Tortola, British Virgin Islands – December 1, 2016 – As the days get colder and shorter, there’s not a better time than right now to sign up for the perfect winter tonic: six days of racing in the exquisite warm waters of the British Virgin Islands at the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival. It’s the one Caribbean regatta that has something for everyone, whether you race, cruise, practice or just come to party.
Racing on the second day of the BVI Spring Regatta in perfect conditions as CSA Racing 2 round Sandy Cay
© Todd VanSickle/BVI Spring Regatta
The weeklong BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival takes racers throughout the beautiful British Virgin Islands. Starting at Nanny Cay, the Sailing Festival is two days of warm up racing: The Nanny Cay Round Tortola Race, and the Scrub Island Invitational. Next up, the BVI Spring Regatta kicks off three days of some of the best racing in the Caribbean. Participate in all five races of the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival, be it part or all of the Festival, or the three-day Regatta: either way, chances are you’ll be returning for more.
Boats in 18 classes will race on three different areas for the BVI Spring Regatta. On the Norman Island Course, Bare Boats, Multihulls, Cruisers and Classics will sail one to two races per day, winding through scenic isles. On the SOL course, windward / leeward racing will challenge the Racing and Racer / Cruiser divisions around rocks and islands – a sailor’s workout with up to five races a day. The event’s professional race management will ensure the best courses for One Design competitors.
Tim Pitts, VX One fleet chairman, who raced for the first time in the 2016 BVI Spring Regatta, took home great memories of an awesome week’s racing, “The event was absolutely perfect, we enjoyed everything from the weather and conditions, the courses were perfect, the race committee listened to all our input – it’s probably the best-managed racing we’ve had. And, the hospitality was just great!”
“The event was absolutely perfect.” Said Time Pitts, VX One fleet chairman © Todd VanSickle
Even Regatta old timers like Caribbean local Nils Erickson (ISV) still find the racing challenging. Erickson (ISV), skipper of the Formula 40 Soma, has raced Spring Regatta some 9-10 times and this year took six bullets in six races, enjoying the 2016 event as much as any other he’s done.
“It was a fantastic regatta, we had a little bit of everything breeze-wise so we couldn’t have asked for a better time,” Erickson said. “Over the last ten+ years we’ve had a fantastic rivalry with Triple Jack (a Kelsal 47 from Tortola) but we had done a bunch of upgrades to our boat over the last 18 months and we suddenly found a whole new gear which took us to a new level!”
“It was a fantastic regatta, we had a little bit of everything breeze-wise so we couldn’t have asked for a better time,” Erickson said skipper of Soma.
A 58-square mile playground of some 50+ islands, the turquoise water and picture-perfect white sand beaches of the BVI offer plenty of action on and off-shore for racers and non-racers, and The BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival is the perfect opportunity to take it all in. Enter Today
