Wild and Windy for St Thomas Rolex Sailors

by Media Pro Int'l for Rolex on 24 Mar 2007
Opening day of the International Rolex Regatta served up fast and furious fun for some, broken boats for others when 15-18 knot breezes whipped up a testing chop on the Caribbean Sea south of St Thomas.

The event, which has been a staple of the islands racing scene for 34 years, is hosting 87 boats in seven classes. For five of the six handicap classes that completed three around-the-buoys races each, the event is half over, and leads may be tough to topple with only three distance races left on the weekend schedule.

'It was lovely.and lively,' said local sailor John Foster, currently in third overall in Spinnaker Racing Class 3 with his Kirby 25 The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. 'The first wave over the deck woke everybody up.' Foster explained that driving the boat through the waves rather than hitting them square on was as paramount today as consistent sailing will be to winning the series.

'You've got to be in the top three in each race to win this series,' he said. Foster should know; he has sailed in every Rolex regatta since its inception in 1974 and has won too many to remember. His top-three theory bodes well for class leader Doug Baker, who posted three victories today aboard his Olson 30 J Bird 4.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]Triple-header victories also put the Melges 24 Devil 3, skippered by Chris Stantos, at the top of the scoreboard in Spinnaker Racing Class 2. 'It was fun, but you had to work really hard,' said Stanton's brother and tactician Peter. 'There was a lot of pain.' The battle for superiority in this class among Melges 24s and the newer Melges 32 designs was fierce. 'The 32s go over the waves; we have to go through them,' said Peter Stanton. 'If they get ahead of us, we can't challenge them, so we have to follow them.'

The dismasting of Windrider II, a J/30 owned by local Marston Winkles, marked the otherwise manageable single race among the islands that the non-spinnaker racing class enjoyed. Winning today to lead that fleet was the modified Beneteau 44 Three Harkoms, skippered by Christopher Lloyd.

The largest of the boats, banded together in Spinnaker Racing Class 1, were topped by Mad IV, a Grand Soleil 48 skippered by Clive Llewellyn. 'The spread between the boats was significant,' said Peter Stoneberg, sailing on first-time entrant Yeoman, skippered by Barry Lewis. 'The 72-foot Donnybrook would finish 3 minutes ahead of us and Mad IV three minutes behind. The only boat-on-boat stuff was with other fleets, but that's handicap racing.'

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]'Though some boats had a tough time and had some injuries, it was superb sailing conditions,' said Wilmot, crew member aboard defending champion Martin Jacobsen's Crescendo, which posted a 2-1-1 to lead the Spinnaker Racing Cruising class. 'We had a few new people aboard, so it took a while to get ourselves together, but this is my second time here, and it's one of the best places to sail.'

The IC-24s completed six races, with Robby and Michael Hirst (Virgin Gorda, BVI) emerging as leaders aboard their Mio Broadband. A major collision in race two sent James Mark Plaxton's (Virgin Gorda) Intac limping back to the dock with a substantial hole in its hull.

Beach Cats were dominated by world champion sailor Enrique Figueroa aboard his Olympic Tornado Suzuki/Red Bull.

The International Rolex Regatta is part of the US-IRC Gulf Stream Series 2007.

Leading Results:

IC 24 One Design (One Design - 19 Boats)
1. Mio Broadband, IC-24, Robby & Michael Hirst, Tortola, VI - 1, 2, 3, 1, 3, 10; 20
2. Orion, IC-24, Fraito Lugo, Ponce, PR, USA - 2, 4, 6, 2, 1, 6; 21
3. Bambooshay, IC-24, Christian Rosenberg, St. Thomas, VI, USA - 4, 1, 1, 5, 8, 5; 24

Spinnaker Racing 1 (CSA - 6 Boats)
1. Mad IV, J/V Grand Soleil 48, Clive Llewellyn, Paris, France - 4, 1, 1; 6
2. Caccia Alla Volpe, Vallicelli 44, Carlo Falcone, Antigua - 1, 3, 2; 6
3. Yeoman XXXII, Rogers 46, Barry Lewis, San Francisco, CA, USA - 2, 2, 3; 7

Spinnaker Racing 2 (CSA - 9 Boats)
1. Devil 3, Melges 24, Chris Stanton, St. Croix, VI - 1, 1, 1; 3
2. Expensive Habit, J/100 33, Robert Armstrong, St. Croix, VI, USA - 3, 2, 2; 7
3. Crash Test Dummies, Melges 32, Timothy Kimpton, Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago - 2, 4, 5; 11

Spinnaker Racing 3 (CSA - 17 Boats)
1. J Bird 4, Olson 30, Doug Baker, Long Beach, CA, USA - 1, 1, 1; 3
2. Jwalker, J/27, Chris Thompson, St. Thomas, VI, USA - 2, 3, 6; 11
3. The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Kirby 25, Johnny Foster, St. Thomas, VI, USA - 4, 6, 2; 12

Non-spinnaker Racing 1 (CSA - 16 Boats)
1. Three Harkoms, Modified Beneteau 442, Christopher Lloyd, Tortola, VI - 1; 1
2. Affinity, Frers 49, Jack Desmond, Marion, MA, USA - 2; 2
3. El Presidente, Thomas 35, Jeffrey Fangmann, St. Croix, VI, USA - 3; 3

Spinnaker Racing Cruising (CSA - 9 Boats)
1. Crescendo, Swan 44, Martin Jacobson, Greenwich, CT, USA - 2, 1, 1; 4
2. Shamrock V, J/120, Thomas Mullen, Campton, NH, USA - 1, 3, 3; 7
3. Team Paul Mitchell, Beneteau First 40.7, Mark Palermo, Slidell, LA, USA - 3, 2, 2; 7

Beach Cats (Portsmouth - 12 Boats)
1. DRD/Suzuki/Red Bull, Tornado 20, Enrique Figeroa, San Juan, PR, USA - 1, 1, 2; 4
2. Heineken, Hobie 16, Francisco Figueroa, San Juan, PR, USA - 2, 2, 3; 7
3. Fitness Warehouse, Hobie 16, Dennys Junco, Carolina, PR, USA - 6, 3, 4; 13

Live results by Interactive Creations (www.intercreate.com) will be posted on www.rolexcupregatta.com, where hometown rosters, nightly reports and photos also can be found. Daily video coverage will be available on demand by 9 p.m. each night at www.t2p.tv or by clicking on the TV icon on the regatta web site.

A.H. Riise, Official Retailer of Rolex watches in the U.S. Virgin Islands, takes an active role in sponsorship of the event. The St. Thomas duty free shop is one of the largest in the Caribbean and is located on the historic waterfront of downtown Charlotte Amalie. Rolex is known for sponsoring high quality events such as the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Rolex Fastnet Race, Giraglia Rolex Cup, Rolex Middle Sea Race, Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds.