The Eighth Flag- the mystery of St. Croix’s Pirate Legacy- 1493 to 1750!

* Stanford Joines, from St Croix, US Virgin Islands- lost his lovingly maintained J/36 PALADIN in the hurricanes of 2017. 

For years he plied the waters of the Caribbean, sailing many of the major winter regattas on the racing circuit with a crew consisting ONLY of high-school age kids from the islands (mostly St Croix).

For the kids, it was a dream come true, and an opportunity to see a world they never knew existed. Here is his latest progress report on hoping to find a lovable J/105 to be donated to their cause for youth development in St Croix and the Caribbean islands.

Commented Stanford, “we finally have our fiduciary account open at the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development.  As a result, we have a 501c3# for any potential donor (Team Paladin Youth Sailing), learn more about us here.

St. Croix Foundation is in no way a traditional community foundation. While our portfolio does include strategic grant making, the core of our programmatic format is as an operating foundation.  You can learn more about the St. Croix Foundation here.

Also, my book is out on Amazon- “Eighth Flag- the untold story of the Caribbean and the mystery of St. Croix’s Pirate Legacy- 1493 to 1750”!

It is #14 for Caribbean History on Kindle so far, all 5 star ratings!! It is a great summer read.

I found a famous pirate shipwreck, which then took me on journey of discovery, finding many fascinating stories of a Caribbean long forgotten.  As soon as Netflix buys the rights, we'll get a new J/112e!”

You can get Stanford’s book here on Amazon (Kindle or Paperback).

Here is the description of the book:

“Cannibals.  Conquistadors.  Buccaneers.  Pirates.  Visions of cartoon characters dancing around a cauldron with an explorer tied inside. Balboa gazing on the Pacific Ocean.  De Leon and the fountain of youth. Pizarro conquering the Incas. Henry Morgan, in red, drinking spiced rum.  Smoke curling around Blackbeard as his cutlass slashes through the air. … all children's tales that mean nothing.

Today, we do not know who any of these people were, how they came to do what they did, or why they did it.  The struggle for power, freedom, and wealth that shaped the Caribbean for two and a half centuries has, since John Barrie created Peter Pan, been relegated to the same literary section as Barney the Dinosaur; yet, underneath the soil of the modern world, the roots are still there.  I started pulling them up on St. Croix, and the roots led to more roots, and more.  Islands connected, nations connected, and legends came to life.

Officially, St. Croix has flown seven flags over the last 500 years.  Before the American flag and the Danebrog, the Spanish came for gold, the Dutch to trade, the English to raid, and the Knights of St. John to be in charge. The French built a colony only to watch it die of fever.  During all of those years, Pirates, Conquistadors, Freebooters, Filibustiers, Corsairs, Buccaneers- whatever you call them- ruled the Caribbean and called St. Croix home, stealing at sea whether they had 'permission' to do so or not, and paying no attention at all to whatever European flag was flying.  It is time to recognize our eighth flag.  It was black.  This is the untold story of St. Croix and a Caribbean long forgotten.  Come. Sail with me.”  Stan

Caribbean Winter Regattas- Go For It & Help!!

(Gustavia, St Barths)- Sadly, the islands in the Caribbean were recently devastated by the full force of one of the strongest series of hurricanes in history. The islanders and wider communities have rallied together and incredibly many businesses, marinas, bars and restaurants are already open!  Such is the power of perseverance, love, and passion amongst sailors around the world.

The message is loud and clear; the Caribbean will be open and ready to welcome sailors for the 2018 racing and cruising season.

The 2018 season is going to be a very special year in the Caribbean, as we all come together to rebuild the livelihoods of the resilient locals who will open their hearts and share their wonderful islands with all those who visit and enjoy the love for the sea.

ST MAARTEN HEINEKEN REGATTA
The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will celebrate its 38th anniversary and takes place from March 1 – 4, 2018. This Regatta is the largest warm water Regatta in the world and offers a great combination of challenging races and fantastic parties, keeping with the event’s motto “Serious Fun”!

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is open to all levels of sailors from professional teams to novice and first time on the water sailors.

The event kicks off with the GILL Commodores Cup on Thursday 1st March, with windward-leeward races starting and finishing between Philipsburg and Simpson Bay.

Friday 2nd March is a race around the Island of St. Maarten clockwise from Simpson Bay, passing Tintamarre in the north and finishing back in Philipsburg.

Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th, will see the racing fleet enjoying some windward leeward racing in the Anguilla Channel followed by a coastal race back to a grand finish in Simpson Bay.  For more St Maarten Heineken Regatta sailing information
   
ST THOMAS INTERNATIONAL REGATTA
Organizers of the St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) are pleased to announce that 2018 event, set for March 23 to 25, will take place as scheduled despite damage to the island from Hurricane’s Irma and Maria. Never in the 48-year history of STIR has a fall storm, even a major one, interrupted the running of the ‘Crown Jewel of Caribbean Yacht Racing’, and it will not in 2018. The host St. Thomas Yacht Club suffered some damage and the fleet took more than a few dents, but the venue for fantastic round the island races is still very much here. The resilience of regatta organizers, sponsors, volunteers, and club members as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands’ business community, hotel and tourism sectors is strong. Show your support and be part of our island’s recovery and future.

EL OCASO, Caribbean Yacht Racing’s swift-sailing J/122 is signed up and ready for a team who wants to charter her to a podium finish like last year.

If you are concerned about helping out, please help in the Virgin Islands’ recovery efforts by donating to the non-profit VI Marine Build Fund (tinyurl.com/savethevi). All funds will be used for the cleanup of the current cruising grounds, growth of marine industry offerings and development of marine vocational programs.  Register Now for Round the Rocks Race and STIR 2018

LES VOILE DE SAINT BARTHS Regatta
There is no question the Les Voiles de St. Barth Regatta will carry on in 2018!

Considered a high point of the tourist season on the island of Saint-Barthélemy, Les Voiles de St. Barth will take place as planned over April 8-14, 2018.

A little over two weeks ago, the Caribbean Islands were ravaged by one of the deadliest hurricanes of the century. While it took a hard hit, Saint-Barthélemy is already well on the road to recovery, revealing its courage and energy to rise up, much like the organizers of Les Voiles de St. Barth who have decided to maintain the regatta in 2018.

“We are working hard so that our island can welcome all of our guests, crews and spectators with the same level of hospitality and professionalism as usual,” announced François Tolède, who organizes Les Voiles along with Luc Poupon and a large group of volunteers. “We will produce this ninth edition of Les Voiles as a symbol of our reconstruction, with the same quality of service and the same degree of competition. We are going to concentrate our energy in organizing a regatta every bit as exceptional as in past years, with five days of competition, a day off, concerts every evening…the fundamentals will be there!”

Looking Toward the Future
There is one very clear common goal: to get the island ready for a limited 2018 tourist season. “We must remain confident,” said Bruno Magras, president of the Collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy. “We are capable of getting the island back in shape and putting its best foot forward!”

French President Emmanuel Macron noted with great optimism when he visited the island just one week after the storm, “Saint Barth is an island that is still standing, that retains its strength and values, and is in the process of getting back on its feet.”

Every Boat Matters!
With boats ranging in size from 24 feet to 100+, Les Voiles de St. Barth is defined by the diversity of its fleet, and every boat, be it large or small, professional or amateur, is invited to participate to show its support for the regatta and for the island of Saint-Barthélemy.

There are already some boats that have registered for this ninth edition of Les Voiles. The organizers of Les Voiles are sending this message to crews around the world: ”Come next April, participate and discover our paradise re-found. Hurricane Irma tried to destroy us, but we have nerves of steel, and by rebuilding together, our island will be even more beautiful.”  Here is a highlights reel from the last edition  To register for Les Voiles de St. Barth Add to Flipboard Magazine.

St Thomas International Regatta Preview

(St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- For years, the grand-daddy of all Caribbean regattas was “the Rolex” in St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, proudly hosted by St Thomas YC in Cowpet Bay on the northeastern shoreline of USVI.  It was not unusual to have fleets of well over 100 keelboats packed into the Bay and competing for that rarest of commodities, a dinghy tie-up at the club.  Since that time, the regatta continues to maintain its strong heritage of hosting world-class sailing on the magnificent aquamarine waters off the eastern end of USVI.  The trade-winds are almost always turned-on and the sailors look forward to a magnificent four days of sailing.  What is fun and challenging about this event is that the StYC provides a range of courses for the fleet, from windward-leewards offshore to random-leg courses around the fabulously beautiful islands and rocks that grace the eastern part of the island chain.

This weekend, the fleet of forty-seven boats will be competing in one-design as well as IRC and CSA handicap rating rules.  Other than the thirteen teams sailing the IC24s (the modded J/24), the biggest field of J/Crews will be in the CSA Spinnaker class of eleven boats.  Leading charge around the track each day should be the famous J/122 EL OCASO, chartered by Bob Hiller from Lake Geneva YC.  Chasing them hard on handicap will be the J/88 TOUCH 2 PLAY RACING, skippered by Canadian Rob Butler from Collingwood, Ontario; Jordan Mindich’s J/105 SOLSTICE from Huntington, NY; and Angle Ayala’s J/80 SUNBUM II from Carolina, Puerto Rico.  In the CSA Non-Spinnaker division, Ben Jelic’s J/120 JAGUAR from St Maarten will be vying for class honors with six other teams.

The weather forecast for this year’s regatta remains a bit mixed.  While the sailors remain hopeful, it looks to be overcast to partly cloudy skies with occasional rain and light winds from the southeast from 5-12 kts. This is due to what NOAA describes as the following scenario:

Wednesday to Friday- an upper level ridge southeast of the area will continue to weaken as a trough pattern aloft builds from the west through the end of the week. At low levels, a prefrontal trough is forecast to move over the islands on Friday. As this trough pattern unfolds, moisture will continue to pool across the area and the intensity and coverage of showers and isolated thunderstorms will increase each day.  From Friday to end of racing on Sunday- the Long wave trough across the western Atlantic is still forecast to deepen and extend southwards into the west and central Caribbean through the end of the week. As a result, a moist south to southeasterly flow should persist through Friday and into the weekend. All model guidance supports a very moist and unstable pattern across the region for the next several days with good tropical moisture advection.  Bummer. In short, light winds and wet at times.  For more St Thomas International Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/105 DARK STAR Tops St. Croix Regatta

J/36 PALADIN Takes NonSpin with High School Team!
(Christiansted, St Croix, US Virgin Islands)- This past weekend, from November 13th to 15th, the St Croix YC in Christiansted, St Croix unfurled the regatta flags and signaled the start of the Caribbean winter racing season.

The 23rd edition of the regatta included Optimists, with a VISA (Virgin Island Sailing Association) sponsored Optimist clinic on Friday and racing on Saturday and Sunday. The Big Boat race on Friday was renamed “Captain Nicks Race” in honor of our founder- Nick Castruccio, who turned 90 this year!  The race for the rum was Saturday and Sunday’s overall winner.

The runaway winner in CSA Spinnaker Class for the Captain Nicks Race Regatta was the J/105 DARK STAR from San Juan, Puerto Rico, skippered by Jonathan Lipuscek from Club Nautico Puerto Rico; they posted the unbeatable scoreline of 1-1-1 for three pts.  Finishing third was Douglas DeReu’s J/24 CRUZAN CONFUSSION, a local boat from Christiansted sailing to a 4-2-3 for 9 pts.  And, in 4th place was another J/24, Dave Tomlison’s EL SHADDAI II with a crew from New Hampshire with a 3-4-4 record for 11 pts. 

The CSA Non-spinnaker Division saw Stanford Joines beautifully refinished J/36 PALADIN participating with a crew of kids from the local St Croix High School in Christiansted.  They perfectly mirrored the record of their friends on the J/105 DARK STAR, also posting three bullets to walk off with class honors.

For the weekend regatta, a similar scenario nearly played out for both divisions.  Again, Lipuscek’s J/105 DARK STAR crew rattled off six bullets in CSA Spinnaker Racing Class to finish with 6 pts, winning their weight in Cruzan Rum as the overall regatta winner!  The J/24s finished 3rd (DeReu’s CRUZAN CONFUSSION) and 6th (Tomlinson’s EL SHADDAI II).  Meanwhile, Stanford’s crew on the J/36 PALADIN repeated their solid performance and won CSA Non-spinnaker to win with four 1sts and two 2nds.

According to Stanford, “the youth crew on the J/24 CRUZAN CONFUSSION with Doug Dereau and skipper Ethan Hanley, were awesome.  The boat that won overall was the J/105 DARK STAR, Jonathan dry sails the boat out of Fajardo with a Teflon bottom, and had several veteran PR sailors on board who have been my friends, and competitors, for years.

PALADIN happened to round the leeward mark almost every race just behind 'Bad Monkey', and we always gained on her on the upwind leg until we turned off for the shorter cruising mark.  It makes me think that if PALADIN had such fancy new sails like ’Monkey’s’ (we were sailing with 9 year old Dacron), was dry sailed with a Teflon bottom, and had a nice new symmetrical spinnaker, PALADIN could win in the racing class!  Maybe just the sails would do it, with good wet/dry sandpaper! (As a teacher down here and a single dad, sails won't happen!)”   Learn more about Stanford’s St Croix junior sailing project here.  For more St Croix Regatta sailing information