Tortola, British Virgin Islands – February 21, 2022 – Portland Ship Yard, one of the premier boatyards on the US east coast, is aboard this year for the first time as a sponsor of the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival (BVISR).
“With our new location, facilities and talented team members we are looking to extend services beyond our local New England customer base,” Brent Sullivan, VP Yachting at Portland Ship said. “Teaming up with BVI Spring Regatta gives us the opportunity to support sailing and let captains and owners know about what we have built in Portland, Maine.”
In the past five years, Portland Yacht Services has relocated and invested in very large infrastructure capable of supporting much larger vessels, noted Sullivan. Portland S
hip Yard which recently worked on the Gunboat FLOW, a regular participant at BVISR, is a sure stop in Maine for boats who winter in the Caribbean before heading north in the summer.
“Out long-time sponsor Nanny Cay Marina and Resort, also has a large boat yard. By joining with Portland Ship Yard the regatta sponsors now offer participants excellent pre and post racing boat and ship yards, North and South., said Judy Petz, Regatta Director
“Without sponsors and especially our long-standing sponsors like Cape Air, The Moorings, and Scrub Island Resort & Marina who will again host the Scrub Island Invitational on Wednesday, BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival simply would not happen,” she added. “We are delighted that these companies are supporting us as we rebuild after postponements over the past few years.”
Entries are growing and with just six weeks to go, some 60 boats and crews have signed up to spend a week in the BVI doing what we all love to do the most – sail in warm turquoise waters with tropical cocktails nearby. It’s long been a recipe for success.
Great memories of sailing in a small boat regatta with his son on Christmas Day in the BVI five years ago prompted Carl Hanssen’s first Spring Regatta event in 2019, and he’s signed up again for this year. “My first trip to the BVI was in 2016 for my 50th birthday. We cruised for a week on a 38-footer – the cruising is fantastic with the line-of-sight navigation and there is so much to do!”
As a racing team Hanssen said he and his crew are always looking for new challenges so in 2019, he grabbed three of his team from home and they chartered a Moorings 45 for Spring Regatta.
“What a blast!” Hanssen recalls. “While we didn’t place well, we enjoyed every minute of the experience and after the regatta the crew went home, and my family came down for another week of cruising. This year we are flipping the script. We arrive March 19 for a week of cruising on a Moorings 46, on the 26th, the girls will head home before our remaining crew arrive.”
Hanssen’s crew plan a few days of fun at Jost Van Dyke and Norman Island before settling in at Nanny Cay for the regatta.
“Our crew for the regatta has probably 100 years combined of racing experience,” he said. “We don’t always win but we always have fun. We hope to get a podium finish this year but regardless, we are expecting an epic experience! And don’t worry, we will be back—maybe not every year but soon!”
La Novia at Heineken Regatta 2020 Photo Credit: Saltycolors.com
Georges Coutu will be racing on LA NOVIA, a Leopard 50 Catamaran. It will be his team’s first-time racing in the BVI and they plan to sail the boat from St Maarten to Tortola for the Regatta, then spend at least two weeks cruising in the BVI.
“La Novia got second place in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta in 2020, and first place in the Caribbean Multihull Challenge in 2020, and we’re looking forward to our first time in the BVI,” Coutu commented. Something to know about the La Novia team…they come from windsurf racing and one of the crew – Gary Eversole – was inducted into the Windsurfing Hall of Fame last year!
For updates on the 49th edition of the BVI Spring Regatta, visit https://bvispringregatta.org/. We can’t wait to see you!
