July 2, 2001 – New sailors and new boats added excitement to the age-old Lady Tristram Cup, hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club Sunday, with Tempest coming in first in the spinnaker class and Feeling Friendly winning the new IC-24 class.
"We has some new people on board that hadn't sailed with us before and the winds were in our favor," said John Haracivit, who skippered the winning spinnaker racing boat, Tempest, a Beneteau 38. All five boats in this class were exceedingly close at the finish on both actual time and corrected handicap time considering the course was a clockwise circumnavigation of St. Thomas.
Tortola's Eddie Brockbank was poised for the first place position aboard his Olson 30, Fastidiots, until just minutes before the finish line the jib ripped and de-powered the vessel enough for Tempest to sail by. Tortola's Kevin Rowlette's Olson 30, Rushin Rowlette, also gained time on Fastidiot's breakdown and finished second. "It's good to have our Tortola friends come over and join us and give us some good competition," Haracivit said during the awards.
Since making its debut at the Rolex Regatta in April, the IC-24 class has been actively racing during Friday night fun nights, in sailing classes as at regattas like the Lady Tristram. Six IC-24s, which are a converted J24 design that makes them easier to sail, sailed a shorter course that navigated Great St. James and out to Frenchcap. "The real key to our win was Chris calling tactics. The winds were shifty out there today. But with Chris no one just sits there as crew. Everyone got to take a turn at the tiller," said Ruth Miller, who crewed aboard the winning IC-24, Feeling Friendly, along with IC-24 innovator, Chris Rosenberg.
Chris Thompson's No Sea Um finished second, while Cold Beer V with IC-24 builder Morgan Avery at the helm came in third. Since the IC-24 design makes each boat identical, there was no handicap to calculate. The beauty of the equal design also proved at the finish line as all six boats finished within four minutes of each other after a two-plus hour race.
The Lady Tristram Regatta, now in it's 37th year, is the longest continually held race by the St. Thomas Yacht Club. The name of the race comes from an early member, Col. John Brindley. Brindley regularly sailed his 46-foot Rhodes yawl, the Lady Tristram, in club races. Though he crossed the finish line first on several occasions, he never won a race once times had been corrected for handicap. Brindley felt that what really counted was who finished first. He felt so strongly, in fact, that he donated a perpetual trophy and named it after his boat. Since then, though handicaps are calculated and class winners are announced, the Lady Tristram Trophy is awarded to the monohull sailing around the course in the fastest elapsed time. Tempest earned this honor this year, and along with the winner's title Haracivit was awarded gear as a prize from regatta sponsor, Budget Marine.
