How to Have Fun and Eat The Cake Too @ Rolex St Thomas
(St Thomas, USVI- Mar 27) – Living up to its reputation as "Crown Jewel of Caribbean Racing", and topping off three days of sun-drenched racing in the Rolex Regatta, the fleet was treated to yet another nearly "postcard perfect" Sunday on Pillsbury Sound. The fleet completed distance courses that explored the cays and islands off St. Thomas, where the event has been hosted for 38 years by St. Thomas Yacht Club. "This has been one of the best groups of boats and sailors we've ever had," said Regatta Director Bill Canfield. "Sailors came from around the globe, and each class had a good number of boats with impressive depth of competition."
The regatta started on Friday, the racing started with a lovely trip to town down around the southern side of St Thomas. The first of two “town races” went from the eastern end of St. Thomas, where the regatta’s host St. Thomas Yacht Club is located, to Charlotte Amalie Harbour, giving spectators an eyeful as they watched from scenic overlooks and other vantage points along the island’s hilly coastline. After a rainbow of spinnakers graced a downwind finish, the fleet turned around and headed back from where they came, counting the return trip as their second race.
“We
went with a spinnaker almost all the way to town...like a party!”
laughed Kike Gonzalez (San Juan, PR), the skipper of the J/80 OTRACOSA,
who posted a 1-2 in CSA Spinnaker 3 class for second place overall. “MAG
7 (a J/27 skippered by St. Thomian Paul Davis) was winning, but in the
last 15 minutes of the race we made the right decision, and we were able
to pass them.” While OTRACOSA ended up tied for the lead, MAG 7
finished third for the day.As cliche as it sounds, the Rolex Regatta delivered on Saturday another round of sailing in paradise. And while for some that conjures up images of cloudless skies, azure blue water and brisk trade winds (the exact conditions that prevailed), for more serious racers it meant well planned race courses and exceptional execution by the race committee for some thrilling racing. The first race was a twice-around windward-leeward course that lasted an hour, while the second showed off the scenic south coast of St. John (USVI) on a 22-mile windward/leeward course that used Leduck island as its windward turning mark.
“It was really interesting,” said one big boat crew member. “There were rocks in the middle of the course that had to be avoided, so you didn’t have full use of the race course, but the entire fleet was pretty much side-by-side the whole time.” He praised the race committee for the courses they had designed, noting their ability to lay marks in shallow water and keep the course square to the wind, which some other Caribbean events are unable to do because of natural constraints.
By
winning Saturday's single 19-mile race in the 10-boat CSA Non-Spinnaker
class, Jim Dobbs’ (Antigua) J/122 LOST HORIZON moved into second place
from third Friday while Tony Sanpere’s (St. Croix, USVI) J/36 CAYENNITA
GRANDE replaced Friday's leader. Dobbs, who lives aboard LOST HORIZON
in the winter and races the boat throughout the islands, normally sails
in spinnaker class and has sailed almost every International Rolex
Regatta to date. He was short on crew this year and made a last-minute
change to the non-spinnaker class, which Sanpere, last year’s winner,
welcomed. “It’s nice to be in the same class to see how we compare to a
very competitive boat,” he said. “Dobbs is one of the winningest
skippers in the Caribbean.”
In
the end, Sunday's racing was going to determine fame and fortune for
some and for others, just a "good on ya mate" for giving it the college
try. For CSA Spinnaker 3 class, Kike Gonzalez's (San Juan, PR) J/80
OTRAKOSA started out winning the first day. However, after scoring one
first and five seconds ended getting a second place! The J/27 sailed by
Paul Davis (St. Thomas), MAG 7 took third overall sailing to three
thirds and three fourths! Bob Read's J/40 NEPENTHE sailed into a
comfortable fourth, just in from of Ian Marten's J/29 MATADOR in fifth.In CSA Spinnaker 2 class, most of the sailors considered their #1 competition to be Rick Wesslund's (Miami, Fla.) J/120 EL OCASA, a well-deserved reputation considering how many events they won in the past, including Key West Race Week. After a strong start on Friday, EL OCASO led the fleet. But in Saturday's lighter conditions faltered a bit and dropped to second. Then, ultimately slipped to third place overall after posting a 5-4 Sunday to miss second place by just two points.
In
the 10-boat CSA Non-Spinnaker class, James Dobbs' (Antigua) J/122 LOST
HORIZON turned in a 1-2 Sunday to tie on point score (10) with Tony
Sanpere's (St. Croix, USVI) very well-sailed and highly competitive J/36
CAYENITTA GRANDE, who scored a 3-1, but LOST HORIZON won the class
after tie-breaking rules were applied. LOST HORIZON was definitely the
sleeper of the regatta, arriving with an incomplete crew to finish third
overall after the first day of racing. On the second day, the team
managed to rise through the ranks to second overall behind CAYENITTA
GRANDE then top them in the finale. Fourth was the J/110 CANDELA sailed
by Juan Bosch (Puerto Rico) and in fifth was Tom Mullens' best
performance to date on his J/95 SHAMROCK VII. Sailing Photo/ Rolex Cup Regatta credits- Ingrid Abery and Leighton O'Connor for Rolex. For more International Rolex Cup Regatta sailing information.