Foxys Wooden Boat Regatta - 2006
The revised format for the 2006 Wooden Boat Regatta brought out a fleet of 22 yachts of every age, design and type to compete for the 18 perpetual trophies given for this granddaddy of regattas.
Sad news at registration was of the sinking of Dragon being towed from Puerto Rico. While the crew were distracted fishing she sank in 120 ft of water off Culebra! (Something about a bung secured with 5200 was rumored to be the cause) Arrangements were already underway to re-float this valuable Island Sloop.
Despite dwindling turnout in earlier years Foxy had said there will always be a race even if there are only two wooden boats in the Caribbean! This year he sat at registration desk with a twinkle in his eye saying that we were on the way back to the days of 80 boat fleets. The variety of entries makes this regatta unique. The newest boat was the Island Sloop Scorpion, built in 2002 with the oldest boat being the Morecombe Bay Prawner from England Lu Lu Du celebrating her 80th birthday. Boats came from seven different islands many locally built by owners such as Rafiki 3 built in Cocoa Beach Fl. by Chris Angel and the old stalwart Breath built by Peter Muilenburg in St John
The addition of the Classic class (any boat of a design over 30 years old) meant that most boats sailed both days in either the Single Hander or Classic on Saturday followed by the two race wooden boat race on Sunday. A possible varied eight courses were available for the committee to ensure good competition.
Saturday saw the Classics circumnavigating Jost van Dyke in medium winds while the single handers circled Sandy Cay and Great Thatch. Winds were light on Sunday and so Race Captain Robin Pinfold selected shorter courses around Sandy Cay.
The old Great Lakes pilot boat Silver Cloud was, as always the Classic Committee Boat.
Owners Elliot and Jo Hooper from St. John kept the race committee entertained with stories of the resident ghosts living on this 1899 steel hulled veteran, named originally the Helen S. (When at sea a group of card players can be heard listening to a 1930 Cleveland Indians Baseball game!)
West End Yacht Club (WEYC) rules allowing engines to be run to the start - designed to improve safety - seemed to encourage a tightly packed start as boats drove to the line within seconds of one another. Odege threaded a needle gap ahead of port tack Ruffian but ducked heavy and blunt BuxamSarah O'Neill has just got her Camper Nicholson 33 back in shape after grounding in the Anegada race earlier this year.
On Sunday much of the inter-boat competition came down to match racing between two or three boats. (To ensure even racing, boats are divided into length classes and boat type divisions.) In race one the big Island Sloops Oasis and Jaguar both over stood the line and had to circle spectator boats at the port end to restart on port. Likewise the three small sloops fought for the start with Scorpion pulling off a port approach against Coaba and Buenadaga. Coaba won the first race despite a broken tiller the helmsman steering with his foot over the transom on the rudder!
Adding to the start mayhem were the two committee boat dogs barking at four legged crew members on passing race boats. WEYC Commodore Martin van Houton was heard to say ruefully This is a whole new genre of sailboat racing!
Sundays finish was delayed as Lilly and Jezephyr (without radios) sailed the planned long course around Little and Great Thatch. After four hours they approached the finish in a deadly luffing match with humorous profanities and criticisms of the Almighty flowing freely across the water. Jezephyr held her lead to finish by 14 seconds. Robin Pinfold summed it up with Oh well the best laid plans of mice and committee men ..
Carter Powell and Carol King completed a yeomans task of allocating the 50 or so prizes along with $200 for each class winner for the noisy prize giving. With prizes for all and 18 perpetual trophies to award the committee was hard pressed to keep prizes and trophies moving before the drinking and dancing got serious.
A special award was resented to retiring Vice Commodor Robin Pinfold after his many years of service to WEYC.
Results
Single Handed Race:
1st Virgin Fire Gold Coast 56 Cat Jo Colpitt St. John
2nd Jezephyr Alden 33 Tory Lane St. John
3rd Lilly 38ft Italian Sloop Bear St. John
Classic Race:
1st Oasis 34ft Gelo Island Sloop Miguel Gomez Puerto Rico
2nd Trinka Rhodes 40 Thatcher Lord St. John
3rd Scorpion 22ft Gelo Island Sloop Juan Ramden/Luis Nieves Puerto Rico
Wooden Boat (2 Races Overall):
Under 30ft Island Sloops
1st Scorpion 22ft Gelo Island Sloop Juan Ramden/Luis Nieves Puerto Rico
2nd Coaba 26ft Freddie Island Sloop Ricardo Alvarez Puerto Rico
30ft to 40ft Island Sloops
1st Jaguar II 34ft Yeyo Medina Island Sloop Junior Palmas Puerto Rico
2ndOasis 34ft Gelo Island Sloop Miguel Gomez Puerto Rico
Under 30ft Marconi Sloops
1st Peacepipe Laurent Giles 29 Parker Hall St. Thomas
2ndPepper Culbert 23 Fred Renner St. John
30ft to 40 ft Marconi Sloops
1st Yankee Rhodes 34 Brad Glidden - St. Thomas
2ndJezephyr Alden 33 Tory Lane St. John
3rd Lilly 38ft Italian Sloop Bear St. John
50ft to 60ft Marconi Sloops
1st Spree Ackerman 50 Bob Reedy St John
2nd Lu Lu Du 51ft Morecombe Bay Prawner Matt Carroll England
30ft to 40 ft Traditional Sloops (Gaff Rigged)
1st Buxam II 39ft Tahiti Ketch Colin Hansen St John
30ft to 40 ft Multihulls
1st Rafiki 3 37ft Chris Angel Trimaran Christopher Angel St John
Over 50ft Multihull
1st Virgin Fire Gold Coast 56 Cat Jo Colpitt St. John