Atop the decks of soaked sailboats, crews from here and abroad fought punching wind gusts and brief squalls as they raced around Tortola on Tuesday during the first day of the six-day BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival.
“We’ve got 20-plus knots of wind, so that makes it far more exciting,” Regatta Director Cayley Smit told the Beacon. “But I can’t say that there’s less strategy or it’s easier, because there’s a lot of squalls and a lot of wind shifting as well — but definitely a little more exciting.”
Shortly after the sails of the catamaran Lee Overlay Partners III hauled its 66-foot twin hull around Frenchmans Cay on Tuesday afternoon, the race committee gathered at the finish line near the entrance to Nanny Cay Marina.
When Ms. Smit pumped a few blasts out of an air horn, the crew aboard the catamaran relaxed and dropped their sails to the deck, signalling the first of many course completions from a variety of vessels over the coming days.
Though Lee Overlay Partners III returned to Nanny Cay ahead of the field, its corrected time fell about ten minutes short of a podium position.
The top two places in its class — performance multihull — went to Virgin Islands boats: Airgasm, skippered by Barney Crook, finished first with corrected time of 3:20:03, and Ting A Ling II came in nine seconds later with Chris Haycraft at the helm.
94-year-old sailor
Another veteran VI sailor — 94-year-old Robin Tattersall — skippered Jitterbug, the winning boat in the bareboat class.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it,” he told organisers. “I thought to myself last night, ‘What a stupid thing to do: I have all sorts of structural problems.’ But then I thought, ‘What a way to go!’”
In the racing class, Jim Vos’ boat Warthog came out on top with Antigua-based skipper Jules Mitchell at the helm.
Other races
After sailors returned to Nanny Cay from the 36-nautical-mile course around Tortola, a welcome event and awards ceremony was held at Peg Leg’s.
Yesterday, the racing continued when 42 vessels sailed from Nanny Cay to Marina Cay for the Scrub Island Invitational, a journey of about 12 nautical miles.
But the first two days of racing — known as the Sailing Festival — were only a primer for the main event: the Spring Regatta, three days of intense competition scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
From now through Sunday, 83 boats from 14 countries and territories will hoist their sails to compete for the titles in the regatta’s 52nd year.
Besides the VI, countries and territories represented include the United Kingdom; the United States; Canada; Puerto Rico; the USVI; Curaçao; the Dominican Republic; Antigua; Germany; Monaco; Italy; the Netherlands; France; and St. Maarten, according to Ms. Smit, who is helming the regatta for her second year.
Plenty of activities will also be held on land, with the action centred around the Regatta Village after it opens today at noon.
This evening, a welcome event is scheduled to get under way at 5:30 p.m. with the Heritage Dancers, Razor Blades, and DJ Wiz to begin performing an hour later. Like last year, the village has been set up near Peg Leg’s in Nanny Cay, and it will be open from noon until midnight daily.
Kids’ day
Besides the races and the daily entertainment in the village, young regatta-goers can participate in a “Nautical Kids Crafternoon” and other activities from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday.
Sunday marks the final day of racing, ending with musical performances by multiple ensembles from Elmore Stoutt High School, as well as moko jumbies.
Final awards
The end-of-regatta awards are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with MJ Blues and DJ Wiz trading places onstage and the winners awarded directly afterwards.
