By Royal BVI Yacht Club
The 47th Peg Legs Round Tortola Race organised by the Royal BVI Yacht Club (RBVIYC) and sponsored by Nanny Cay, will take place on Saturday 19 November. Four classes – racing, performance cruising, cruising and multihull – will compete in the 37-mile race. The course change for the 2016 race will give competitors more tactical choices to make.
The course takes the fleet anti-clockwise around Tortola as usual. The first warning for the start will be at 9am in the Sir Francis Drake Channel off Nanny Cay. The fleet then sails east up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and takes Beef Island to port, where the course twist has been added. The course change gives crews the tactical decision of sailing between Beef Island and Tortola and Great Camanoe and Guana islands, or heading further out, sailing outside Great Camanoe. Then, as in previous races, the fleet heads to West End where, after a quick wiggle through Soper’s Hole, it will be a beat back to the finish line off Nanny Cay.
“We thought this would spice the race up a bit,” said Eddie Brockbank, Captain of Sailing at the RBVIYC. “It becomes a more tactical race, rather than a drag race for the bigger boats. It will be interesting to see what the crews choose to do and how it affects the results of the race.”
Only boats rounding Great Camanoe and Guana Island to port will be eligible for the Nanny Cay Challenge.
Registration for this year’s event will be held at the Beach Bar at Nanny Cay from 6pm to 8pm on Friday. The prize giving will take place at Nanny Cay’s Beach Bar at 5pm on Saturday.
Prizes include a haul-out and launch, chandlery items, free dockage, free hotel rooms and the Round Tortola trophy for the overall winner.
Entry Fees: RBVIYC members $30; non-members $40.
In 2015, Boomorang, skippered by Doug Stewart, claimed overall victory in the 46th edition of the race after a long and tricky day on the water.
Although fair winds were forecast and a feisty squall blasted down the channel shortly before the start, the wind died just as the three classes entered their start sequence.
Line honours went to multihull Triple Jack who posted a finish time of 5 hours and 34 minutes to also win the multihull class.
Keith LiGreci and the crew of Girasoli came home in first place in the Cruising Class, the finish time of the race having been extended to accommodate the light conditions.
Some of the slower boats chose to retire since they would not have been able to complete the circumnavigation in daylight hours, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless – both on the water and at the after-race party hosted by Peg Legs.
Nanny Cay Challenge
Nanny Cay launched the Nanny Cay Challenge for the Round Tortola record in 2010. Yachts visiting the British Virgin Islands are invited to make an attempt to beat the latest records.
It’s an all-comer, any-day event, starting and finishing off Nanny Cay. Competitors must attempt the record anti-clockwise and round Beef, Scrub Island, Great Camanoe and Guana Island to port.
TP52 SPOOKIE broke the Monohull Nanny Cay Challenge record in the Round Tortola Race at this year’s BVI Spring Regatta. An elapsed time of 3:08:43, took a whopping 21 minutes off the previous record of 03:29:44, set in March 2013 by Peter Corr’s Aiyana, an Alia 82.
Trimaran Triple Jack holds the outright and multihull Round Tortola Record of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 40 seconds.
As with most sailing events, the reward is in the taking part and bragging rights but record breakers will be able to celebrate their feat with a free dinner at Peg Legs for up to 15 crew members and a jeroboam of champagne compliments of Nanny Cay. Record breakers also get their name on the perpetual trophy which is on display year-round in Peg Legs Restaurant.
Challengers must pay an entry fee of $250 which is donated to a BVI charity of the challenger’s choice and includes two night’s dockage (before and after attempt) at Nanny Cay. The charities to benefit so far:
– BVI Humane Society, $250, Triple Jack (April 2015)
– RBVIYC Youth Sailing Programme: $250, SPOOKIE (March 2016); $250, Aiyana (March 2013)
– VISAR: Aiyana, $250 (March 2013)
– KATS: $250, INTAC, (November 2012)
– BVI Humane Society: $250, Triple Jack (October 2012); $250, Soma (April 2010)
Record Holders
Monohull
TP 52, SPOOKIE, Steve & Heidi Benjamin – 29 March 2016 – 3 hours, 08 mins, 43 secs
Multihull
Triple Jack, Richard Wooldridge/Steve Davis – 30 April 2015 – 2 hrs, 33 mins, 40 secs
