had light to medium breeze, so the event required real breadth as a sailor.

AYC Sailing Director Kevin Broome, who was at the event, commented, "Jean-Yves was often the first to the venue in the mornings and always one of the first boats off of the beach. Once on the race course, he focused on high percentage starts - getting off the line with the top 5 boats, picking the correct side of the course and trying to push himself as hard as he could throughout the 4 day regatta."

Stay tuned for an interview with Jean-Yves coming to Bell 42.