Bareboat 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. She sails with a group of women from the West Vancouver Yacht Club who agree that they generally just love Caribbean racing.

“For sailing and to experience all the different islands, you can’t beat it, right? To say it’s a real sailor’s paradise is obviously an understatement!” Wharton smiles. “We put together a group to do some Caribbean regattas when we got sick of the racing in the cold up here. We started with the Heineken, we did Antigua, St. Barts and then ended up doing the BVI. The first time we did the BVISR we were on a 60’ charter boat with the company On Deck and this year we have chartered our own boat – a Moorings 46 – which will be more interesting for sure. It’s fun to have your own control and decision making in a race. It’s a bit more enriching.”

The gals take on the roles on board that they would typically do when they race at home, notes Wharton, and with whatever they are most comfortable. There is a core group of about four women who make up the team and in most years they have at least one newbie on board.

“It’s always fun to have a newbie because you get to relive the joy,” Wharton smiles. “Or you see the look of terror around their faces – it was quite windy last year which was a bit much!”

The BVI are at the top of the list when the gals get together each year to decide where to go. Wharton loves racing around the islands, something she says she’d probably never get to do cruising.

“We raced outside of Salt and Peter islands which we would probably never do cruising when you’re just trying to get from A to B. Sailing on the outside where there are swells and the beauty of the other side of those islands gives you a new perspective. It can be quite rough and rugged out there. Once you leave Sir Francis Drake Channel, it becomes a different kind of ocean; I was on the helm going around Dead Man’s Chest which is narrow at points and that was thrilling; you’re going really fast and having to control the boat through this narrow little passage. It just gives you a lot of enhanced sailing experience and ups your skill level.”

For this group of Canadians however, BVISR is mostly about sailing in consistent breeze and the warmth compared to home – tee shirt and shorts sailing. Wharton also likes the fact that the racing is well organized, competitive and with great racecourses, and just the camaraderie of being together as a team.

“When we get back to Nanny Cay after racing we’re meeting other sailors and now we’re meeting up with people we’ve seen before on other regattas too, which is fun,” she says.

To top it off, Wharton notes the charter process itself through Sunsail and Moorings is seamless.

“They do everything for you and they’re super supportive if you break something, they’re right there but you have to plan these things a year in advance; I’d say that’s the only challenge especially as it is more difficult today to get an monohull as there are not as many around.”

Wharton’s group plan to arrive a few days early to go cruising and get to know their charter boat. “I can’t believe it’s just a few weeks away!” Wharton smiles.