All good for BVI Spring Regatta

The 50th Anniversary of the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival attracted 64 teams on March 28-April 2, 2023.

In CSA 1 Racing, first place went to Dr. Laura Schlessinger (USA) sailing on the Lombard 46 Pata Negra. “It took us a few days to get used to the boat and as a driver it’s different with the two wheels and rudders and running back and forth,” Schlessinger laughed. “But we’re a good team. We sailed in this beautiful territory and whether we won or not we would have gone home thinking that we had a great experience. I was just happy that we came here and now I’m even happier!”

Long-time BVI Spring Regatta competitor Peter Corr from St Thomas, USVI, took first in CSA Racing 2 on his Summit 40 Blitz. “It feels fantastic to have won, we had a great regatta, the competition was unbelievable, it was seconds and minutes,” Corr enthused. “The event is so well organized and put together, it’s really great. It’s important to know that you can’t have these events without so many people giving their time and effort to make it happen.”

Jaime Torres on his Melges 32 Smile and Wave won CSA Racing 3. “It felt great to win in class in the 50th Anniversary edition, we sure worked hard for a long time for this. We feel lucky to get the win and we’re super stoked.”

An exciting battle in Sport Multihull division between father and son Chris and Nathan Haycraft resulted in Haycraft senior taking the win over his son by just two points. Nathan sailed on Ting-A-Ling, a Corsair F27.

“It was kind of surreal in the beginning to be doing so well against my dad. It was more of an honour to be honest because I have been racing with him for so long and to finally be on the opposing side was really cool, we really enjoyed racing against him. Our racing is what made us do so well because he is the much faster boat. We really loved it, there was great energy on the boat, and we had a blast, the wind was perfect, and conditions were beautiful.”

Coco De Mer, the Gunboat 66, took first in Performance Multihull. Tactician Tim Thurbon said, “Everyone has been so friendly, most days we’ve had some gear failure which is the nature of racing in this kind of wind, and we’ve had lots of help from the other teams.”

In the Cruising Multihull class, Georges Coutu on his Leopard 50 La Novia won every race sailed. “We wanted to win the three big regattas: Caribbean Multihull Challenge, the Heineken Regatta, and the BVI Spring Regatta – winning this one completes the dream that I had of winning all three. Competition was very strong, and I liked that every day we had to fight to make it.”

Every year the Regatta presents the Guy Eldridge Spirit of Enthusiasm Award to an individual or individuals who shine in the spirit of the sport and who has stepped out and gone beyond. This year the award was presented to Richard Wooldridge and Steve Davis, for their persistence, hard work, and commitment to journey rebuilding the Kelsall 47 Triple Jack. She finally was able to race this week for the first time after being wrecked following Hurricane Irma.

For Judy Petz, Regatta Director, the event is always all about the people, noting that at long last it feels that the event is almost back to a normal sense of the way things usually are.

“You can work really hard all year long and if you don’t get a good breeze, it can change the whole event – this year the winds were spectacular.”

Event information – Race details – Results

Source: BVISR