Events
40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta – Sensational Sailing Festival Send Off
;)
Forty boats congregated on the Sir Francis Drake Channel this morning, just off of Tortola’s Nanny Cay Resort, for the start of the Bitter End Cup. This 21-mile Corinthian-spirited race to Virgin Gorda’s Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) marks the official kick-off for the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (March 28-April 3, 2011). Lucky sailors in four classes enjoyed 10-15 knots, flat seas, and clean starts as the fleet of cats, cruisers, bareboats and serious raceboats pointed towards their fairy-tale destination. Once there, sailors can enjoy the club’s well-populated dinghy and beach-cat fleet and unwind before Thursday’s reverse-course Nanny Cay Cup.
Bitter End Cup kicks off 40th anniversary BVI Spring Regatta
;)
The 40th anniversary BVI Spring Regatta kicked off today at 1000 hours, local time, with the start of the Sailing Festival’s annual Bitter End Cup. This 21-mile upwind course starts off of Tortola’s Nanny Cay Resort—the event’s home base—and takes the fleet of 40 boats northwest through the Sir Francis Drake Channel to the finishing line off of the Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC), situated on nearby Virgin Gorda. Once there, sailors can relax, socialize and sail the BEYC’s dinghy and beach-cat fleet on Wednesday’s lay day. During Thursday’s Nanny Cay Cup the fleet will ease their sheets and retrace their wake, sailing a glorious downhill run back to Nanny Cay and the start of the annual Mount Gay Welcome Party.
40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta Fleet Features Firsts and Favorites
;)
Necker Belle on A dock at Nanny CayThe final countdown has begun and racing will commence next week at the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (March 28-April 3, 2011), giving attending sailors reason to celebrate. Historically, the BVI Spring Regatta has attracted some of the world’s fastest yachts and sailors, and this year’s exceptional entry list is proof that this tradition continues.
BVI Spring Regatta Auctions 10 Years of Mount Gay Hats to Benefit Youth Sailing
;)
If sailing is your game, you’ve seen Mount Gay’s iconic, red regatta hats. Since 1987, these distinctive baseball caps have come to represent far more than just a stylish sunshade-they’ve become an internationally recognized symbol of competitive sailing, each custom embroidered with the name and year of a particular Mount Gay-sponsored event. But unlike mainstream fashion trends, Mount Gay hats are earned, not purchased. “The brand has never sold a red cap and it never will!” said Mount Gay’s Raphaël Grisoni. “There is no other way to get one than to sail in the regatta. They have become a sign of recognition among real sailors.”
BVI Spring Regatta 40th anniversary stamps unveiled by Government
At a ceremony held at Peg Legs Restaurant on Tuesday, Government, with the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival Committee, kicked-off the 40th anniversary celebrations of the internationally renowned BVI Spring Regatta with an unveiling of a new set of stamps commemorating the four decades of the event.
Governor Boyd McCleary, who is also the Principal of the Royal BVI Yacht Club, congratulated the organisers of the regatta on their anniversary, adding that: “The BVI Spring Regatta and Festival is a major opportunity for the Virgin Islands to sell itself to the wider yachting world and to demonstrate that the Territory remains the sailing capital of the world.”
Read MoreEddie Jordan of F1 fame performs at Nanny Cay
;)
Eddie Jordan & Luca perform at the Beach Bar Sunday nightEddie Jordan of Formula 1 Racing fame and now Primary Analyst for the BBC’s F1 coverage recently spent a couple of nights on the docks at Nanny Cay.
Eddie Jordan has always been a huge music fan and currently plays in a four piece band, irreverently named Eddie & the Robbers, as well as an acoustic 3 piece band called FTB. He, along with band member Luca, joined CP4 on stage during Nanny Cay’s 10th Anniversary Beach Bash on Saturday night and performed again at the Beach Bar on Sunday night too.
Read MoreNecker Belle to enter the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival for the first time!
;)
Necker Belle, Virgin Limited Edition’s 105-foot luxury catamaran, will be racing in the 2011 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival and docking at Nanny Cay each night. Nanny Cay is host and presenting sponsor of the the regatta which takes place between the 28th March and 3rd April. 2011 is the 40th Anniversary of the BVI Spring Regatta.
BVI Kitejam Demo Day at Nanny Cay
;)
The BVI Kite Jam 2011 taking place February 26 – March 5, will kick off with a Beach Party and Pro Demo at Nanny Cay, on February 26th between 10am and 3pm. Some of the top riders in the world including Kristin Boese, Shannon Best, Andre Philip, Pete Cabrinha, Tom Court, Youri Zoon, Stephen Shank, Jaun Carlos Morales and many others will be here to show their skills. A try kiteboarding session with KATS, Carib Kiteboarding and the BVI Kite Boarding Association (BVIKA) will also be apart of the day’s festivities.
Caribbean 1500 Final Report
Smidge Takes Top Honors in the 21th Anniversary Caribbean 1500 Rally;)
Caribbean 1500 fleet on the docks – click to enlargeWaiting for the late season Hurricane Tomas and a succession of lows to pass before leaving, the 21th Anniversary Caribbean 1500 fleet of 75 boats experienced strong northwest winds and northerly swells in its annual trek to the Caribbean – and Nanny Cay. Smidge, a Hallberg Rassey 43, owned by the Benbow family from Yardley, PA, took Overall Handicap Honors. First to finish was Sunsets, a MacGregor 65 owned by Howard Weiss and Kelly Reed of Gaithersburg,MD,.
The Caribbean 1500 Rally, managed by the Cruising Rally Association, left Hampton VA for Tortola on November 8 after a week of preparatory briefings, safety inspections, and gala social events. This year, the participants had a choice of destinations – either Marsh Harbor in the Abacos or Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The Bahamas Class, made up of 11 boats, left a week earlier and skirted the coast to Charleston before proceeding to the Abacos.
Read MoreTriple Jack wins PegLegs Round Tortola Race
;)
Geoge Lane, skipper of Triple Jack with the Round Tortola Race trophy – click to enlargeIn winds gusting in the 20-25 knot range on the north side of Tortola, Triple Jack, a 32-year old Kelsall One-Off skippered by George Lane, won the PegLegs Round Tortola Race on Saturday, November 20, for the second year in a row, beating second-placer igoodia by a shy one minute on elapsed time. Jack Dusty III a Pearson 40 skippered by 84-year-old Bill Hirst won cruising class.
The 45-foot Triple Jack circumnavigated Tortola in 3 hours 53 minutes and 27 seconds missing her personal best, set last year in unprecedented conditions for the race, by 20 minutes exactly. Breaking the daggerboard lost them some of the precious minutes needed to beat last year’s time, as did the outhaul giving way near Scrub Island. More photos after the break…
Read More