Foster's Magnificent 7 Wins 12th Annual St. Croix Intl Regatta
Practice makes perfect. This was the secret to success for St. Thomas’ John Foster, who aboard his J/27, Magnificent 7, won the 12th annual St. Croix International Regatta, February 19-21, and his crew’s weight in Cruzan Rum.
“We checked every screw, all the rigging in detail before the season,” said Foster, “but I think the biggest factor is that we practiced two weekends in a row. We clicked together as a team and it paid off.”
34 boats from the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and US mainland took part in this event which kicks off the northern Caribbean’s spring sailing season. Wind and wave conditions built so much that racing was cancelled the last day due to safety concerns. Yet racers were happy as the six classes of competitors completed from six to eight races total.
Foster, who has competed in this event every year, sailed smartly to triumph in the highly competitive Spinnaker Racing Class.
“The first day of racing we saw about 15 knots of breeze. We knew the Crucian boats, Sorceress and Broken Drum were tough competition and that we needed to stay with them. The unknown factor was the Melges (Mistress Quickly) due to his speed and not being able to keep track of him on the course. We managed to hold him upwind and he couldn’t get enough time on us downwind. That was good for us as it allowed us to consolidate our lead with three firsts and a second,” Foster explained. “The winds built the second day to 18 to 20 knots and the five foot seas gave us some trouble. Boats with longer waterlines, like Sorceress, got ahead of us. In that wind, the Melges could plane downwind. So, we won one race and placed third in the others. But, it was enough to stretch our lead to 11 points.”
Foster admitted he was glad the race committee called off sailing the last day. “We would have seen ripped sails and broken boats. The race committee was smart. They packed it in while they were ahead and it left us ahead as well.”
Lazy Dog, a Beneteau First 40.7 and first-time entrant from Puerto Rico, won the Racer-Cruiser Class. “We had heard that this was a fun regatta and wanted to use it as a tune up for St. Maarten. It turned out to be very competitive racing, especially between Abracadabra and us. The first day we only led by one point,” said skipper Sergio Sagramoso.
“The second day,” Sagaramoso continued, “we were over early in the first race and lost our lead. We had to psyche back up and we did. We came back with three bullets.”
Balaju 2, a C&C 37, skippered by Puerto Rico’s Jose Sanchez, took first in the Cruising Class. “We had a broken boom last year. But this year, with new crew, we scored four firsts. Next year we want to go into spinnaker racing.”
This year was the first for an IC-24 Class, with five boats competing from St. Thomas and Tortola. In close competition, St. Thomas’ Chris Curreri aboard his Brand-New Secondhand beat fellow islander, John Holmberg, at the helm of Stinger.
Curreri explained: “We were tied for points going into the last race. That was the deciding factor. So, we got off the line together and went up the weather leg in a loose cover and tacking duel, staying with John all the way. We rounded the top mark ahead of him and began a downwind battle. In order to protect our air, we sailed off course and this let the rest of the fleet catch up. Luckily, we got one boat between us over the finish line, so we won by two points.”
Puerto Rico’s Anton Guernica, on his Hobie 16, Lolo Too, defended his win in the Beach Cat Class. “The other boats were so much faster than us that we just had to focus on getting the best boat speed we could,” Guernica said.
Finally, in the Large Multihull Class, it was St. Croix’s Llewellyn Westerman aboard his locally built Mongoose 37, Charis, which handily won over fellow islander Joe San Martin’s Tee Gull 23, Piglet. “He pulled a horizon job on us a couple of times,” said San Martin, about the lead Charis had over his Piglet.
RESULTS
SPINNAKER RACING
1. Magnificent 7, J/27, John Foster, St. Thomas, USVI (15)
2. Mistress Quickly, Melges 24, Guy Eldridge, Tortola, BVI (26)
3. El Shaddai II, J/24, Jeff Fangman, St. Croix, USVI (26)
4. Broken Drum, J/29, Jack Bishop, St. Croix, USVI (30)
5. Sorceress, Tartan 10, Morgan Dale, St. Croix, USVI (36)
6. Cruzan Confusion, J/24, George Lucink, New York, USA (41)
7. Sun Bum II, J/105, Angel Ayala, Puerto Rico (52)
8. Cayennita, Soverel 27, Tony Sanpere, St. Croix, USVI (64)
RACER-CRUISER
1. Lazy Dog, Beneteau First 40.7, Sergio Sagramoso, Puerto Rico (13)
2. Abracadabra, J/80, Carlos Camacho, Puerto Rico (16)
3. Pipe Dream, Sirena 38, Peter Haycraft, Tortola, BVI (27)
4. Umakua, J/105, Julio Reguero, Puerto Rico (35)
5. Shamrock V, J/120, Tom Mullen, New Hampshire, USA (41)
6. Tempest, Beneteau 38, John Haracivet, St. Thomas, USVI (45)
7. Arawa, Columbia 50, Doug DeCluitt, St. Croix, USVI (51)
8. Winds Glory, 30’ Sloop, Paul Davis, St. Thomas, USVI (63)
CRUISING
1. Balaju 2, C&C 37, Jose Sanchez, Puerto Rico (8)
2. Rumor, Frers 45, Norman Martin, New Hampshire, USA (13)
3. Hotel California, Santa Cruz 70, Steve Schmidt, Delaware, USA (16)
4. Windflower, Alberg 35, Stan Joines, St. Croix, USVI (23)
5. Aurora, Alberg 35, Alan Mallory, St. Croix, USVI (30)
IC-24
1. Brand-New Secondhand, Chris Curreri, St. Thomas, USVI (20)
2. Stinger, John Holmberg, St. Thomas, USVI (22)
3. Conch-Q-uerer, Andrew Waters, Tortola, BVI (34)
4. Green Boat, Carlos Aguilar, St. Thomas, USVI (42)
5. Intac, Mark Plaxton, Tortola, BVI (47)
BEACH CATS
1. Lolo Too, Hobie 16, Anton Guernica, Puerto Rico (10)
2. Rush, Prindle 19, Bruce Merced, St. Thomas, USVI (20)
3. Caribbean Auto Mart, Tornado, Tom Ainger, St. Croix, USVI (29)
4. Dumpster Cat, Nacra 5.8, Doug DeReu, St. Croix, USVI (39)
5. Love Never Fails, Inter 17, Bruce Andryc, St. Croix, USVI (46)
6. Maxi, Nacra 5.8, Peter Voytershark, St. Croix, USVI (50)
LARGE MULTIHULLS
1. Charis, Mongoose 37, Llewellyn Westerman, St. Croix, USVI (11)
2. Piglet, Tee Gull 23, Joe San Martin, St. Croix, USVI (13)
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