Wednesday, March 27, 2019

BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival Preview

J/122 sailing off Virgin Islands
(Road Town, Tortola, BVI)- Hosted by the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club and sailed out of the spectacular Nanny Cay Marina, the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival, has grown back bigger than it has been in recent memory.  It is a fitting tribute that a dozen boats showed up last year to go racing, including members of the J/Tribe that sailed on two J/122s, a new J/121, a J/111, and J/105s.  The 48th edition of the regatta in 2019 will have 60-plus boats and the crews are excited to be sailing in sunny BVI. This year’s regatta runs March 25th to 31st.

The Race week schedule will include the traditional Round Tortola Race for the Nanny Cay Cup, followed by Scrub Island Invitational on day two of racing in the Sailing Festival. Then, three great days of racing follow for the 48th BVI Spring Regatta.

There’s plenty to love about Spring Regatta beyond the spectacularly blissful break it gives from the winter doldrums, especially the mix of international crew and range of boats that participate. The fleet includes owners and crews from USA, Germany, BVI, USVI, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Canada, Antigua, Belgium, Barbados, Ukraine, Poland and Russia.

It’s also a guaranteed good time when many of the fleet is returning for their multiple BVISR events, including the four J/crews in CSA Spinnaker Racing class. Topping that pack is Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID from Antigua and also Tony Mack’s British crew returning to sail the infamous J/122 TEAM McFLY/ EL OCASO!  Joining them will be Peter Lewis’ J/105 WHISTLER, the recent winner of their CSA 4 class at Heineken St Maarten Regatta; and Mackenzie Bryan’s J/100 BAD GIRL from St. Croix YC.

“We are very open, very ready, and very excited to welcome sailors from around the world who are returning or making this their first BVI racing experience,” Judy Petz, Regatta Director said. “The energy and spirit of sailing in the BVIs takes more than category five hurricanes to keep people from coming back to sail and race here!”   BVI Sailing Festival sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.