November 11 – 15: St. Barth’s Gourmet Food & Wine Festival.
Set a course for St. Barth’s and bring your appetite with you! This seventh annual celebration of French gastronomy is a major draw for foodies arriving by air and sea. Michelin-starred chefs will partner with top local chefs to create a series of mouth-watering gastronomic creations served over four nights at tasting dinners held at seven local restaurants. There will also be a wine tasting event and friendly cooking and cocktail making competitions. “To enjoy a bucket-list quality tasting menu dinner, tender into the dock in Gustavia from your mooring and take a taxi or car service to one of the seven participating restaurants, which are Nikki Beach, Esprit de Saline, Tamarin, Manapany, Cheval Blanc, Carl Gustaf, and Le Sereno,” invites Stiles Bennet, president and chief managing officer of WIMCO Villas, a major supporter of the event and the island’s leading concierge service. “We suggest making reservations in advance as seating is limited for these extraordinary dinners. We welcome those staying on private yachts to contact us for reservations for these dinners, and for reserving car service.” To whet your appetite, consider that last year’s tasting dinner at Nikki Beach featured a pan-fried foie gras appetizer with porcini mushrooms, lentil caviar and Kaffir lime. The main course was roast duck accompanied by chestnuts, chanterelles, baby lettuce and the Caribbean flair of tamarind sauce. For dessert? Caramelized apples and buckwheat ice cream. saintbarthgourmetfestival.com, www.wimco.com
November 14: Nanny Cay Round Tortola Race.
With the British Virgin Islands’ borders set to open to international visitors on December 1 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this annual race hosted by the Royal BVI Yacht Club will be local in nature this year. Yet, the sheer level of sailing talent within the BVI will make this a fun event to hear about afterwards for those who can’t attend. A dozen boats raced last year in racing, cruising and multihull classes, with Barney Crook’s Corsair Sprint 760R, Airgasm earning the overall and multihull win with an elapsed time of 3 hours, 38 minutes and 20 seconds. Sam Talbot won the racing class on his J/111, Spike, and David Lake took Cruising aboard the Hunter 30-2, Wicked Winch. The course for this race starts off Nanny Cay, circumnavigates Tortola in an anti-clockwise direction leaving Beef Island, Scrub Island, Great Camanoe and Guana Island to port, before finishing at Nanny Cay. “We hope to also be able to run the BVI Dinghy Championships, which was postponed back in May, and the O’Neal and Mundy Commodore’s Race but cannot confirm any dates at this time or advise on the format that any remaining events might take,” says Tamsin Rand, Royal BVI Yacht Club manager. www.royalbviyc.org, nannycay.com
November 20 – 22: Jolly Harbour Yacht Club (JHYC) Annual Regatta.
This annual fall regatta is a go, albeit a bit reduced in size this year due to COVID-19 precautions. “The 20th will be the skipper’s briefing, then the 21st and 22nd for yacht racing. This may vary if the situation changes or government rules change,” says David Ross, JHYC commodore. Normally, there are 7 races split over the two days, classes for racing and cruising, and courses set in the waters outside of Jolly Harbour and in Hermitage Bay. Results and prize-giving, trophies for first, second and third places, happens the afternoon of the 22nd. www.jhycantigua.com
