BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival preview

by Trish Jenkins on 7 Feb 2015 BVI Spring Regatta is being held from March 30 to 5 April 2015. The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival offers a unique Caribbean regatta experience. Hosted by Nanny Cay Marina, the racing is suited to a huge variety of one-design and keel boats. The Sailing Festival has two stunning coastal courses and the BVI Spring Regatta boasts three race areas in a natural archipelago of over 50 tropical islands.

Entries for this year's BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival already include yachts flying the flags of seven different countries from Europe, North America and the Caribbean. Racing classes include Bareboat, Jib & Main, One-design, Racing and Performance Cruising.

The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival has something for everyone, whether they come to race, cruise or just party! The weeklong BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival sails throughout the beautiful British Virgin Islands.

'The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival realised the importance of having different courses for different kinds of boats and with phenomenal sailing grounds and high quality race management, that makes this a great event,' commented Jaime Torres, skipper of Smile and Wave. 'The sweetness of the regatta is that everything you need is right there in Nanny Cay; the parties are right in the marina and so are all the facilities that you need. On top of that, the regatta team are well known for their fantastic hospitality, the regatta is their big event of the year and they personally take care of everybody. Even the new people that come in are greeted by their names - it is like an exotic home town regatta.'

The BVI Sailing Festival kicks off on Monday 30 March with a three-day programme of parties and coastal racing. Monday, 30 March, is registration and a welcome party at Nanny Cay Marina. It is a great time to meet up with the regatta crowd and features a Beach BBQ and DJ. Racing the Sailing Festival kicks off on Tuesday 31 March with The Round Tortola Race and racing concludes on Wednesday, April 1 with a race from Nanny Cay to Jost Van Dyke, one of the most beautiful settings anywhere in the Caribbean. Thursday, 2 April is Maritime Heritage Day, with all manner of activities at Nanny Cay Marina for all the family, including the Tortola Sloop Spring Challenge with beautiful 100-year-old sloops racing in their Caribbean style. The party goes on well into the evening with live music and the Mount Gay Rum Welcome Party for the BVI Spring Regatta.

The BVI Spring Regatta follows the festival with three days of highly competitive racing in three different race areas in and around the Sir Francis Drake Channel. With a myriad of different courses, using fixed marks and the islands as natural way points, the racing is as good as it gets in the Caribbean.

'The BVI Spring Regatta is really spoilt for choices when it comes to course design,' commented Bob Phillips, Chairman of the BVI Spring Regatta. 'We can provide short, sharp windward leeward for one-design and race tracks for performance cruisers and production yachts. The BVI Spring Regatta really can provide racing that suits just about anybody, all in an outstanding location.'

It's Not Too Late to Race
The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival includes an extremely competitive charter boat fleet and Gold Sponsor, The Moorings and contributing sponsor, Sunsail, have an impressive charter fleet based in Tortola with yachts still available for the regatta. The fifth International Yacht Club Challenge, by Sunsail, gives the winner a free charter for next year's 45th Anniversary Event.

Several charter opportunities still exist for full teams or even individuals who want to join a boat. Full details can be found on the Charter pages of the event website: Charter Options. Race charter opportunities from single berths to a full crew are available.