Photo by RBVIYC

By RBVIYC

J111 Spike, skippered by Sam Talbot won the 2016 Governor’s Cup on Saturday 23 April.

Twelve boats took to the race course to duke it out for the honour of adding their name to the Governor’s Cup trophy.   A gloomy morning greeted the competitors but despite the promise of a wet day, the rain held off the race track.  Starting off Nanny Cay, the course took competitors out to Pelican Island, up round Dead Chest Island, across to Hog Valley Green just off Road Harbour and then back to finish at Nanny Cay.

Racing was tight in all of the fleets with the Jib and Main class even offering up a photo finish after three and half hours of racing.  Line honours went toSpike with an elapsed time of just over 2 hours.

First to start were the Jib and Main class with Kara Patterson, helming Dances with Whales leading the fleet across the start line.  Class line honours and the overall prize went to Bill Hirst with his new Jeanneau 51, Adagio.  Pyjamas, Wicked Winch and Dances with Whales all finished within two minutes of each other with Wicked Winch claiming second on corrected time and Dances with Whales third.

Next to go were the Performance Cruisers and Multihull classes, starting at 11:20 followed by the Racing class 15 minutes later.   John Cook’s Tatonkawas first home, with an elapsed time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by Girasoli and Steve Roose with Diva.  The class win went to Keith LiGreci’s Girasoli with Tatonka second and Diva third.

The only multihull in the action was John Hayes’ Wildfire who finished eighth overall.

Spike, skippered by Sam Talbot charged around the course to claimed line honours and the overall win. Chris Haycraft’s Pipe Dream took second in class and third overall, just 26 seconds behind Girasoli. Third in racing was Aaron Gardner with his IC24 Bravissimo, also finishing in fourth overall.  Melges 24 Firewater rounded out the racing fleet in fourth.

Governor John Duncan presented the prizes at Nanny Cay, congratulating all the competitors for a great day on the water.

Thank you to our sponsors, Champagne Bollinger, TICO and Nanny Cay; to the race committee and all of the competitors.

The next event on the Royal BVI Yacht Club racing calendar is the BVI Dinghy Championships on 21 and 22 May.

Results Overall
Position – Boat – Skipper – Corrected Time
1. Spike – Sam Talbot – 2:00:42
2. Girasoli – Keith Li Greci – 2:05:00
3. Pipe Dream – Chris Haycraft – 2:05:26
4. Bravissimo – Aaron Gardner – 2:06:42
5. Tatonka – John Cook – 2:11:12
6. Diva – Steve Roose – 2:23:19
7. Firewater – Henry Leonig – 2:32:44
8. Wildfire – John Hayes – 2:36:14
9. Adagio – Bill Hirst – 2:40:37
10. Wicked Winch – David Lake Jr – 2:40:47
11. Dances with Whales – Todd Patterson – 2:43:22
12. Pyjamas – Mark Dobson – 2:47:29

Photo by RBVIYC

By RBVIYC

The Royal BVI Yacht Club youth sailing programme was treated to a special guest this week when world renowned sailor Ian Walker dropped by to join Tuesday’s training session.

The winning skipper of the 2014/2015 Volvo Ocean Race and double Olympic silver medalist visited the sailing centre at Nanny Cay and went out on the water with the team.

Walker skippered Abu Dhabi to victory in the 2014/2015 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, his third circumnavigation with the race having skippered Abu Dhabi in 2011/2012 and Green Dragon in the 2008/2009 races.  At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, he won the silver medal in the 470 class before switching to the Star and picking up another silver in 2000.  In 2004 he coached Shirley Robertson’s team to gold at the Athens Olympics in the Yngling.

The fleets of Optimists and Lasers headed out after a quick briefing onshore just like a normal Tuesday session but with an extra pair of coaching eyes analysing their performance.

Walker observed the first races from the coach boat, jumped into a Laser with Dawson van Zoost to run through some finer tuning points and then, for the final race of the session, he took on the race team in an Optimist – a far cry from the 300 tonne boat he was skippering just last week!

Giving the team a run for their money in the pre-start build up and on the start line he suffered slightly from lack of boat speed giving Team BVI the win.

Back ashore, at the debrief, he chatted with the race team about starting strategies, downwind techniques and rules, emphasising the importance of sail set up, practice and learning to be fast through the water. The questions poured forth from the young sailors, keen to hear more on topics ranging from watch systems on the Volvo Ocean Race and prize money to the theory of apparent wind.

A huge thank you from the Royal BVI Yacht Club to Ian for taking the time out to join the sailors and to Nanny Cay Hotel and Marina for your support.  Ian, you are welcome back anytime!