2009 BVI Spring Regatta Welcomes Beach Cats – Tortola, January 20, 2009: With the economy being in the toilet and race enthusiasts wanting to compete as much as possible, the BVI Spring Regatta organizing committee expects that Caribbean wide sailors are going to be looking for welcoming venues. BVI Spring Regatta has always looked for ways to be inclusive rather than exclusive and this year beach cat sailors should take note because all night security for beach cats has been added.
Judy Petz, Regatta Director, explained the initiative, “In looking at who has been coming to BVI Spring Regatta, we have seen an increase in almost every fleet with the exception of the beach cats. Tomas Dadet, from PR Links in Puerto Rico, suggested that beach cat sailors want to make sure that their boats are left alone while they are enjoying the parties in the Nanny Cay Regatta Village and getting a good nights sleep. With that in mind, we decided that hiring all night security for the boats on the beach was well worth it. The bottom line is that we want the beach cat sailors to be part of our event.”
The beach cats race on the LIME One Design course with the IC24s and Lasers. This course is set closest to Nanny Cay’s shoreline so that the action can be easily viewed by spectators. This course also hosts the on the water umpires who make instant calls as to which maneuvers are fair play and which require penalty turns. For many, the LIME One Design Course is where the most exciting on the water action takes place.
Ends
Held annually on the first weekend of April, the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival is celebrating its 38th anniversary. It is now a seven-day event with two events back-to-back attracting an average of 150 yachts per year with eighty percent of the competitors from overseas. The BVI Spring Regatta is presented by Nanny Cay Resort and Marina; the BVI Tourist Board is a Platinum sponsor; Gold sponsors are Bitter End Yacht Club, LIME, First Caribbean International Bank, Heineken, The Moorings, Mount Gay, and SOL.
Visitors can fly to the British Virgin Islands through San Juan, Puerto Rico with American Airlines, Cape Air and LIAT. Flights are also available through Antigua and Barbados on Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and BWIA. Ferry service is also available from St. Thomas with a new scheduled run in the early evening.
For full details on the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival including daily news, photos and complete results from the 2008 event, visit the official web site: http://www.bvispringregatta.org. For more information on the British Virgin Islands visit: http://www.bvitourism.com. For more information on Nanny Cay Marina visit: http://www.nannycay.com.
The BVI Spring Regatta is jointly owned by the Royal BVI Yacht Club and the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association.
Full size photos can be downloaded by visiting http://www.caribbeanracing.com/bvisr08/press/2008/index.htm
For further information on the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, please contact:
Judy Petz
BVI Spring Regatta Director
+ (284) 541 – 6732
E-mail: [email protected]
Linda Phillips
Press Officer
Tel: + (284) 542 1493
E-mail: [email protected]
Bob Phillips
BVI Spring Regatta Chairman
Tel: +(284) 494 2569
E-mail: [email protected]
