PAGE 14 CARIBBEAN COMPASS FEBRUARY 2011
Instant Hit: Les Voiles de St. Barth It took only one run — its debut in 2010 — for Les Voiles de St. Barth to become a fixture for American sailors who compete in the multi-event Caribbean racing circuit. For the 2011 edition of the Les Voiles de St. Barth, scheduled for April 4th through 9th, two US
TIM WRIGHT
CHRISTOPHE JOUANY
BVI Spring Regatta Celebrates 40 Years Held annually on the first weekend of April, the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival will be celebrating its 40th anniversary from March 28th through April 3rd. Now among the top three Caribbean sailing events, the week encompasses two events back-to-back attracting an average of 125 yachts per year with 80 percent of the competitors coming from overseas. New for 2011 are the Gill BVI International Match Racing Championship, taking place March 30th and 31st off the waters of Nanny Cay, and a classics class for the BVI Spring Regatta, April 1st through 3rd. The Gill BVI International Match Racing Championship will be raced in IC24s. The Inter Caribbean 24, or IC24, is a class of modified J/24s that is endemic to the Caribbean. IC24s use old J/24 hulls and rigs, but with a significant twist. “We needed a platform to get active sailors into something that was economical,” says Chris Rosenberg, the co-inventor of the IC24 class. “We came up with the idea that if we put a Melges 24-style cockpit on a J/24, we’d have the perfect boat.” The result is a strict one design boat that is ergonomic, economic, and fun to sail. Because of this, the IC24 class consistently draws some of the top sailors in the entire Caribbean. The event has been given Grade 3 status by ISAF, allowing international challengers to earn points towards their ISAF World Match Race Rankings. This being the 40th Anniversary of the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, featured will be plenty of other racing for sailors of all levels. The Sailing Festival, the traditional warm-up for the Spring Regatta, kicks off on March 28th with registration and Welcome Party at Nanny Cay Marina. The first leg is the Bitter End Cup, which races up the Sir Francis Drake Channel to the Bitter End Yacht Club, followed by a lay day full of fun activities, and then the Nanny Cay Cup race, which brings the fleet back down the channel to Nanny Cay. Sailors then switch gears, beginning Thursday night with the BVI Spring Regatta Mount Gay Rum Welcome Party, before getting down to the main event, the 40th Anniversary BVI Spring
Les Voiles de St. Barth. His 90-foot Rambler won last year, and he’s back in 2011 with Rambler 100, formerly known as Speedboat and subsequently Virgin Atlantic, when Alex Jackson and Richard Branson, respectively, aspired to break the transatlantic record. According to project manager Mick Harvey, Rambler 100, like Vesper/Moneypenny, is undergoing modifications, “to bring it up to speed as an IRC racer as well as an all-around record breaker.” As early as December 2010 there were already 33 boats entered in five classes: Super-Maxi Yacht, Racing, Racing/Cruising, Classic, and Racing Multihull. Among some other notables are Mike Slade’s 100-foot Farr design Leopard 3, the 105-foot classic Herreshoff schooner Atrevida, the 76-foot W-Class boat White Wings, and Patrick Demarchellier’s Swan 45 Puffy. For more information, visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com.
Regatta, which takes place from April 1st through 3rd. For more information visit www.bvispringregatta.org.
—Continued from previous page The Rolex portfolio includes famous offshore and grand-prix events such as the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Rolex Fastnet Race, Giraglia Rolex Cup, Rolex Middle Sea Race, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship. For more information, visit www.rolexcupregatta.com.
George David’s Rambler shows its winning ways at the 2010 Les Voiles de St. Barth. George and his crew will return in 2011 with Rambler 100, a Juan K design meant for breaking distance records teams — Vesper/Team Moneypenny and Rambler 100 — will headline. “We participated in the inaugural Les Voiles de St. Barth and knew immediately we would return for 2011; we will have many of the same crew we had last time,” said Jim Swartz, a Utah-based venture capitalist who has been circling the globe for years seeking new adventures aboard his various yachts named Moneypenny. His latest acquisition, a TP52 (formerly named Quantum Racing, the 2010 TP52 world champion), replaces his 2010 entry, the Swan 601 Moneypenny, and will have aboard it some of the world’s finest sailors, including Gavin Brady, Ben Beer, Jamie Gale, Brett Jones, Ken Keefe, Matt Waikowicz, and Swartz himself, who, as always, will take the helm. Another owner/driver, George David of Connecticut, former United Technologies Chairman and CEO, will also be campaigning on a new platform at the 2011
Changes Planned for Antigua Sailing Week 2011 Antigua Sailing Week was born in 1967, and it has been going strong ever since. What does Antigua Sailing Week 2011, running from April 24th through 29th, have to offer that is new? The regatta team, having canvassed participants from the past few years, discovered that most sailors want to be in the same port every night, or at a minimum in a marina. The main reasons stated were ease of provisioning, embarking and disembarking the yachts, and security. Of course the obvious choice from which to base the event therefore is English Harbour. —Continued on next page