This year’s Peg Legs Round Tortola Race was not one for the record books but 30-foot Olsen Rushin Rowlette skippered by Kevin Rowlette, won the racing division in an unusually closely-fought race; Rushin beat Reba to second place by 1 minute and 6 seconds on corrected time. Girasoli, skippered by Keith LiGreci, won the cruising class for the second year after six hours and 20 minutes of racing.
Pipe Dream claimed line honours finishing in 5 hours, 42 minutes and 33 seconds. This was skipper Peter Haycraft’s 44th round Tortola Race – 44 for 44.
Throughout one of the most competitive round Tortola races in many years, the racing fleet continuously jockeyed for position. The yachts had a difficult light wind run down the north side of Tortola where a beam sea and large swell made it hard to keep the spinnakers full. Rushin Rowlette was last into the notoriously fickle and windless Soper’s Hole – and the last out – but Rushin was able to sail straight through while the rest of the fleet had difficulties. “It was like a re-start,” said Miles Sutherland-Pilch, general manager of Nanny Cay and crew member onboard Rushin Rowlette.
The tight racing continued up the final beat on the south side of Tortola with the racing fleet cross-tacking until the finish off Nanny Cay. Reba finished 44 seconds ahead of Rushin Rowlette (corrected time: of 4:57:36, elapsed: 5:45:15) which wasn’t enough to hold Rushin off after the corrected times were calculated.
Two classes – racing and cruising – took part in the 44th annual Peg Legs Round Tortola Race organised by the Royal BVI Yacht Club and sponsored by Nanny Cay. A light wind forecast saw a depleted fleet, the fleet sailed anti-clockwise around Tortola.
Results
Racing
1st Rushin Rowlette, Kevin Rowlette
2nd Reba
3rd Pipe Dream
4th Firewater
Cruising Class
1st Girasoli, Keith LiGreci
2nd Second Nature
Wicked Winch, DNF
Ruffian, DNF
