For well over a decade BVI sailors have joined together, on the first Saturday in December, to celebrate West End’s most infamous pirate – Gustav Wilmerding – in a race that uses islands for marks and ends with the ringing of the “Ding Dong Bell”. Taken from Caribbean lore stating that when Gustav returned to his home on Little Thatch, after pirating in the Sir Francis Drake Channel, he would ring an enormous bell that would be an invitation to all on neighbouring islands to join in for an extended soiree together. This year the West End Yacht Club remembered Gustav’s partying with a completely new change of venue. The race was extended to a weekend regatta held at both The Jolly Roger Restaurant & Bar (home of the WEYC) and at Pirates Pub on Norman Island (formerly known as Billy Bones) – and did racers ever seem to enjoy it.

Each year multihull lovers gather on the small BVI island of Jost Van Dyke for the Caribbean’s only multihull regatta. Named “Foxy’s Cat Fight” in honour of both Foxy and catamaran lovers in the BVI, this unique event is held on the weekend closest to Halloween. Therefore, by custom and the camaraderie of fun in the veins of the “Loyal” West End Yacht Club who run the event, everyone dresses in costume and the weekend is one long party – the likes of which are only comparable to Foxy’s Wooden Boat Regatta, now in its 28th year.

The 28th gathering of wooden boats for the annual Foxy’s Wooden Boat Regatta was the best in a decade. As we all know this is the last all wooden boat regatta held in the Caribbean. WEYC Race Captain, Robin Pinfold, was worried that the 2nd Annual BVI Music Festival, held on the same weekend, would draw the crowd. He was right, no one was at Foxy’s but those choice participants of the WBR and everyone I spoke with liked it just that way. With 37 entries it was like Old Home Week in Jost Van Dyke, BVI. There were no tourists, no hangers on, no anything but wooden & classic yacht lovers and what a wonderful weekend it was. This is one regatta that is celebrated as a family reunion each year as most of the entries have sailed together for more than a decade. This year merchants in both the BVI and USVI donated more than $5,000 worth of prizes.