Giveaways to look out for in the Regatta Village here at Nanny Cay
Regatta Village offerings from Sol, FirstCaribbean, lime, and others:
Sol is offering six lucky visitors to the Regatta Village an opportunity to win round-trip tickets to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Participants can enter the free draw at the Sol tent at the Regatta Village Friday through Saturday 4pm-6pm. The names of two winners will be drawn each evening Friday through Sunday. Terms and conditions apply.
Additionally, Sol is providing two high quality items for the adult Easter Egg Hunt which include a first aid bag ideal for the car or boat and a vehicle break down emergency kit with jump leads, reflective warning triangles, gloves, small flashlight and more. Sol has also included in the bags given to each skipper a roll of marine absorbent pads that will soak up oil-based liquids such as fuel while repelling water.
Record 46 yachts head to the North Sound in Sailing Festival
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Bella Pita – click to enlargeThe day dawned with perfect conditions for the forty-six boats racing in the Bitter End Cup, the first day’s racing of the 2010 BVI Sailing Festival. In four classes, the boats beat from Nanny Cay to the North Sound on the east end of Virgin Gorda. Boats and crews ranged from the sleek, sexy and professional to those who were just along for the fun of it, from the stripped out carbon Frers 44’s to a Moorings 4700 towing a dinghy, making their way east to the finish line and the parties at the Bitter End Yacht Club.
Big winners today in the Racing class were Vela Veloce, Richard Oland’s brand new Southern Cross 52 taking first place, Defiance, a Martin 49 was second and only 17 seconds behind, BVI’s Three Harkoms placed third. Vladiimir Kulinichenko (better known as Kuli), tactician/driver for Three Harkoms described the raced as ‘benign’, with 11 to 16 knots of wind and very little chop. “Going up the course, we tried to help the Bareboats stay out of our way and avoid the tricky parts. There was a big wind shadow around the Dogs and we told them to follow us and it paid off. There was also a twenty degree wind shift going through Colquhoun Cut and we played it right.” He went on to explain that due to the current, the big boats were favoured in today’s race.
Sailing Festival ready for the starting gun tomorrow
Click to enlargeTonight, under a gorgeous moonlit sky, sailors milled around the Beach Bar enjoying tonight’s Mount Gay two-fers and beach barbecue after registration closed for the BVI Sailing Festival. Forty six boats are registered with a record nineteen in the Racing Class for the three day low-pressure pre-cursor to the BVI Spring Regatta.
In the Racing Class, Equation, Bill Alcott’s Andrews 68, has the honour of being scratch boat but he and his crew can expect to get a little heat from Richard Olands’ brand new Southern Cross 52, Vela Veloce, and the all carbon Frers 44s, Aquarelle 1 and Aquarelle 2. Also in that class is White Heat, a King 40 owned by Mike Williamson. In November they fought a closely contested Storm Trysail Club IRC East Coast Championships in Annapolis to win class 3 and just missed being awarded the overall championship by three seconds and in January, the boat won its division the Key West Race Week.
BVI Spring Regatta Roundup: win $350 drink tickets; Immigration clearance at Nanny Cay; and more….
Here’s the latest roundup of BVI Spring Regatta news:
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Pre-register for the chance to win $350 in drink tickets
All boats registered before 4pm on Friday, March 26, will be entered in a drawing with the prize being their registration fee refunded in drink tickets redeemable at the Regatta Village bar and a bonus Mount Gay hat. Those who miss that Friday 4pm deadline won’t have a chance to win lots of drink tickets but they still can register online for the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, March 29 – April 4, and on-site at Nanny Cay starting at 12pm on Monday, March 29.
Immigration and Customs clearance at Nanny Cay
BVI Immigration and Customs will be available on-site at Nanny Cay Marina and Resort on both Monday (March 29) and Thursday (April 1) afternoons from 12 – 6pm to check crews and boats in and to issue Cruising Permits. Wade Smith, Comptroller of BVI Customs, said “BVI Customs and Immigration are trying to facilitate the regatta in its 39th year and do whatever we can to help make it an easy clearing procedure. We wish all boaters, visitor and participants a very safe and enjoyable BVI Spring Regatta.”
Big courses for the big boats at the BVI Spring Regatta
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Tom Hill’s Titan XVNew for the 2010 BVI Spring Regatta, starting April 2 and hosted by Nanny Cay, are two courses for the sol racing area specifically designed for the big boats. For the likes of Titan XV, Tom Hill’s new Reichel Pugh Custom 75’, Bill Alcott’s Andrew’s 68’, Equation and Bella Pita, the Caribbean based Tripp 75 owned by Danilo Salsi, two courses have been added to the program which will give these big boys the opportunity to strut their stuff.
BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival chairman, Bob Phillips, felt that it was time to give the bigger boats a chance set a few records. “With the right wind, a boat like Titan XV can complete a 60 miles course in about three hours; they cover an incredible amount of geography in a short period of time. Reaching, these boats are capable of speed of 30 knots and they love doing it, the crews love it. Short little windward leewards are good fun but when they get the chance to cook the speeds up into the upper twenties, they like that too.”
Countdown to BVI Spring Regatta
Last year’s Regatta Village on the beach at Nanny Cay
Music, models, Mount Gay and more… just what sailors at the 2010 BVI Spring Regatta will find at the Regatta Village here at Nanny Cay, March 29 – April 4. The BVI will be party central with the festivities kicking off at Nanny Cay, moving to Bitter End and then returning to the Regatta Village at Nanny Cay for the big four day big bash, Thursday – Sunday.
As is traditional, following registration on Monday for the BVI Sailing Festival, the low-pressure precursor to the BVI Spring Regatta, there will be an opening party at the newly remodeled Nanny Cay Beach Bar. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, when the festivities move to the Bitter End Yacht Club, revelers can rock on at the West Indian Barbeque with the Latitude Stars on Tuesday night and DJ Heavy B spinning his magic on Wednesday night at a full on Pub Mash Up.
‘A’ Off Peter Island
Shot from Nanny Cay beach and looking a little like one of those grainy spy shots, here’s a photo of ‘A’ anchored off Peter Island this afternoon. ‘A’ is a 119m megayacht owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko.
Nanny Cay Challenge for Round Tortola Record
Nanny Cay has launched the Nanny Cay Challenge for the round Tortola record. Yachts visiting the British Virgin Islands are invited to make an attempt to beat the latest round Tortola records which have been established by the monohull and multihull times set in the 2009 PegLegs Round Tortola Race.
Fundraiser held for BVI Red Cross’s Haiti Fund
Click to enlarge$14,000 was raised at a fundraiser to support the BVI Red Cross’s Haiti Fund held on Nanny Cay’s beach on Sunday. With all the auction and raffle prizes, food, drink and labour supplied free of charge by a large number of sponsors (too many to name at the risk of missing some!), 100% of…