Tough Conditions, But Plenty of Cruzan Rum at St. Croix Regatta
by Ellen Sanpere on 1 Mar 2009
Glory Daze - 16th Annual St. Croix International Regatta Ellen Sanpere
Heavy weather and tough competition made racing exciting at the 16th Annual St. Croix International Regatta, held February 20-22, 2009. Registrations were down from last year and the number of starters was even less due to nasty weather preceding a weekend of close racing and great Crucian parties. This year, two winning skippers were awarded their weight in Cruzan Rum, raising the stakes for those who would brave the challenging conditions and prevail over the CSA competition in the Buck Island Channel.
Steven Schmidt sailed 'a horrible trip' from Curaçao single-handed to race his Santa Cruz 70CR, Hotel California, Too, in the Main & Jib class, 'But the regatta was worth it,' he said. With a record-breaking 20 pick-up crew members on the rail, the customized sled made short work of the Gallows Bay course but did better on the triangles and windward-leewards on corrected time.
'They did good, we broke stuff,' said Schmidt regarding his second-place finish behind Tony Sanpere’s recently acquired J-36, Cayennita Grande. Sanpere raced with Schmidt last year and said, 'What we broke was smaller stuff than what they broke, except we almost lost a crew overboard.' Sanpere bought the vintage 1981 boat in Marblehead last fall and has a brand new crew, some of whom have never raced before. He said 'the crew came together better with each race,' and he was pleased with the victory, especially as the boat’s new instruments had not been wired yet.
Chris Stanton and his brothers, Peter and Scott, took their Melges 24, Devil 3, to a Spinnaker 1 victory with six bullets in seven races. However, the Cruzan Rum went to the most competitive class, Spinnaker 2, where Chris Thompson of St. Thomas drove his J-27, J Walker, off the jib and flogged the main. His largest crewman, Frank Barnes, got the important job of sitting on the scales.
Tortola’s Guy Eldridge won the rum for the Racer-Cruiser/Main & Jib fleet on his Beneteau First 10R, Luxury Girl. The Commodore’s trophy and two Cape Air round trip tickets went to Peter Haycraft for his many years of having the best visiting boat, Pipedream, a Serena 38. Thompson, Schmidt, Sanpere, Stanton and several other skippers will compete again in Culebra and in the BVI, the next and final legs of the Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (C.O.R.T.)
Inside the reef, in beautiful Teague Bay, three Rhodes 19’s raced on the one-design course with new SCYC commodore, Allan Mallory taking home the trophy.
San Martin had encouraging news regarding the future of the St. Croix regatta, which has not had a name sponsor the past two years: the event will be affiliated with the National Hospice Regatta Alliance for 2010. As a charity race, all contributions are (U.S.) tax deductible and will go toward great racing and sorely needed hospice care for an aging population.
Getting started early, $2200 was donated during the awards ceremony to Continuum Care, St. Croix’s hospice, which has cared for 800 families during its eight years of operations.
Regatta website: www.stcroixregatta.com
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