As the 53rd BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival approaches, we’ll be taking a look at the runners and riders. First up, the CSA Multihull division. Eleven multihulls are currently signed up to do battle. Sophia, Little Wing, Falcon, Layla, Spike, Avel Vaez, and Triple Jack will be crossing swords multiple times before doing battle on the waters of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
Sophia, a Nigel Irens-designed 63-foot catamaran; Falcon, a 14-meter DNF F4 foiling catamaran; Gunboat 72 Layla; Caribbean trimaran veteran Triple Jack; and Spike, a Rapido 40 trimaran, will be kicking off the 2026 Caribbean race season at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge. Layla and Falcon are fresh off a close contest in September’s Multihull Cup in Mallorca where Falcon narrowly beat Layla to third place by a point.
Falcon, Sophia, and Little Wing, a Gunboat 68, then head off to the Caribbean 600. After that, Little Wing, Sophia, Spike, and Avel Vaez, an ORC 57 catamaran, will be in St Maarten at the Heineken Regatta before heading to the BVI. A full Caribbean race season for some!
Little Wing
Launched in Spring 2024 and owned by Richard McKinney, Gunboat 68 Little Wing is stepping up its racing in 2026.
“We’re excited about the prospect of good racing in the BVI, ideally against those boats and others joining the fleet,” said boat captain Moritz. “We’ve also heard that another Gunboat 68 may enter the Spring Regatta – if that happens, it would mark the first time two 68s have raced head-to-head.”
Little Wing competed in 2024’s Nelson’s Pursuit Race in Antigua, where it competed against other performance cruising cats Layla, a Gunboat 72, and HH66 Lee Overlay (ex Nemo).
“The crew is a real mix, with most coming from the U.S. East Coast. We’ve also got a few professionals on board to help keep the pace up, making it a 50/50 split between friends and pros.”
Sophia
Marcos Sirota will be representing Sint Maarten Yacht Club and sailing his new purchase Sophia, the ORMA 60-inspired ex-Paradox 3, ex-Shockwave, and multihull winner of the 2025 Fastnet. Marcos traded his 37-foot Corsair which he raced in the BVI in 2019 for this Nigel Irens-designed 63-foot carbon trimaran.
Falcon
Falcon returns to the BVI Spring Regatta for the first time since 2018. This unique foiling catamaran was a collaboration between Shannon Falcone, two-time America’s Cup winner, professional sailor Tommy Loughborough, and the engineers and design team at DNA, including the renowned Dutch industrial designer Rudo Enserink.
However, Falcon is now owned by Matteo Uliassi who moved up from a Sun Fast 3300 to Falcon in 2024. Since his purchase he has been putting in some serious racing time. In May 2025, he achieved line honours in the RAN 630 on its Mediterranean debut; in August 2025 he won in the multihull category in Yacht Club de Monaco’s 20th Palermo-Montecarlo; and was fifth multihull in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October 2025.
This F4 was specially designed for the Red Bull documentary “Flying on water”. Jimmy Spithill, director of America’s Cup Team Oracle USA, and Shannon sailed Falcon from New York to Bermuda.
Layla
The Gunboat 72 Layla is back after a great BVI Spring Regatta last year, with the owner, family and pro sailors on board, including British multihull legend Brian Thompson who has just raced cross the Atlantic on the MOD70 Argo in under 5 days in the RORC Transatlantic Race! As the second Gunboat 72 to be built, and only launched in the summer of 2024, the flybridge cruising catamaran is a proven performer in the previous running of both the St Maarten Multihull Challenge and the BVI Spring Regatta, with victory in her division, as well as winning the 2025 IMA Caribbean Multihull Challenge.
Avel Vaez
Finally, Avel Vaez, the ORC 57 has been chartered from LV Yachting by Beverly Yacht Club member Pike Severance. Pike Severance took line honors in the 2025 Marion Bermuda Race. Skippering the Ker 50 Redwood/Oakcliff, he led his crew to victory, finishing in 4 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes, and 42 seconds.
