The BVI Spring Regatta will be the second, and final, leg of the 2025 VX One Caribbean Cup as one of the hottest one-design sport boat classes returns to race in the Caribbean. The VX One Caribbean Cup allows racers to compete in two of the Caribbean’s top regattas that are held back-to-back – St Thomas International Regatta (March 28-30, 2025) and the BVI Spring Regatta (April 4-6, 2025).
Nearly 12 boats from the VX One North American class association have already committed to participating, and the class expects at least 18 total or more to race.
“We are thrilled to invite the VX One Class racers back to the BVI Spring Regatta where the tight fun racing is perfect for this high performance, competitive group of sailors. We look forward to welcoming old and new friends back to the BVI to enjoy fierce and fun racing by day and camaraderie in the village every evening.”
Chris Haycraft, chairman of the BVISR, hosted at Nanny Cay Resort & Marina
The inaugural VX One Caribbean Cup took place in 2016. Eleven USVI, U.S., Canadian, and Australian teams competed. The USVI’s Tim Pitts’s Cruzan Rhode topped the class at STIR, and the USA’s Jeff Eiber’s This Side Down won both the BVISR and the Cup overall.
“The highlight of the week in 2016 for me was racing over to Willie T’s rum barge. Meeting the Australian VX’ers too. I didn’t know it then, but it was a bucket list regatta!” says Eibers.
As in 2016, each regatta in the 2025 VX One Caribbean Cup will be scored separately, and winners will be awarded. A perpetual trophy will be presented at the BVISR awards ceremony to the overall champion of both events.
“Regret is a scary thing, that’s why you should do this event if you can,” says Rodrigo ‘Rod’ Favela, from Dallas, TX, who races his VX One Chignon, and is one of the almost dozen teams registered to race in the 2025 VX One Caribbean Cup. “I’ve helped coach at NorthU Clinics in St. Thomas, sailed the one-design IC24s at STIR, and the Virgin Islands are one of the best places in the world to sail.”
Over 400 VX Ones have been built since 2012. National class associations are now in Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. In the North American fleet alone, multiple former Olympians, America’s Cup participants, and pro sailors choose to race the VX One for fun with family and friends, as the fleet is 100% unpaid. The VX One is a 19-foot-long, strict one-design keelboat sailed by two to three crew with an optimum weight range of 380 to 550 pounds.
“The St. Thomas Yacht Club is happy to warmly welcome the VX One class to race in our fun-filled St. Thomas International Regatta, where there’s hot racing by day and a cool island vibe in the evening. We invite all VX One sailors to come race and play and see why we say, ‘We love it here!’
Pat Bailey, co-director with Greer Scholes of STIR 2025, hosted at the St. Thomas Yacht Club
