St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Eighty-three 7- to 15-year-olds will set sail in the 22nd International Optimist Regatta (IOR), June 21 to June 23. Nearly all of these junior sailors sharpened their skills earlier this week in the pre-regatta Sea Star Clinic, while 11 teams raced in today’s Sea Star Team Racing Championships. A week…
The camaraderie that spanned decades for some and days for others proved that in spite of a new name, the St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) has remained the ‘Crown Jewel’ of Caribbean yacht racing. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the third and final day of sailing when no one easily walked away with…
CRIMSON FOR CANFIELD – USVI native Taylor Canfield bolstered his dominance in the world of match racing, by winning the season opener in April: the coveted Crimson Blazer – icon of the prestigious Congressional Cup [CC] which is hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club, Calif. Canfield joins legendary sailors like Dennis Conner, Ted Turner, Dean…
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The International Optimist Regatta (IOR) – one of the largest and longest held junior sailing events in the Caribbean – celebrates its 22nd year. The IOR will take place June 20 to 22, prefaced by the Sea Star Clinic June 16 to 18 and Sea Star Team Race on June…
A desire to grow up and achieve great things on the world stage and actually doing it isn’t an impossible dream. This was the story told by three members of America’s Cup winning Oracle Team USA who spoke at the St. Thomas Yacht Club about their beginnings in the sport and their roles in the biggest…
Register now! The International Optimist Regatta (IOR) celebrates its 22nd edition, marking over two decades of fostering junior sailing in the Caribbean. Dates for the regatta and kick-off Sea Star Clinic and Sea Star Team Race are June 16th to 22nd, 2014. Recognized as one of the first and largest regattas in the Caribbean to…
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Top-quality competition, razor-close finishes and camaraderie that spanned decades for some and days for others proved that in spite of a new name, the St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) has remained the ‘Crown Jewel’ of Caribbean yacht racing. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the third and final day…
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Courses changed but the winds remained the blustery-same as the 69-boat fleet set sail on the second day of racing at the St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR). Shorter round-the-buoy and round-the-island races off the island’s east end combined with 20-plus knots of breeze enabled the race committee to fire off…
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Boom or bust was the big story for the 69-boat fleet racing on the first day of the 41st St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR). Thirty-plus knot gusts tested the mettle of equipment and crews as the fleet sailed along the island’s south shore into scenic Charlotte Amalie harbor and back…
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Seventy yachts from the Caribbean, U.S., Europe and Australia will take to the seas on Friday for the 41st St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR). Hosted out of the St. Thomas Yacht Club May 28 to 30, the big buzz this year is the sheer impressiveness of the fleet. “We couldn’t…
One-design classes appear to be on the increase at Caribbean regattas. Just look at the growing entries of J24s, IC24s and Melges 24s in the last decade, plus the availably of one-design fleets for charter like the Jeanneau 20s in St Maarten and SR 21s in Trinidad. More recently, there’s been a swell of visiting…
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Save the Date! The 2014 International Optimist Regatta (IOR), Sea Star Clinic and Sea Star Team Race will take place June 16 to 22, 2014. Three clinic days, team racing and three race days for beginner and advanced sailors alike makes this one of the most instructive and competitive junior…
Simpson Bay Lagoon Causeway Bridge in operation Sint Maarten – The new causeway bridge spanning the Simpson Bay Lagoon opened to vehicular and maritime traffic in late December. The 2508ft (760m) causeway supports two lanes of traffic and is accessed from roundabouts close to the end of the airport runway on its west side and…
Taylor Canfield has been awarded the coveted title of ‘Virgin Islands Sailor of the Year’ for 2013 by the Virgin Islands Sailing Association (VISA). “Due to the recent success of several Virgin Islands’ sailors, the Virgin Islands Sailing Association felt it was important to recognize these accomplishments,” explains VISA president, Phillip Shannon. “Taylor’s unprecedented World…
He has never sailed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, nor in an IC-24 or with this combination of crew. Yet, Chicago’s Don Wilson proved his match racing prowess by winning the 6th Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR). Wilson defeated the USA’s Dave Perry 2-1 in a first to two win Finals. Wilson and his…
Sailors, local sailing enthusiasts, school children and even the territory’s Governor came out to watch the second day of racing in the 6th Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR). The USVI’s Peter Holmberg and USA’s Dave Perry finished the day with 16 and 13 wins, respectively, out of 18 races in the double round robin,…
No team remained undefeated at the end of the first day of racing in the 6th Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR). In fact, nearly half the fleet or four teams – Finland’s Antti Luhta, the USA’s Stephanie Roble, the BVI’s Colin Rathbun and Greece’s Stratis Andreadis – are tied with four wins apiece. Even…
Charlotte Amalie’s harbor is one of the most picturesque ports in the Caribbean. For sailors, this beauty comes with a beast. That is, extremely shifty winds blowing off the surrounding mountains, and knowing how to call the shifts correctly, can spell the difference between winning and losing a race. These were the conditions tested during…
Well over 100 brokers will be walking the docks at charter yacht shows in the Caribbean this season. One celebrating the start of her fourth decade in the business is Verna Ruan, owner of the St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands-based Crewed Charters. Since the inception of her brokerage in 1982, Ruan has seen many things…
There is officially only one town on St. Thomas: Charlotte Amalie. The rest of the island is divided up into ‘estates’ dating back to the sugar era. Yet, thanks to the proximity of the British Virgin Islands for sailing and the North Drop for sports fishing, Estate Red Hook, or ‘Red Hook’ for short, has…
