Foster's Ready for Sailing Season with a New Old Boat
St. Thomas’ John Foster, a stalwart sailor on the Caribbean race scene – and perennially winning one at that – won’t be at the helm of Magnificent 7 this year. Instead, fellow St. Thomas sailor Paul Davis will be skippering the well-known J/27, while Foster and his son, Johnny, will campaign a newly rebuilt Kirby 25 they have named, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
“My schedule is always changing. For example, I’ve been racing Stars in the states and may sail in Europe this coming year. Therefore, my son and I decided to collaborate, race together with our usual Mag 7 crew and see our friends in the Caribbean. We’ll do St. Croix, Culebra, Rolex and the BVI Spring Regatta, perhaps St. Maarten and Antigua too,” says Foster.
In spite of no longer sailing a J-boat, Foster says, “I’m pleased to see that Chris Thompson has a J/27 and I’ve heard of another one that will be coming down. Combined with Paul Davis’, the class should expand and we’re happy to see that and be a part of popularizing the class in the Caribbean.”
The Kirby 25 the Fosters will be sailing this season is no newcomer to the race scene. “In the late 70s, the J/24 was the new class on the scene and Bruce Kirby designed the 25 to compete with it. About four or five club members, including myself, bought J/24s, while Per Dohm and two other people bought Kirby 25s. So, from 1979 to the mid 80s, we all raced together including at the big regattas such as Antigua, Rolex and BVI. Then the classes died. Per’s Kirby sunk during a hurricane and he hauled it out and it sat in his yard in Red Hook. He always told me that he wanted to get it racing again.”
Dohm passed away last summer. The Foster’s bought the boat, hauled it out of the weeds and have rebuilt it. The project, says Foster, “has revived some of the great memories of racing in the 70s and 80s and of Per.”
He adds, “We don’t know what the boat’s potential is yet. It’s a slightly smaller rig, a scaled down version of a 27. So, we’re an unknown. But the crew is definitely up for it and we’re excited about the racing season ahead.”
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