St. Thomas Sailing Center hosts Philadelphia sailors for Mid-Winter Clinic & Regatta in Paradise
by Carol Bareuther 31 Jan 12:21 PST
Fast-paced sailing action in the STSC's Mid-Winter Clinic & Regatta in Paradise © Dean Barnes
There was snow on the ground, and more forecast for Philadelphia, when 17 members of Liberty Sailing Club flew to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, for a Mid-Winter Clinic & Regatta in Paradise at the St. Thomas Sailing Center (STSC).
The Center, the sailing instruction arm of the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC), owns a fleet of twelve one-design IC24s, which they use for everything from learn-to-sail lessons to race charters for Caribbean regattas like STYC's St. Thomas International Regatta in March. In the winter, the Center specializes in three- to five-day instructional race clinics with a regatta at the end for sailors from clubs in cold weather climates. This is what took place from January 24 to 27, when members of Liberty, the only community sailing program in downtown Philadelphia, plus four additional sailors from the U.S. and Canada took part in the STSC's Mid-Winter Clinic & Regatta in Paradise.
"The idea started with conversations I had with a good friend, Sam Martin, who I sailed with at Liberty before he moved to St. Thomas. We worked together, and with the STSC, to get the pieces in place. When I advised the membership, I thought we'd get enough people for one or two boats. Instead, there was a ton of interest," says Sean Devens, who runs the race program at Liberty Sailing Club. "Personally, I wanted to take part in the clinic to improve as a sailor and a racer, and to pick up additional ideas on club racing, race committee, and running regattas."
How they did it...
The STSC's Mid-Winter Clinic & Regatta in Paradise kicked off with an evening Welcome Party, held on the STYC's open-air beachfront deck under a nearly full moon. Sailors met their coaches, one for each of the six boats participating, and chose their IC24s, each with a fun name like Red Dog, Stinger, and Magic Bus with Crayola-colored hulls. The IC24 is made from a used J/24 hull fitted with a new Melges 24-style deck mold that is wider, has no traveler, and can carry five sailors. There is an inside track for a genoa, but no spinnaker or bow pulpit, and the transom is closed. Current STYC commodore, Chris Rosenberg, and boat builder Morgan Avery created and built the design in 1999 after successive hurricanes had decimated the Club's fleet. The STSC purchased the IC24 fleet from individual members when it was founded in 2016 to provide an easy way for teams to fly in and race. The Clinic's first two days were filled with morning and afternoon sailing sessions focused on boat handling, crew organization, starting strategy and tactics, and more, bookended by video and coach debriefs at lunchtime and in the late afternoon. The sailors capped off their learning with an informal round the Island and Buoy Regatta on Friday.
"What I liked was the opportunity to sail in various conditions. Most of what I do is river sailing or in the Chesapeake. Here, I had to manage big waves and current, and wind shifts as they came off the land," says Caitlin Youngster, Liberty's immediate past commodore. "What I enjoyed best was the video debriefs with drone footage. In one, we could see how a header hit one of the boats and when it bore off too far, it lost four boat lengths. We could replay the video, rather than try to remember what happened, and the coaches provided strategies to those specific situations."
For Karen Wheatley, Liberty Sailing Club's membership director, the Clinic provided an opportunity to gain roll-tacking skills. "I also learned about how to shift body weight in crew management. We race J/27s with six crew at Liberty, so it's tight. I also picked up tips about using the backstay. You can really feel the use of it on the IC24s."
The sailors put their practiced skills to the test with an Adventure Race on the Clinic's final day, with the option to participate in the St. John Yacht Club's Dukes Trophy Race the following day. Both featured courses set around the small islands off St. Thomas' east end and in Pillsbury Sound, the body of water between St. Thomas and neighboring St. John.
"What I enjoyed most about the regattas was experiencing a new style of racing that we don't have back at home. The Dukes Trophy was an especially a good experience with being part of a big, mixed fleet start. And of course, there was the opportunity to swim in a beautiful location or party on a beach at the end of racing," says Liberty's Devens.
...You can too!
Sailors from yacht clubs and sailing schools can contact the STSC to set up a clinic for their members. Ideally, this happens in the summer, when the visiting teams and Center firm up details like the number of sailors, dates, affordable pricing, and early-bird discounts. The STSC provides a list of accommodations such as resorts, villas, condominiums, VRBO rentals, as well as Airbnb's near the yacht club from STYC members and available at a discount. The Center also sends in advance a suggested packing list and program outline. Traveling to St. Thomas is easy! Airlines fly direct from major U.S. cities: American Airlines (Charlotte, Dallas, Miami, New York, Philadelphia), Delta (Atlanta, New York), Frontier (San Juan), JetBlue (Boston, San Juan), Spirit (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando) and United (Chicago, Newark, Washington-Dulles). U.S. citizens don't need a passport to enter the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"What an incredible week we had with individual sailors and the Liberty Sailing Club out of Philadelphia. It had it all... Medium to big breeze, flat water to 7-foot swells, lectures, team debriefs, drone and video debriefs, two days of intense onboard boat handling instruction followed by bouy, island circumnavigation, and distance racing all in paradise. The concept really works well as we are combining a racing program with a chance to spend a week sailing the incredible conditions and scenery of St Thomas, St John, and the surrounding islands," says Bobby Brooks, STSC director,
For more information on the St. Thomas Sailing Center and its programs, visit stthomassailingcenter.com, Email: , or Call: 1 (340) 690-3681. For travel information to the U.S. Virgin Islands, visit: www.visitusvi.com