BVI Spring Regatta

IC24s racing at last year’s BVI Spring RegattaFor its 40th anniversary, the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival (March 28 to April 3, 2011) hosted and presented by Nanny Cay Marina, has announced a partnership with Gill to bring the Gill BVI International Match Racing Championship to its racing lineup. This invitational event, held from March 30 to 31, 2011 will feature eight teams racing in one-design IC24s off the shore of Nanny Cay.  The event has been given Grade 3 status by ISAF, allowing international challengers to earn points towards their ISAF World Match Race Rankings. A professional race management team that includes Chief Umpire Tom Rinda and PRO Bill Canfield will ensure world-class competition and organization.

(L-R) Miles Sutherland-Pilch, general manager, Nanny Cay Resort and Marina, Judy Petz, director, BVI Spring Regatta, Bob Phillips, chairman, BVI Spring Regatta – click to enlargeAfter eight consecutive years of hosting the BVI Spring Regatta (BVISR), Nanny Cay Resort and Marina (Nanny Cay) has committed to supporting the territory’s largest regatta for an additional five years. Miles Sutherland-Pilch, general manager of Nanny Cay, met with Bob Phillips, chairman of the BVISR committee, to sign the agreement last Tuesday. The renewed contract confirms Nanny Cay as the presenting sponsor and host venue provider through 2016.

“Nanny Cay is very pleased to renew its arrangement with the BVISR,” said Miles. “Over the years, we have substantially improved the infrastructure and honed our preparations for the regatta from planning dockage and the supply of reliable electrical and plumbing services, to providing manpower to set up the village. We work with the organising committee and other external organisations to ensure the security, health and safety – and of course, fun – of all visitors.

Titan – click to enlargeOnce again, it was a picture perfect day in the British Virgin Islands for the last day of racing of the BVI Spring Regatta, with sun and wind all day long.  There were a number of battles out on the race course which were fought to the very end providing plenty of action on the SOL, Norman and LIME One Design Race areas.
 
It was a given the Tom Hill, sailing Titan XV would take the top spot in Racing A.  With five firsts and two seconds, they ended the series three points ahead of Vela Veloce, Richard Oland’s Southern Cross 52.  No stranger to the winner’s circle, Tom is always gracious.  On stage he thanked the organization and said, “I look forward to sailing BVI every year.  I race up north in the rain and cold and I love coming to the BVI.”

Clcik to enlargeIt was one of those mornings when sails look more like hanging laundry than anything else.  However, wind conditions improved as the second day of racing for the BVI Spring Regatta wore on. Presley King, sailing with Justin Barton on Justice, Bareboat B, is a local sage when it comes to predicting the winds in the BVI.  When asked on the dock this morning what he was looking for today, he replied, “Looking for a little more wind.  As soon as the moon raise up, it should get more.  The moon will raise up after 11.”  
 
Presley was right.  After a very slow start to the morning’s racing with very light air from the west, the breeze appeared to totally dry up and just when race officers were discussing the efficacy of continuing, the wind filled in from the north-east with a nice breeze, building to 15 knots by the middle of the afternoon.

Although no complaints were heard, it was hard to be excited about the day’s weather conditions early on.  It was cloudy, rained threatened and it appeared as though what little wind there was might be sucked up by the clouds.  Although the clouds hung over all morning, there was wind from the north ranging from a low of 5 to a high of about 20 and later in the day, the sun came shining brightly over the 103 boat fleet on the first day of racing the 2010 BVI Spring Regatta.
 
On each of the three racecourses, there was a short postponement before the first race to remember Guy Eldridge, owner of Luxury Girl, who died last weekend in a tragic accident.  Some of his crew, Liza Appleby, Phil Prevo, Brian Edmond and Guy Phoenix, explained that this weekend they have invited all the past crew members to race on the Beneteau 10R in Guy’s honour. For this regatta, eleven or twelve different people will sail on the boat although through the years there have been many other crewmembers.  Brian explained, ”Some have moved away but a lot of the crew that he trained are now on other boats and sailing against us.  It is great and is a testimony to how generous he was in training people.”  Phil went on to say, “I guess we decided that it was a fitting memorial to him and his dedication to the sport of sailing,” Liza added, “and he would have wanted us to race; he would not have wanted us to just sit and watch.”

Zen, Nanny Cay Cup winner – click to enlargeBoats raced down from North Sound to Nanny Cay today, competing for the Nanny Cay Cup, the last event of the BVI Sailing Festival. Registration for the BVI Spring officially closed at 6pm and the Regatta Village officially opened.
 
The Nanny Cay Cup
The winds shifted earlier than expected today with the south east breeze swinging towards the south.  As a result, boats spent much more time with their jibs up than might have been expected.  Spinnakers were seen as far west as the Dogs but after that, it was a beat to Beef Island and then only boats with flat reaching kites could carry them to the finish. 
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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.

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.