SVG Sailing Association celebrates National Youth Award winner

Kai Marks-Dasent was last Saturday, October,18,2025 named Youth Sailor of the Year at the Prime Ministerial Youth Advisory Council’s Youth Excellence Awards, hosted at the Villa Campus of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College(SVGCC), leaving the SVG Sailing Association basking in excitement.

According to a release from the SVG Sailing Association, Marks-Dasent, expressing gratitude for the award stated: “I’m really happy and thankful for this award. Sailing means everything to me, it’s fun, but it also teaches me how to stay focused and never give up. I’m grateful to my coaches, family and friends who always support me”.

Marks-Dasent added,”I hope more kids in St. Vincent and the Grenadines try sailing, because it’s an amazing sport and it shows you how strong you can be”.

A string of top performances, locally and regionally, plus his philanthropic disposition, worked to his favour.

Marks- Dasent’s award comes on the back of standout year, in which he was the Optimist champion, as well as the SVG ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 winner at the National Championships.

Regionally, Marks- Dasent took the first place in the ILCA 4 Class at the Antigua National Championships, and placed second at the Barbados Sailing Week, and third overall at the Open Skiff North American Championships.

At the latter, he competed against 81 sailors from across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Additionally, during the period, Marks- Dasent became a certified Junior Assistant Instructor, assisting young sailors with learning the craft.

His philanthropic work included a 10-mile sail to Bequia to raise funds for his sailing club in 2024.

Meanwhile, this year, he sailed 42 miles to Union Island, raising money for the Caribbean Dinghy Championships and to help Union Island students, affected by Hurricane Beryl, cover the cost of their CSEC examinations.