Posts by Michelle Slade
Fast & Fantastic: BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival Lines Up Killer Fleet of Diverse Competition
It won’t be hard to miss the quick Nigel Irens-designed 63-foot trimaran Sophia charging on this year’s BVI Spring Regatta racecourse, helmed by new owner Marcus Sirota. The ORMA 60-inspired former Paradox 3 took corrected-time honours in the MOCRA Multihull Class in the 2025 edition of the classic Rolex Fastnet Race and is continuing its successful…
Read MoreBareboat Racing in the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival – Familiar faces return for the best week ever, part I
Kelly Wharton and her sailing friends know just where to go when the weather in Vancouver, BC, Canada gets just too cold to bear and warm racing beckons; they head for the Caribbean. Wharton’s chartered various boats in the BVI on some ten different occasions over the years, both for cruising and more recently racing.…
Read MoreSwitching Gears: Jumping off a J109 onto a Chartered Moorings 45 Club
Brooke Mastrorio, from Newport, RI, has spent time on boats literally since she was in the womb; when her mom was pregnant with Brooke she sailed in a Sunfish until the boom wouldn’t clear her belly anymore. Her family had a Bristol 27 when she was a kid and while Brooke never raced when she…
Read MoreBernie Evan-Wong: Racing must always be FUN!
Don’t be mistaken by Bernie Evan-Wong’s soft spoken and unassuming manner; this sailboat racer from Antigua has had many racing adventures in his lifetime on a lively range of boats, more so than most. Growing up sailing as a young kid in British Guyana (now Guyana) as the youngest of six, Evan-Wong learned to sail…
Read MoreBVI’s Best Ever Spring Regatta
Wrapping up day 3 of the 52nd BVI Spring Regatta, following several days of relentless high winds, competitors will importantly remember the final day of racing: a picture-perfect Caribbean racing day with temperatures in the mid 80s and warm trades blowing 15-18 knots, and a great party in the Regatta Village to end a fantastic week of racing.
Read MoreLife is Good, a Dutch Perspective
In my experience, the Dutch never fail to be able to show a sense of humour even when the chips are down, so it was no surprise that after their galley caught fire during racing on day 1 of the BVI Spring Regatta, the team on Glad 2 B Here,…
Read MoreGreat Racing & Sighs of Relief as Conditions Mellow on Day 2, BVI Spring Regatta
Day 2 of racing in the BVI Spring Regatta saw few lead changes with teams at the top of their class holding firm. Perfect Caribbean conditions prevailed in the high teens under blue skies, which was a relief to competitors as they were able to switch from survival mode of the past few days to a more controlled mode.
Read MoreEnright Takes on the VX One
Getting back to his childhood dinghy roots has been a seamless transition for Charlie Enright who has switched gears these past few weeks from big and offshore, to small and inshore. On day 2 of racing in the VX One fleet, sailing with David Askew and Patrick Farrell on Wizard, after seven races his team…
Read MoreNothing Like a Swedish Beauty
9,000 miles and some four oceans later, gracing the docks at Nanny Cay Resort & Marina this week is Ohana, a new Arcona 435 Mk II, owned and skippered by Ken Wisdom (Wilton, CT). A carbon machine through and through with beautiful lines, she was built in Sweden at the Arcona factory in Uddevalla, Sweden.
Read MoreMagnificent Mount Gay Rum Race Day
Mother Nature threw out another wild day on the water on Mount Gay Rum Race Day, day 1 of racing in the BVI Spring Regatta. Gusts to 30 knots and the occasional squall blasting through the three courses running eleven divisions made for lively racing.
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