May 2009 - Caribbean Compass

Tiebreakers Add
to Excitement
by Carol Bareuther
Spinnaker fun as IC-24s round the mark. It was Lime time, with skipper Colin
Rathbun ultimately earning a celebratory champagne shower
There was a definite air of excitement in the regatta village as well as on the racecourse
at the BVI Spring Regatta this year. Much of it had to do with everything
going “right” — Mother Nature cooperated with winds speeds that were “just right”,
the race committee got off a number of fast-paced races, classes were filled with
competitive boats that ultimately made tiebreakers the norm, and best of all, the
rum flowed sweetly all weekend long.
A near-record number of 122 yachts got down to serious competition April 3rd
through 5th when the traditional BVI Spring Regatta got underway. Nearly half this
number sailed in the BVI Sailing Festival, a low-key warm-up to the main event that
featured a race up to the Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda and back with competitive
dinghy racing on the layday.
“We were really pleased with the number of entrants this year in spite of the
global economic problems,” says regatta director, Bob Phillips.
From the first day through the last, it was Vincitore, Switzerland’s Jim Mitchell’s
Reichel-Pugh 52, which led the big boat Spinnaker A Class. The prizegiving was
especially sweet. “We have three generations on the boat and today is my dad’s 77th
birthday,” says Mitchell, who added that eight years ago he was diagnosed with cancer
and today is cancer-free and happy to be out racing.
Three Harkoms, the BVI’s Jim Hudleston’s Modified Oceanis 440, easily fronted the
Spinnaker B Class in spite of superb sailing — in all but one race — by Antigua’s
James Dobbs aboard his J/122, Lost Horizon. “We screwed up the first day,” says
St. Maarten crewmember, Alfred Koolen. “On the short two-mile race, we started late,
hit the weather mark and finished a full minute behind everyone else.”
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BVI SPRING REGATTA 2009
DEAN BARNES (2)
It was a battle of former J/24 World Champs in Spinnaker Racing C. Bad Girl, a
J/100, was sailed really ‘good’ by native Crucian and 2004 J/24 World Champ, Jens
Hookanson, who took over the helm for owner, Rob Armstrong, who was away on
business. Hookanson kept the BVI’s Dave West and his ace crew — which included
2005 J/24 World Champ, Anthony Kotoun — aboard West’s Melges 32, Jurakan, at
bay, letting them win only once in the 11-race series. About racing with Kotoun,
Hookanson says, “We sail against each other a lot in J/24s in Rhode Island.”
Zero points separated first and second place in Spinnaker Racing D, while a half
point away was the third place finisher. “It was incredibly close, right down to the
last race,” says St. Thomas’ Chris Thompson, who sailed his J/27, J-Walker, to the
win, with the BVI’s Olson 30, Rushin Rowlette, second and St. Thomas’ Kirby 25, The
Good, The Bad & The Ugly, third.
Puerto Rico’s Julio Reguero won the Racer-Cruiser Class aboard his J/105,
Umakua, and he didn’t even start the first race. That’s what Olympic training will do
for you. Reguero, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001, pursued a Para-
Olympic sailing campaign in 2008 in the 2.4 dinghy. His sights are now set on training
for 2012.
It took a tiebreaker to decide the winner in Jib & Main. “It was an amazing display
of very different makes of boats,” says the BVI’s Robin Tattersall, who ultimately
won the class on his classic Modified 30 Square Meter, Diva. “The top six
boats in the class were often seconds apart. What it means is good sailing and that
the ratings work.”
The crew of Vincitore, top boat in Spinnaker A Class, also had much to celebrate
A three-way tie spelled drama in Bareboat A, but it was Justice, a Beneteau
Oceanis 47, with California’s Justin Barton and the BVI’s “secret weapon” Presley
King, a Bequia native and long-time employee of the Moorings, sharing the helm
that triumphed with two firsts. “It was close, but we had better speed the last day,”
says King.
Finally, it was the BVI’s Colin Rathbun who won the homegrown IC-24 Class on
his sponsored Lime. “Spot on crew work, everybody was dialed in,” says Rathbun.
“We passed boats at every mark rounding, so we’re feeling good.” Winning his class
at the BVI Spring Regatta, in the Cape Air Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (CORT)
Series and being named Best BVI Boat led an exuberant crew to chase Rathbun
down during the awards ceremony and douse him with champagne. It was a fitting
end to a great regatta.
For full results visit http://bvisr.result.vg.
MAY 2009 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 15