Mark Plaxton and his team continued its winning ways after taking top honours in the Virgin Queen Pizza Pursuit Race last Saturday.

Mr. Plaxton’s boat, INTAC, was unavailable, so he raced in a borrowed IC24. However, this did not stop him from winning, but only by a narrow margin of six seconds over  Vladimir “Kuli” Kulinichenko, also in an IC24. Third place in the Racing Class went to Sorceress skippered by Heath Copland.

In the Cruising class, Jim Hoelter’s Nymph was first, while David Lake’s Wicked Winch took second place.

It was the Royal BVI Yacht Club’s first pursuit race this year. Organisers shortened the course due to expected light winds. But during the first half of the race there was 14 to 16 knots of wind. The Racing Class sailed from Nanny Cay to Little Thatch and back. The winds in West End were highly unpredictable, with most yachts experiencing accidental tacks and gybes as the wind circulated in Sopers Hole.

The Cruising Class, also with a downwind start, raced from Nanny Cay to Dead Chest and back.

The number of participants this year was triple the entries in last year’s event.

At the end of the race, there was free pizza for all the participants.

The next event is the two-race series from Tortola to the Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda on May 7-8.

For more information visit www.royalbviyc.org or e-mail: sailing@royalbviyc.org.

RESULTS:

Racing Class
1. Grey Ghost – Mark Plaxton
2. RIP – Vladimir “Kuli” Kulinichenko
3. Sorceress – Heath Copland
4. Latitude 18 – Chris Haycraft
5. LIME – Kevin Wrigley
6. Luxury Girl – Phil Prevost DNF    
7. Shamwari – Becky Paul-Rowlette

Cruising Class
1. Nymph – Jim Hoelter
2. Wicked Winch – David Lake