BVI Sailing Festival – This year the week-long event begins officially on March 30th with registration for the BVI Sailing Festival, the low pressure precursor to the BVI Spring Regatta.The next day, skippers begin the Sailing Festival at the event home, Nanny Cay and sail to Bitter End. At Bitter End, a host of activities are planned for the evening entertainment and the next day is Lay Day- Bitter End Style. On April 2, the fleet will race back to Nanny Cay for BVI Spring Regatta registration and the official opening of the Regatta Village. The main event, the BVI Spring Regatta begins on Friday, April 3 and racing takes place on three courses in Drake Channel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the prize giving scheduled for the Sunday, late afternoon.

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.

Course Description for BVI Spring Regatta (April 2- 5):  SOL Course: Looking across the channel to the Southeast is the SOL course. Host to the traditional keelboat racers, this course has welcomed the likes of Roys Disneys sled Pyewacket, Roger Sturgeons Transpac 52, Rosebud, and in 2007, the incredible Volvo Ocean Racer and winner of the most recent round the world race, ABN AMRO. This year, there will likely be seven classes, ranging in size from 24 to 75 feet, racing with professional crews as well as talented and enthusiastic amateurs vying for the gold, glory and bragging rights.

Norman Course: Just to the west, for those who would rather race around islands than buoys, and want the choice as whether or not to carry a spinnaker, there is the Norman course. This is the course that offers competitors more options and the opportunity to take the scenic route. Although the size of the boats is very much like those on the Shell course, this race area will appeal to those who want to race but also dont mind a little slower pace. With courses that take the competitors around the BVI barrier islands and down to Frenchmans Cay and back, competitors have a more scenic tour of the BVI than those racing on the Shell course. Home of the bareboat fleet, Jib and Main, Performance Cruising, and the large multihulls, this race course is likely to be the most popular one in the channel.

LIME One Design Course:  The beach cats race on the LIME One Design course with the IC24s and Lasers. This course is set closest to Nanny Cays 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.

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]

Bob Phillips
BVI Spring Regatta Chairman
Tel: +(284) 494 2569
E-mail: [email protected]