New Format & Dates For BVI Regatta

The organizers of the annual BVI Sailing Regatta & Sailing Festival hosted by Nanny Cay have announced changes to both the format and the dates for 2013.  First, the dates have been changed to March 25-31, so mark your calendars.

Second, the Festival program will now include a race around Tortola for the Nanny Cay Cup, a race to Norman Island with beach time planned at Pirates Bar in The Bight, and then a fun day on and off the water at Nanny Cay, followed by the traditional Mt. Gay Rum Welcome Party for the Regatta. 

More than 125 yachts are expected to compete, and there are two classes just for bareboat charters.  The regatta website has a long list of charter companies providing bareboats suitable for racing, but get your reservations in early!

And, if you can beat the 4hr 15min ‘round Tortola record for monohulls, you’ll win a jeroboam of champagne, dinner for 15 at Peg Legs Restaurant, and pretty cool bragging rights.

The regatta website is www.bvispringregatta.org  

Bareboat Racing

"Bareboat" and "Racing" don't seem like terms that go together, but the Spring Regatta is a tradition in the British Virgin Islands, and the most recent edition, which ran March 30-April 1, had a strong turnout in the two Bareboat classes.

These classes are for bareboats from local charter companies, racing without spinnakers, and the only real concession to “performance” is that they all remove or furl the Bimini tops to minimize the windage.  Other than that, these are everyday charter boats.

Which isn’t to say that the racing is weak by any means.  Winning Bareboat 2 was Burt Keenan and Neil Harvey: Keenan is a long-time competitor and Southern Ocean Racing Circuit winner aboard his Acadia, Harvey an equally talented racer employed by Harken.  Pushing them hard was Bill Petersen, a sailmaker and former America’s Cup sailor. 

If you’re considering a bareboat race charter for next year, taking a look at what won this year isn’t a bad idea.  Clearly the highest placing yachts were the two Dufours from MarineMax Vacations, with Keenan’s 433 and Petersen’s 413 easily taking first and second in Bareboat 2.

In Bareboat 1, the first five places went to a Beneteau Oceanis 50 (Moorings), Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 44i (Sunsail), Beneteau Oceanis 50f (Moorings), Beneteau Oceanis 473 (BVI Yacht Charters) and another Beneteau Oceanis 473 (Rob Swain Sailing School).

Finishing behind the Dufours in Bareboat 2 were a Beneteau Oceanis 361 (Rob Swain School), a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 (Sunsail) and a Beneteau Oceanis 40 (Moorings). 

Now’s the time to start thinking about the BVI Spring Regatta for next year.  Contact the charter companies to see what packages they are offering.