Posts by Michelle Slade
Sharing BVI Culture with a Maritime Twist
Dr. Katherine Smith, historian and BVI Director of Culture, was instrumental in helping orchestrate a beautiful art exhibit for the opening night of the BVI Spring Regatta reflecting the maritime traditions of the BVI. Sophie Stanton, a local art promoter, helped organize a stunning parade of painted sails each showing the evolution of local maritime…
Read MorePassing the Passion: Desmond Family Carry On Tradition of Caribbean Sailing
After college Jon Desmond spent four years in his early 20s sailing the Caribbean on his dad Jack’s Swan 48 Affinity and that’s how he got to know all the islands around the BVI. “We raced Affinity around the Caribbean on the circuit – St Maarten, Antigua, St Thomas, BVI,…
Read MoreMaking BVI Whoopie on Whoop Whoop
Racing this week in the Sport Multihull division are six boats, all local and crewed by locals who know the BVI waters like nobody else. They have been sailing with and against each other for years. To say this fleet is highly competitive, well…you figure that out. Henry Leonnig, Gerard…
Read MoreGame on for Start of BVI Spring Regatta! High level competition anticipated across ten classes.
Competition is a relative term but there are a ton of high-level sailors racing BVI Spring Regatta which begins on Friday for a three-day series of exhilarating racing in the stunning waters around the BVI.
Read MoreA Caribbean Change of Pace for Enright
Charlie Enright finished up with his third consecutive challenge for The Ocean Race last July and has since been winding down that project while taking some time to find the next thing. The “next thing” this week just happens to be in the British Virgin Islands on the Gunboat 68 Convexity2 owned by Don Wilson, and he’s enjoying the change of pace.
Read MoreScrub Island Invitational: A Perfect Cocktail of Racing and Relaxing
Today’s winners in the Scrub Island Invitational included Terry McLaughlin sailing on Sul Vento, a Sunsail 41 in the Bareboat division. Racing for the first time at BVI Spring Regatta with Steve Denure, his J105 boat partner in Toronto, Canada, McLaughlin’s successfully finding his way around racing a charter boat.
Read MoreJim Proctor: 20+ Years Herding sailors to BVI Spring Regatta
Jim Proctor is sailing this week on a chartered Moorings 45. He’s become famous at BVI Spring Regatta over the years for herding sailors from everywhere around the US and bringing them to BVI Spring Regatta to race, sometimes these people are complete novices never having been on a boat. However, Proctor loves to charter as many boats as he has friends to fill them, and these friends love to come back to BVI Spring Regatta.
Read MoreAdrian van der Wal Finds His Groove on Rikki RP42 Programme
Adrian van der Wal Finds His Groove on the Rikki RP42 Programme The RP/42 Rikki, with its stunning red hull, is gracing B dock at Nanny Cay Marina this week, preparing to compete in the 51st BVI Spring Regatta. It’s not just the red hull that lends a certain energy…
Read MoreKaty Campbell: Dinghy Sailor Turned Keel Boat Goddess
Katy Campbell, from Vancouver, Canada, grew up racing dinghies competitively – Laser 2s back in the day – to the end of high school at which point she found herself somewhat stuck for the next racing “thing”. She was never a huge fan of big boat sailing until she dropped her biases and surprised herself by really enjoying it. Now she’s running her own boat – Panacea X – in the Caribbean with her (mostly) Canadian racing students crewing.
Read MoreOffshore Racing; It’s in the Family
Returning to the BVI to cruise for the first time in many years, and to race BVI Spring Regatta for the first time aboard Lee Overlay Partners II, his Swan 60, Adrian Lee is looking forward to re-familiarising himself with the area and spending time with his family.
Read More