More than 35 vessels took part in the Scrub Island Invitational on April 3, 2024. Photo: BVI Spring Regatta

After winning the Round Tortola Race for the Nanny Cay Cup on April 2, 2024, the custom catamaran Allegra continued its winning ways on April 3, 2024, in the Scrub Island Invitational. Photo: BVI Spring Regatta

The J122 ‘El Ocaso’, skippered by Steve Rigby, won in the Racing division of the Scrub Island Invitational. Photo: BVI Spring Regatta

The Leopard 50 ‘La Novia’, owned and skippered by Georges Coutu, won the Cruising Multihull Division of the Scrub Island Invitational on April 3, 2024. Photo: BVI Spring Regatta

The Scrub Island Invitational was held on on April 3, 2024. Photo: BVI Spring Regatta

Allegra, owned by Adrian Keller (SUI), took another first in Performance Multihull.

This is the first time Allegra has been racing in the [British] Virgin Islands (VI) and has already enjoyed much success at the ongoing BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival.

Sul Vento wins Bareboat Division

Sul Vento, a Sunsail 41 in the bareboat division, captured victory while also racing for the first time at the BVI Spring Regatta.

“Today was good although the boats and sails are challenging compared to what I am used to, like the J105 or an IC37 with 3DL black jibs and such,” Terry McLaughlin of Sul Vento stated.

“But we’re figuring it out and yesterday we had a second place to the Sunsail 42 in a close race and today we managed to beat them. We’re trying to tweak the boat to make it go faster. I’m very impressed with the Scrub Island resort and I sort of enjoyed the length of today’s race compared to yesterday’s race, especially when you are steering all the time!”

Emily of Cowes takes prize in Cruising/Performance

The Elan 450 Emily of Cowes, skippered by Katy Rota, took first in cruising/performance cruising. According to the BVI Spring Regatta website, Emily of Cowes is a familiar sight on the Caribbean winter racing circuit, with their crew often finding themselves on the podium.

“We’ve done this race twice now and for us there’s never a chance to use a kite, so we decided to drop our kite rating just for this race, which obviously worked in our favour!” Rota said. “But we did have a really good start today at the middle of the line away from everyone else fighting for each end, we had clear air and off we went. We know there is a fair bit of current, especially on the south side of the island so that played into our decisions today. Our main competitors Panacea and Paroma, who we beat, have both been racing really well this year and we enjoy racing against both of them.”

Podium finishes for El Ocaso & La Novia

Other winners included the J122 El Ocaso in the Racing division, skippered by Steve Rigby and the Leopard 50 ‘La Novia’ owned and skippered by Georges Coutu, which won the Cruising Multihull Division.

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony for the 2024 BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival is slated for 6:00 PM today, Thursday, April 4, 2024, at the Nanny Cay Marina Village.