2024
Allegra claims inauguralIMA Caribbean Maxi Multihull Series by a point
The Nigel Irens-designed 84ft catamaran Allegra of Switzerland’s Adrian Keller won the inaugural IMA Caribbean Maxi Multihull Series by a single point over Todd Slyngstad’s HH66 catamaran Nemo.
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BVI Spring Regatta Finishes on a Light, But High, Note
Competitors racing in the 51st edition of the BVI Spring Regatta experienced a week of mixed conditions which put the best to the test; light for Spring Regatta and typical windy trades for the Sailing Festival, so those who competed in the full week can attest to just how exhilarating the breeze can be in the beautiful BVI.
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Taking the Family Home Around the Racecourse!
Ronald Prins (NED) is the owner of Stardust, a 2023 Windelo54 catamaran, which he and his family – his wife Elsine and kids Julian (10) and Robin (8) – picked up newly built from the Windelo shipyard in the south of France in the summer of 2023. This week they’ve been in the BVI shifting…
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BVI Spring Regatta: 51 Years Later the Kids are Still Racing
Doug Stewart and Susan Harney hold the distinction of being the offspring of Albie Stewart and Peter Haycraft, co-organizers of the first BVI Spring Regatta some 51 years ago. This week the two childhood friends are racing in Jib and Main class on Libertas, a Beneteau 40 owned by Walter Keenan and currently in first…
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Dad and Daughter Rock the Melges 24
Frits Bus and his crew, including his daughter Berit, are racing the Melges 24 Team Island Water World, sitting in second place in class after day one of racing BVI Spring Regatta. Bus has been competing at the regatta since 1982 and for many years he would sail the 24-foot boat the 100 miles, give…
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Pay to Play Perfect Option for Sailors Looking for Sailing Fun
Germaine Williams was supposed to go sailing one day when he was about 12 years old but it was too windy, so he didn’t go on that particular day. It was some ten years later when he was in his early 20s that a challenge to achieve something he’d always wanted to do came along.…
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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…
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Passing 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, and the boat went back…
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Shotgunn: A Cape 31 Love Affair
Michael Wilson and his wife Helen, who reside on the Isle of Man, spent last year sailing Shotgunn in Southampton and the Isle of Wight where the Cape 31 circuit was sailed. They kept the boat in Southampton, learned a lot, brought good people onto the team, and were fortunate enough to win the UK season.
As the pair worked on which regattas to do this year, they decided on the Med circuit and the Caribbean.
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Making 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 Kraakman, and Hugh Pritchard Jones…
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