Vallarta Sailing Foundation paves the way for young sailors to compete worldwide - you can help them reach their Olympic dreams!
Three young brothers from Banderas Bay — Namkhai, Sanka, and Inti Bourquin — are carrying the Vallarta Yacht Club burgee onto some of the most competitive sailing waters in the world. As junior members of VYC, their dedication and results are not only inspiring, but also positioning them as potential contenders to represent Mexico at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Thanks to the support of the Vallarta Sailing Foundation (VSF) and the encouragement of the VYC community, these talented sailors have already made their mark at prestigious regattas in Los Angeles this summer, racing alongside world-class competitors and Olympic medalists. Their journey highlights both the strength of youth sailing on Banderas Bay and the vital role that our club and members play in helping them reach the next level.
Yann Bourquin, the boys' father, wrote the following article to tell us about his sons' accomplishments and to express gratitude for all VSF and VYC members have done to support his family. In his own words:
The three ILCA brothers from Banderas Bay, junior members of the VYC, particip
ated in three International Regattas in Los Angeles this Summer.
Thanks to the grant program of the Vallarta Sailing Foundation (VSF), Namkhai, Sanka and Inti Bourquin raced in June for Mexico at the 2025 ILCA North American Championships hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. Two ILCA 7 and one ILCA 6 proudly represented VYC on the Olympic Waters of Long Beach.
It is worth mentioning that Sanka and Inti won Gold Medal in ILCA 7 and ILCA 6 at the National Olympics of Mexico in Yucatan, the week before the NA’s.
In July, the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR) took place -the oldest regatta for Olympic classes in the US as this event has been run since 1964. During that race, Namkhai and Sanka competed among some of the best ILCA racers of the world, some of them Olympians: Michael Beckett (GBR), Stefano Peschiera (PER), bronze medalist in Paris 2024, Pavlos Kontides (CYP), silver medallist in Paris 2024, Philip Jurisic (CRO), Jonathan Vadnai (HUN), Eliott Hanson (GBR), George Gautrey (NZL), Finn Lynch (IRL), Francisco Guaragna (ARG), Duko Bos (NED), Finley Dickinson (GBR), Zac Littlewood and Ethan Mcaulley (AUS), all of them coming to Long Beach for the Gran Slam 2025 and to learn the Olympic waters. Racing against top world sailors is very inspiring and showed that with the skills and the knowledge of the boat they have, Namkhai or Sanka can potentially win a spot for Mexico to go to the 2028 LA Olympics in ILCA. This would be the very first time an ILCA man would represent Mexico during the highest world event. They now need to practice and get skills on big fleet management, which can only be acquired during big events. The OCR was a great regatta and we could appreciate how much both young sailors (finishing the regatta only one point from each other!) enhanced their skills during this season 2024-2025.
It is worth mentioning that Namkhai placed third among the countries participating in the 2026 Santo Domingo Centeramerican and Caribbean Games (the first event lined up to the 2028 LA Olympics) and would have qualified for Mexico if he would have had Mexican nationality, a topic we are working on since November 2024. Hopefully we can get it done for one of the remaining qualifying races, but the path is full of turns and returns and, as with a race, requires determination.
Sanka did two Under 21 Championships: in Portugal and Peru, where he got 3rd place. He was also 3rd at the Mayan Wind Fest in Cancún and he won the Wesmex Regatta 2025, besting Namkhai's second place finish.
The last event for Inti was one of the biggest and toughest events in the life of an ILCA racer: the ILCA 6 Youth World Championships held this year in San Pedro, Los Angeles, the city that will host the next Olympic Games. Not less than 223 young ILCA 6 racers from 35 countries raced for a 6 days long World Championship and Inti represented Banderas Bay and the VSF very decently, finishing 117th of 140 boys and first of the three racers from Mexico.
These world championships are very important in the evolution of young racers as they show their strengths and weaknesses compared to other racers from other parts of the world and help focus their training program for the next months. These events are also a fantastic opportunity to meet and share with other young sailors from all around the world who share the same passion.
I want to address here a big THANK YOU to the Vallarta Sailing Foundation and the VYC, particularly to Al Garnier who helped with the logistic for the three events, providing bikes, coach boat and accommodations for Team Bourquin on Toyon II, an amazing experience for all of us!
A last word upon the three young talents: their commitment to racing at this stage is 1000%, not only being the top ILCA sailors in Mexico, but also racing on big boat regattas at VYC. Since 2019, they have won several BBRs and Vallarta Cups as well as volunteered for many events on Race Committees. Support from VSF and VYC is helping them represent Mexico in more international events and will hopefully get them a ticket for the 2028 LA Olympic Games!
This is a non AI-generated article, purely old-school typing by Yann Bourquin
You can help keep their momentum going! By supporting the Vallarta Sailing Foundation, you’ll be directly contributing to opportunities for Namkhai, Sanka, and Inti — and helping ensure that Banderas Bay is represented on the international stage, all the way to the Olympics. Click here to make a donation: Donate to Vallarta Sailing Foundation
