BVI Spring Regatta 2000 - Simply The Best

The 109-boat 29th annual BVI Spring Regatta saw Antigua's Lost Horizon II triumph as "Champion Yacht" after six races in perfect 15-20 knot conditions throughout the April 6th-9th event.

J-24 Heineken PR was second overall and Richard Rush's Swan 48 Andiamo was third. Lost Horizon II's skipper Jamie Dobbs, who has been attending the regatta for about ten years, put his win down to "almost boringly consistently good" sailing. "We didn't have the best boat speed in our class and probably not in the fleet either, but other people made mistakes and fell by the wayside," he said. At the end of the last day's racing, fading winds seemingly played into the hands of the big boats as Neva, Crash Test Dummies and Andiamo took first second and third in fleet respectively. However, Lost Horizon II's 12th place in fleet was not bad enough to undo its performance to date. Although his division win was secure, the fleet win was "very surprising and very pleasant", said Dobbs. In 1996 and 1997, Dobbs and crew were awarded the Traveller's Trophy by the Caribbean Sailing Association for Best Overall Caribbean Yacht.

Bob Phillips, Regatta Chairman, was extremely pleased with the event's success. "We had three days of excellent racing conditions and six races. We give competitors what they want - more racing. This is the third year in a row that we've managed to get two races a day under our belts and we aim to continue," he said. Mirroring his sentiments, skipper of Mumm 30 Twisted Lizard and winner of the Sportboat division thanked the race committee for a regatta that "really rocks". "Just over 40% of our fleet this year were visiting yachtsmen with chartered boats ranging from Merriweather Racing's Henderson 30s to Moorings J-120s and Stardust Sun Odysseys. Plus we had a very strong Race I made up entirely of non-Caribbean racing yachts. I think word is getting out that this is the place to be for the best racing in the Caribbean," added Mr. Phillips. Rushin Rowlette winner of the "Best Placed BVI Yacht" award was in contention to win fleet and division, but a combination of bad luck and tactical error lessened its chances. The third race started in a 18 knot squall and Rushin Rowlette was carrying its 100% genoa, while the other two Olsens were carrying 135s or 140s. Shortly after the start, the wind dropped and skipper Kevin Rowlette found himself dead in the water and had to change up, losing valuable time. Kevin's response: "I carried a knife to a gunfight." This tactical error gave Rushin Rowlette an eighth in division and 21st in fleet. Race five, where Rushin Rowlette placed 8th and 24th in division and fleet respectively, was a simple case of "getting the shifts wrong". In the other divisions, Nelson Marek 45 Who's Yo Daddy from the USA won Race I and BVI boat Pipe Dream won Racer Cruiser 1. Mumm 30 Twisted Lizard took the Sportboat division and Marriott Frenchman's Reef won the Melges 24 division and was the fourth placer in fleet. Racer Cruiser II went to the USVI's Tempest, while the Inter 20 Claims Paid sailed by John Holmberg claimed top honours in the Beachcat division. Visiting sailor Ouaf Litjens skippered Jyu Ing to victory in the J-120 division. J-24 Keep It Simple, class winner at this year's Grenada Sailing Festival and skippered by Jerry Ficks, dominated the Cruising Division with three wins and Ninth Charm did the same in Multihull Division. Hotel California 2 won Jib & Main, Moorings yacht Candis Lyn won Bareboat I and Transition State took Bareboat II.

In an exclusive interview with The Island Sun newspaper, Alastair Abrehart, Press Officer for the BVI Spring Regatta noted that the first BVI Spring Regatta was held in 1972 and pre-dates the establishment of the BVI Yacht Club by about a year. The 25-boat regatta comprised of the local fleet of Squibs, visiting yachtsmen and yachts from bareboat pioneers The Moorings and CSY that had set up shop in 1969 with fleets of Pearson 35s and Bristol 34s respectively.

The new millennium brought with it a new format for the Spring Regatta - two additional days of racing for Big Boat competitors and one day of "round the island" racing. "The event basically has been about the same size for the last three years, but I think the quality of the race is improving. We want to grow the regatta, we don't want to become the biggest, but we want to become the best and the only way to become the best is to have good racing and plenty of it," he stated. He added that the way they'd like to see the regatta grow is to attract more racing boats. The bareboat fleet is still growing, from 27 boats last year to 38 this year. "What has happened is that the two most popular events for Europeans and foreigners to visit is St Maarten and Antigua and both countries heavily marketed in the past and have direct flight destinations. What's happening now is that people have "been there, done that" and are looking for other regattas to go to and we are the next best," said Abrehart, who has been involved in the organization of the event for the past three years, in the areas of publicity and marketing. This year ATP Travel, a big Dutch tour operator, chartered 12 boats for their guests to come to the BVI for the regatta and plans to bring out 20 boats next year. The BVI Spring Regatta is basically in competition with the Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten, which is held in March and attracts about 250 boats and Antigua Sailing Week, which is held at the end of April and also attracts some 250 boats.

Following the BVI spring Regatta is the Heineken International Cup in Puerto Rico. This is usually held at the end of March. The BVI Spring Regatta is organized by the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club and the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association. It formed the second leg of the C.O.R.T Series.

BVI Spring Regatta 2000 was sponsored by The Moorings, Heinekin, Mount Gay Rum, Road Town Wholesale (1975) Ltd., Visa, Shell, Bitter End Yacht Club, Barclays Bank, Cable Wireless, Tortola Yacht Services, Island Marine Supply, The BVI Tourist Board, Prospect Reef Resort and Broadsword Communications. Final results are in the sports section of this website and photos can also be viewed on the BVI Spring Regatta's official website: http://www.bvispringregatta.org