The 52nd BVI Spring Regatta wrapped up on Sunday at Nanny Cay with an awards ceremony and party on the beach.
Many of the winning crews went into the final day leading their class.
Sailors faced high winds on the first two days of the BVISR, but organisers described conditions as “picture perfect” with 15- to 18-knot winds in the Sir Francis Drake Channel on the final day of racing.
“Solid teamwork and consistency paid off on day three for the winning teams, most of whom maintained a leading position throughout the regatta,” stated a BVISR press release. “It was gratifying to see old teams return and new teams have a fantastic experience.”
Warthog, the Reichel 37 owned and skippered by Jim Vos of Sag Harbor, New York, sails Sunday in the BVI Spring Regatta 2025. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
CSA 1
It was the first BVISR for Warthog, the Reichel 37 owned and skippered by Jim Vos of Sag Harbor, New York, and its second Caribbean regatta with a young crew from Antigua. Warthog won two races on the final day to secure the CSA 1 Class win with 10 points.
“I’ve had a great time here, and a highlight for me was that the boat had a bunch of changes over the summer. It was always hard to plane on the boat, but it’s finally planing, which is fantastic,” said Mr. Vos. “It’s a very heavy boat, but it’s finally moving. I like the long courses at this regatta for steering. It’s great practice to concentrate on these long legs, so I really enjoyed that. It’s a great team: full of enthusiasm, super young. They enjoy boat building and tinkering. It’s kind of like a high school science experiment.”
The Swan 58 WaveWalker owned and skippered by Woody Cullen took second place with 13 points, while Jax, the custom Brooklin Boat Yard 43’er owned and skippered by Oivind Lorentzen, took two third places on the final day to finish third overall with 15 points.
Tony Mack sailed with long-time crew Team McFly this weekend, racing the J122 El Ocaso. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
CSA 2 Class
In the CSA 2 class, Tony Mack and his long-time crew on Team McFly racing the J122 El Ocaso won by a large margin with seven points. The Elan 450 Emily of Cowes skippered by David Hall took second with 18 points, just ahead of the J105 Kairos skippered by Antolin Velasco, which finished third with 20 points.
“The first day was a bit brutal and a bit choppy,” said Mr. Mack. “Unfortunately, a couple of the boats who we were competing against had to withdraw due to breakages, which was a shame because the racing may have been a bit closer, although Emily of Cowes pushed us. We race together as a crew all the time on my boat in England, so everybody knows their job. I don’t think we could have done anything any better, and, as always, we’ve had a lovely time.”
Barney Crook on his Corsair 31-1D, Airgasm during the 2025 BVI Spring Regatta. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Sport Multihull
Ting A Ling, the Corsair F27 skippered by Graham Harney with an all-Virgin Islands crew, including his cousin Nathan Haycraft, finished with 10 points and a three-point lead over Barney Crook on his Corsair 31-1D, Airgasm.
Lucky 7, the Corsair Spring 750 co-helmed by Eddie Brockbank and his 18-year-old daughter Ashley, finished third with 22 points.
“The boat has been on the hard for a month, and we’ve been doing all sorts of work on it, like removing the toilet,” said Mr. Harney. “The boats were all re-weighed going into the event and we were unsure how we were going to fare, but it all worked out and the racing was good. It’s a dream for all of us, especially Nathan, because he gets to beat his dad.”
Brian Thompson sails Layla, the Gunboat 72, through a downwind start on the last day of racing this year during the BVI Spring Regatta. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Performance Multihull
Accomplished offshore sailor Brian Thompson sailed Layla, the Gunboat 72, to first place with nine points in the Performance Multihull Class.
“This is our second-ever regatta and only our sixth day of racing the boat,” said Mr. Thompson. “Conditions were great, a little more wind than we had in St. Maarten. We learned to sail the boat better and better. It’s a really comfortable cruising boat with a flybridge, so it’s astonishing how well it does. Particularly upwind, it flies. Downwind we are struggling a little to keep up, especially today with the smaller boats. We gave time to Spike and Triple Jack, who beat us on the downwinds today. They are both very well sailed and excellent competition. This is a wonderful venue with great race organisers, race committee. And just the welcome here in Tortola has been brilliant. It’s a great sailing community. We’ll be back.”
After breaking a rudder earlier in the week, the Rapido 40 Spike skippered by Sam Talbot took second in class with 19 points at the end of racing for this year's BVI Spring Regatta. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
After breaking a rudder earlier in the week, the Rapido 40 Spike skippered by Sam Talbot took second in class with 19 points, one point ahead of the Kelsall 47 Triple Jack skippered by Richard Wooldridge.
Performance Cruising A
Kinship, a Baltic 52 skippered by Ryan Walsh, took first in the Performance Cruising A class with 12 points. The Salona 45 Panacea X took second with 15 points, while Altivo, the Grand Soleil 44 Perf owned and skippered by Jorge Rodriquez, finished third with 19 points.
“We went into today with a one-point lead on Panacea X, so we didn’t do anything special,” said Peter Fletcher, trimmer on Kinship. “We made sure we were quick off the line and kept the boat going fast all the time. The boats in the class were so different in size and speed, so everyone separated quite quickly. We just had to make sure we were going quick. We played the shifts and stayed in the pressure. Conditions were perfect: 15 knots in the Caribbean; the sun was out.”
A VX One called Another Bad Princess, skippered by Tim Pitts, prepares to round the easternmost mark of the first race course during the first day of Spring Regatta racing Friday. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Performance Cruising B
It was a family affair on the IC24 Big Island skippered by Chris Stanton, who sailed with his brothers Peter and Scott and nephew Grayson. The crew took two bullets on the final day to beat Mike Feierabend with 10 points.
“We’re hoping to have more IC24s here next year,” said Mr. Stanton. “The Puerto Ricans have left their boats in St. Thomas, so we’re guilt-tripping them into bringing them over next year. We’d like to revive the class in the BVI.”
Jib and Main
Walter Keenan, owner and skipper of the Beneteau First 40 Libertas, took first overall in the Jib and Main Class with eight points.
Cricket, a Beneteau First 35, took second, and third went to First Love, a Beneteau First 40 owned and skippered by Quino Sanchez with 19 points.
“We were absolutely anticipating that this was going to be a competitive fleet,” said Mr. Keenan. “Sandy Mair brought his boat Cricket up from Antigua. He’s a great sailor and one of the most experienced sailors in the Caribbean. He knows the CSA rule very well, so his boat is highly competitive and his crew is very good. First Love is also super talented so we had three very talented boats and each one could have won. We had a one-point lead going into the [final] day and knew we couldn’t make any mistakes in order to beat Cricket in the first race, which we did.”
The Swan 58 WaveWalker owned and skippered by Woody Cullen was consistently quick, but eventually lost out to Warthog. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Bareboat 1
Alice Martin skippered Team Painkiller, a Sunsail 46, to first place in the Bareboat 1 class with 11 points. Dutch team Orange Breeze, also on a Sunsail 46, who finished with 12 points. Pure Vida, an Oceanis 46 skippered by Dan McGanty, took third with 19 points.
“Today we started out hoping to get another first overall for the day, but in the first race, just when we thought we were doing really well, we went to the wrong island,” Mr. Martin said. “So Orange Breeze, who were our closest competitor all week — we had so much fun racing against them — got way ahead of us. The second race we really worked hard to stay ahead and got a first. It was very exciting. We like being on the podium.”
Bareboat 2
Charlie Gerrard skippered the Sunsail 42 Mi Piba to first place in the Bareboat 2 Class with nine points. Dr. Robin Tattersall took second with 11.5 points on the Horizon Yacht Charter Bavaria 37 Jitterbug. Racing on a Dufour 41, Team Cape Fear, skippered by Bob Cowen finished third with 27 points.
Cruising Multihull
George Coutu raced his Leopard 50 La Novia to first place in the Cruising Multihull Class with six bullets over six races.
The Perry Antrim 52 Little Wing, owned and skippered by Ron Boehm, took second with 16 points. He beat the Dutch team aboard No Escape in a tiebreaker for second place.
“We had fantastic wind, and we were sailing very well today. And yesterday my boat did really well in the strong breeze,” said Mr. Coutu. “The highlight was that conditions were absolutely beautiful with such perfect weather and wind. It’s rare to get both at once. We had a lot of competition from Little Wing the last two days. Those guys sailed super nice.”
(Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
VX One
With the help of crewmembers Rob Greenhalgh and Drew Barnes, Sandy Askew sailed Flying Jenny to first place in the VX One Class with 18 points. She bested her husband David, who sailed Wizard to second place with crew Charlie Enright and Patrick Farrell with 20 points.
Tim Pitts, fleet organiser and skipper of Another Bad Princess, took third with 40 points.
The winner of the VX One Caribbean Championship, a two-part series culminating with the BVISR, was awarded to the best Corinthian team Another Bad Princess.
Ms. Askew had enough points going into day three that she didn’t have to sail the last race of the regatta.
“It’s been a really great week,” said Ms. Askew. “We’ve had a great time, but it’s been tough — that’s okay. Being out of shape has not helped, but I muddled through. It has been a hard sea state. There’s no doubt about it. The competition was great. A lot of them are fantastic amateurs and great helmsman like Tim Potts. Phil Lotz calls his own tactics, trims his on main and drives, which is amazing on these boats. It’s a great fleet.”
Ting-A-Ling, a Corsair F27 skippered by Graham Harney, won "Best on the Island" Sunday. (Photo: RUSHTON SKINNER)
Best BVI Award
The Best BVI Award was presented to Ting A Ling by Premier Dr. Natalio Wheatley at the award ceremony. Mr. Harney and his crew took two bullets and four second places over six races to win the Sport Multihull Class to earn the honour.
Every year the event presents the Guy Eldridge Spirit of Enthusiasm Award to an individual or individuals who shine in the spirit of the sport and who has stepped out and gone beyond.
This year the award was presented to Jim Vos, owner and skipper of the Reichel Pugh 37 Warthog, for his commitment to the development of youth sailing.
Next year’s BVISR is slated for March 30-April 5. For more information and results, visit bvispringregatta.org.
