With 72 yachts and crews representing the Caribbean, U.S. mainland and Europe setting sail Friday in the 40th International Rolex Regatta, what started four decades ago as a small regatta of any-boat-that-floats has grown into the crown jewel of Caribbean yacht racing.
What has remained the same, says John Foster, commodore of the St. Thomas Club and one of the club members that founded the regatta, “is the great camaraderie, a spirit of sportsmanship and fair play, and a great gusto to sail and party hard.”
This year’s fleet is divided into six classes that include one-design Melges 32s and IC24s, IRC- and CSA-handicap racing and non-spinnaker, and beach cats.
The Melges 32 is one of the hottest racing yachts in the world right now and the regatta features a first-time class of nine teams hailing from the U.S., U.K., Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and the Caribbean.
The nine-boat CSA Racing 1 class is stacked with talent. The dozen boats in the CSA Racing 2 class are the meat and potatoes of the northern Caribbean’s elite racing fleet. Said another way, if you add up the years of racing experience in this class it would total a century or more, and the collective booty of trophies could literally sink a ship.
Thirteen boats are racing in the CSA Non-Spinnaker class include the territory’s Steve Schmidt and Stan Joines.
“The IRR is always a favorite event,” says Martin van Breems, who runs Dutchman/Sound Sailing Center in Norwalk, Conn.
There are five boats racing IRC class, but the homegrown IC-24 class is the biggest of the regatta with 17 entries.
The need for speed was what enticed St. Thomas’ John Holmberg to jump ship from the IC-24 class to sail with his son, Kai, in Beach Cats. “Fast is fun,” says Holmberg, who has sailed in 39 Rolex regattas.
The fleet will sail into the Charlotte Amalie Harbor on Friday where spectators can see the action close-up.
On Saturday, most of the fleet will race south of St. Thomas’ east end and on Sunday in Pillsbury Sound.
The IC-24 and Beach Cat classes will race near to shore in Great Bay and Jersey Bay, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday.
Racing starts daily at 11 a.m.
The St. Thomas Yacht Club-hosted IRR is the oldest regatta in Rolex’s portfolio of international sailing events and dates back to 1974.
For more information and results, visit: www.rolexcupregatta.com.
