On the final day of racing in the 47th edition of the BVI Spring Regatta, the story was really about the fantastic job Nanny Cay and the regatta organizers have done to make this year’s BVI Spring Regatta event happen post Hurricane Irma. Seventy boats registered to race and the outpour of support from the international sailing community was heartfelt.
Over and above winning his class, 87-year old Robin Tattersall from Tortola took home two prestigious awards: The International Yacht Club Challenge and the Best BVI Boat award. Tattersall and crew, sailing in CSA Bareboat 3, aboard Gatos del Sol/Makin’ Memories, a Sunsail 41, won all of their six races.
“We had perfect starts for the first three starts,” said Tattersall. He added, “Our last three starts weren’t great, and we weren’t winning until the last legs which we did by cutting some corners. We were perhaps more comfortable going near the rocks, which the other guys didn’t do.”
In CSA Racing 1, the Belgian team on the Swan 45 Samantaga finished first in class, two bullets consolidating their position over Blitz, the King 40 owned and skippered by Peter Corr. Koen de Smedt, Samantaga tactician, said, “We had a good start in the first race although it was hard as you must concentrate more in light air. We focused on being refined in our movements and sail trim. We started better than our opponents and were able to dominate and push them to the side where they didn’t want to go. It’s been magic, we’re very happy!”
On the final day, Peter Stanton, skipper of the Melges 24 Boogaloo, finally beat his nemesis, Touch2Play, the Reflex 38 skippered by Canadian Rob Butler, by taking two bullets in CSA Racing 2. A very tired Stanton said, “Today was a lot of concentration. The light conditions were better for us. It feels great to win and knock a monkey off our back beating Touch2Play.”
With four bullets out of five races in the Offshore Multihull class, Flow, a Gunboat 60 owned and skippered by Steve Cucchiaro, finished tops in their division. Cucchiaro was full of praise for the organizers. “The highlight of the week though is just being back at Nanny Cay who promised they’d have a miraculous recovery from Irma, and they delivered. We had a fantastic time, kudos to Race Committee and organizers for a fun event, we look forward to next year,” he said.
In CSA Bareboat 1, the Lazy Sheets team from St Petersburg, FL, took first overall, racing on a Moorings 51. “It’s the first time we’ve done this Regatta,” skipper Antony Dalton said. “Last fall we held a fundraiser at the St Petersburg Yacht Club to raise money for the people here and additionally a group of us got together to race this event because we wanted to help.”
The Dutch team Aquaholics, racing on a Moorings 45 and participating in their fourth Spring Regatta, won for their third time, this year in CSA Racing 3. Skipper Raymond ‘Rocket Man’ Perridon said his team did well because they sailed the shortest distance. “We did a good job of staying close to the shore while avoiding rocks. Our goal was to beat the Russians and we did!”
Jeremi Jablonski, skippering his Hanse 43 Avanti, took two bullets on the final day to secure a win in CSA Jib and Main. “We had an epic regatta against Cachondo when we were here three years ago, trading bullets the entire regatta and we were lucky to win against them then,” Jablonski said. “The same has happened this week – they are still friends but they now need to recover!”
Chris Haycraft, a Tortola local, regular Spring Regatta participant and co-skipper of Godspeed, a Swan 51, said, “Two months ago we weren’t sure how this event was going to work out this year but here we are. It’s so good to see so many people and friends returning to the BVI.”
Along with Tattersall, Haycraft and crew also took bullets for every race sailed, finishing first in the Performance Cruising class.
Eddie Brockbank on Lucky 7, a Corsair Spring 750, sealed the deal in the Multihull class with five bullets over six races. Brockbank attributes his success this week to his son Chris, 24, who recently did an Olympic campaign in the 49’er with Alec Anderson, also from Tortola. “Chris was very switched on, calling all the shifts, and with three almost identical boats, the competition was great.”
For full results, visit: www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4419
