Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - May/June 2022

— Continued from previous page
The wind picked up, laid down, picked up again, and a surprising squall ripped
through the windward-leeward course around mid-morning, creating havoc before
settling into a more consistent breeze in the afternoon. While courses for the Round
Tortola fleet were modified according to class, it was still a long day with the last
boats finishing around 6:30pm.
Just two in the Offshore Multihull fleet completed the Round Tortola race. As Tony
Teale, boat captain for Flow, a US-flagged Gunboat 60, commented. “We sailed all
the way around the BVI, and it was a very long day. It was very windy and
time in St. Maarten just recently. “It was absolutely beautiful today, fantastic sailing
through all those islands with spinnakers up,” Dowling commented. “It was a bit
lighter today — maybe 15 — but the past few days we had around 22. It was great
fun. The format is great; all the boats were friendly. It was very close racing: at every
mark there was a change of place and it’s been like that all week.”
Six bullets and a second place put El Ocaso in first overall in CSA 3. “In the last
race it was touch and go all the way around. For the last hour, probably, we could
have talked to the three boats around us,” Tony Mack said. “Some would fall into a
hole, then we did, then people got past us, we got past them, it was really exciting.”
In Performance Cruising, EH01, a Beneteau First 47.7, scored
five bullets over three days of racing. “Our crew worked really well
together, and we got the perfect conditions for our boat,”
helmswoman Caty Rota said. “We have a 15-metre boat with
powerful sails, and we can drive the boat fast. The crew listened
to instructions and managed to keep the boat high and fast. We
were a bit overpowered in the first few races but over the past
three days we got the trim right and that’s worked for us. Our
class had very tight racing, especially today, among the top three.”
Marty J, a Moorings 48, made a clean sweep in Bareboat 1 with
five bullets. Seas the Daze, a Moorings 45 helmed by Florian
Lienau sailing with friends from Hamburg and Kiel, Germany,
took first in Bareboat 2. Four bullets and a third firmly placed
93-year-old BV Islander Robin Tattersall and his crew on Moon
Rainbow, a Sunsail 41, first overall in Bareboat 3.
As main trimmer Anthony Patterson on Marty J summed up the
whole event: “It’s been crazy good!”
Thanks to Judy Petz for information in this report.
Visit https://bvispringregatta.org for more information
and full results.
ALL IMAGES: BROADSWORD COMMUNICATIONS
exhausting! But it was an exciting day. It took us about five hours. We finished
about 30 minutes after Fujin, but we were the only two in our fleet who made it
around the course. At least two dropped out with issues; it was pretty rough.”
On board Fujin, the experience was similar, as tactician Jonathan McKee
commented, “The course distance was 60 but the mileage we sailed was closer
to 80. It was good, it was an exciting day. We were just a couple of hundred
yards from Mach Schnell for the first half of the race before they broke their
mainsheet. They were ahead of us and sailing very well. It was really rough once
we got around the top of Virgin Gorda and it was a tight reach, which is a
difficult angle for these boats — both boats were fighting hard to keep control.
We ripped one of our sails, so we weren’t without damage either.”
For CSA 2 and CSA 3, mayhem ensued on the SOL course where the
windward-leeward courses were run, when a vicious squall hit the fleet midmorning
resulting in plenty of torn sails that sent boats back to the dock
early. Three races were sailed although just a few boats managed to hang in
for the duration.
Sitting pretty in first in CSA 2, the Cape-31 Arabella, a brand-new boat with barely
eight races under its belt, had another great day of Caribbean racing. Anthony
Haines, boat manager and the upwind/downwind trimmer, noted that the big mix of
boats in the class made it exciting.
Britain’s Tony Mack, helming the J/122 El Ocaso, took three bullets and “just did
not make one mistake,” according to Sam Talbot, who helmed Spike, the J/111,
today in CSA 3.
Regatta Day 3: “Absolutely beautiful”
It was victory for Victor Wild of Fox, as he took five bullets over three days of racing
for a clean sweep of CSA 1.
Greg Slyngstad, owner/driver of Fujin, finished first in Offshore Multihull. “The
first two days were really heavy air and that’s when this boat really does well,”
Slyngstad said. “Today was lighter so we took two third places — the boat’s got a
relatively short rig and it just likes lots of breeze. We’ve had a blast. It’s a great
regatta and for the multihulls it’s unique in that we get to dock together and socialize
— most places we’re spread out, anchored out. It’s great being together.”
In CSA 2 the Cape 31 Arabella took first overall. Niall Dowling, who owns the boat
with his wife Olivia, said he’s enjoying the new boat, which was raced for the first
Top left: Fox took five
bullets over three days
of racing for a clean sweep
of CSA 1.
Above: To reef or not
to reef? That was
the question!
Right: The busy Regatta
Village at Nanny Cay
at night.
“This is pent-up demand.”
MAY/JUNE 2022 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 17
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