The annual U.S. Sailing Rocky Mountain Junior Olympics returned to Dillon Yacht Club for the first time in four years on Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25, where a handful of local sailors excelled on their home lake.

Out on Dillon Reservoir, Lucas Fesenmeyer won the Laser Radial division while his younger brother William Fesenmeyer teamed with Joss Quarantillo to sail to runner-up in the RS Feva division.

James Welch, Dillon Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program executive director, said the Junior Olympics regatta is the biggest youth sailing event of the summer for the local sailors as it helps some kids “get on the map and prepare for racing through their future years.” Welch said nine Dillon Yacht Club sailors competed among the 37 total racers and 32 boats out on the water for 38 races over the weekend.

“And the goal was, pretty much, to get a variety of experience levels on the water,” Welch said.

Lucas Fesenmeyer won the 10-race, Laser Radial division with five victories and five runner-ups in the 13-boat field. The dominant performance helped Fesenmeyer accrue 13 total points, well below the second-place showing of Patrick Barney of Mission Bay Yacht Club (19 points).

Welch and William Fesenmeyer said Lucas has raced well in his first year racing the Laser Radials, which Welch said is the same boat female sailors are racing currently at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan.

“Lucas, he’s always pretty calm and collected out there,” Welch said. “I never see him freak out. Having this be his home lake, he has that local knowledge of knowing where the winds come from. He knows, tactic-wise, how to get around the course. It’s cool to watch, and he’s only 17 still.”

William Fesenmeyer teamed with Joss Quarantillo to finish as runners-up in the five-boat RS Feva division. The duo won one of 10 races and finished in second-place in four more in a consistent performance over the weekend.

“I’ve known William since he was a young guy,” Welch said. “… He was a little fearful of sail boats when he was younger, and now, watching him sail his own boats, his progress to mature in more aspects is cool to see.”

Quarantillo was the skipper on the boat with William Fesenmeyer, who was tasked with the crew responsibilities. Quarantillo and William Fesenmeyer said racing in the RS Feva division has proved challenging for them as they weigh more than most duos racing the 12-foot, 160-pound Feva boats. At 280 pounds combined, Quarantillo and William Fesenmeyer said the weight helps them in high winds, but those were in short supply on a relatively calm weekend out on Dillon Reservoir.

“It takes a bit of effort,” William Fesenmeyer said. “I’m always moving around trying to keep the boat balanced and flat.”

Quarantillo and William Fesenmeyer topped out at 11 knots over the weekend while the Dillon Yacht Club team of Harbor Scheuermann and AJ Rainold sailed at 10 knots at their fastest. Scheuermann and Rainold finished in fourth place in the RS Feva division on the strength of a strong close to the weekend with a win, a third-place and a runner-up finish over their final four races.

Other top local sailors at the races include Calen Solley, who finished in fourth-place in the 10-boat RS Tera division. Solley was consistently fourth and fifth in the nine RS Tera races. And racing in the sport division, the club’s James Day raced to third while Bridger Quarantillo raced to fourth.