After a four-day delay to avoid Tropical Storm Sean, the 22nd Caribbean 1500 rally departed from Hampton, VA, today and set course for Nanny Cay on Tortola. Whilst the delay has been frustrating for the 60 participating crews, staying in port was a sensible decision by new race organisers UK based World Cruising Club.
On November 1, the official end of the hurricane season, the unrelated North American Rally To The Caribbean (NARC) departed from Newport, RI, but was severely disrupted by savage storms. Many vessels ran into difficulties and on Monday the cargo ship Oleander, en route from New Jersey to Bermuda, successfully picked up four survivors from Ellie, a 46 foot yacht that suffered steering failure in waves over 30 feet high.
For the first time the boats will be able to sail directly to Nanny Cay Marina where BVI Customs & Immigration officials will be on-hand, making a far speedier check-in rather than having to stop first at the official Customs point at Soper’s Hole. Samantha Lewis, manager of Nanny Cay Hotel, is looking forward to welcoming all the participants when they arrive at Nanny Cay in seven to ten days time. “We have a spread of different events for all the participants from Friday 18 through to Monday 21 so everyone should be able to join in the fun after their arrival. After a week at sea we felt that crews would need a drink and so we will be giving them a rum punch before their feet hit dry land!”
On Saturday 19 November there is the added spectacle of the PegLegs Round Tortola Race, which starts and finishes at Nanny Cay. The Round Tortola Race always ends in a good party at the PegLegs beach bar and this year will be even more fun with all of the Caribbean 1500 crews participating. From 5pm The World Cruising Club is kindly sponsoring a Happy Hour and there will be a BBQ and live music until 11pm. The festivities will continue on Sunday with a beach BBQ from 5pm and then on Monday night there will be the awards ceremony followed by a buffet dinner at PegLegs Restaurant with more dancing likely on the beach!
Over 60 boats are taking part in this year’s Caribbean 1500 rally, which is the largest and longest running offshore cruising event in the Americas. The smallest entrant is a brand new Horizon Yacht Charters Bavaria Cruiser 36 and the largest the enormous 78 foot Morelli catamaran. The vast majority of boats are sailing in the Cruising Division with the emphasis firmly on having fun, sharing in an adventure and making friendships that will last for years.