Photo by Royal BVI YC/Clair Burke

By RBVIYC

The Royal BVI Youth Sailing Programme was delighted to accept a donation from the Charter Yacht Society (CYS) this week.

Sailors were joined by Janet Oliver, Executive Director of the CYS after their training session to receive a donation from the 2015 Charter Yacht Show.  Oliver explained to the sailors that $10 from the registration fee from each yacht and broker is donated to BVI Youth Sailing. With approximately 75 yachts in attendance and over 130 brokers in 2015, this donation is a valuable contribution to the programme.

“The CYS is delighted to make this donation to the BVI Youth Sailing Programme.  It is a natural fit for us to invest in young sailors and help nurture youth sailing in the BVI.” commented Oliver,

“Many of the crews working on the CYS boats began their sailing in similar programmes – for them it was an important part of growing up and now it is their livelihood.  I have no doubt that in the future we will see many of the young sailors training here with the Yacht Club making headlines or working in the industry.”

Thank you to the CYS from all at the Royal BVI Yacht Club and Youth Sailing Programme.

Photo by RBVIYC

By RBVIYC

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!

Photo courtesy of RBVYC

By the Royal BVI Yacht Club

Seventeen boats took to the water on Saturday to contest the 2016 Manhattan Yacht Club Trophy.

In 2002 the Manhattan Yacht Club (MYC) presented a trophy to the BVI and initiated an annual challenge between our home clubs, the Royal BVI Yacht Club (RBVIYC) and the West End Yacht Club (WEYC). Since then the two clubs have duked it out for the honour of raising the replica Statue of Liberty but for 2016 the MYC fielded a team of their own – could they do enough to claim their own prize?

Sailors awoke to light winds which built steadily to 10-12 knots by the time of the first start at 10 o’clock.  The format for the challenge was a pursuit race so each boat was given a start time adjusted to their CSA rating and the length of the proposed course.  In theory this means the fleet should all finish at roughly the same time…

The first boat away was the WEYC’s Wicked Wynch shortly followed by J24 Braivssimo and the 2 IC24s, Black Pearl andLatitude 18 all representing the Royal.

The first leg took the fleet upwind from the start line off Nanny Cay to round the Rhone anchor buoys off the entrance to Great Harbour.  Then it was downwind to pass both Pelican and Flannigan to starboard before returning to finish back at Nanny Cay.

It wasn’t long before the bigger boats began to reel in the early starters and battle ensued to the finish.  The 120ft schooner, Arabella, was a majestic sight as she powered around the course offering a fine photo opportunity, but she didn’t quite have the legs to catch the front runners.

In the end there were just 3 minutes separating the top four boats with the Royal’s Pipe Dream skippered by Chris Haycraft taking the line honours just ahead of team-mate Spike.

First in for West End was Kevin Wrigley’s Boomerang just 14 seconds behind Spike, with Henry Leonnig’s Firewatertaking fourth.

The overall winner was calculated from an average of the scores for each team so with boats in first, second, fifth and sixth it was a clear win for the Royal BVI Yacht Club.

At the prize giving ceremony hosted at the Royal BVI Yacht Club, MYC Commodore, Michael Fortenbaugh expressed thanks to both the local yacht clubs and there is little doubt that they will be back with a score to settle.

Thanks go to the race committee, all the competitors and sponsors, Gosling & Tico, for their support.

Final Results

1. Pipe Dream, Sirena 38 – Chris Haycraft (Royal)

2. Spike, J111 – Sam Talbot (Royal)

3. Boomerang, J33 – Kevin Wrigley (West)

4. Firewater, Melges 24 – Henry Leonnig (West)

5. Bravissimo, J24 – Aaron Gardner (Royal)

6. Latitude 18, IC24 – Thad Lettsome (Royal)

7. Girasoli, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 – Keith LiGreci (West)

8. Wildfire, Edel Cat 35 – John Hayes (West)

9. Black Pearl, IC24 – Tamsin Rand (Royal)

10. Pyjamas, C+C 38 – Bryson Hall (West)

11. Wicked Wynch, Hunter 30-2 – David Lake (West)

12. Snowbird, C&C 36 – John Randall (Royal)

13. Caribbeing, Moorings 50.5 (Manhattan)

14. Alabanza, Moorings 50.5 (Manhattan)

15. Arabella, 120ft schoner (Manhattan)

16. Boomerang, 4800 Cat (Manhattan)

17. Mercedes IV, 4800 Cat (Manhattan)