BVI GOVERNOR TOM MACAN SPEARHEADS A NEW MAST FOR YOUTH INSTRUCTOR

Duane Smith, President of the Virgin Islands Power Boat Association carries the Queen's Baton for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia on Youth Instructor, with her new mast, in the Queen's Water Parade

Jason Holmes, below with the tree for the new mast, is from Bosham, UK, where he apprenticed with Combes Boatyard for 5 years in wooden boatbuilding. He has been a Shipwright for 13 years and specializes with wooden masts. He was the Foreman for the 80’ mast on White Wings, a famous Alden classic sloop featured on the cover of Classic Yachts. “Youth Instructor is a well built boat and now has a mast to suit the boat. They shouldn’t have any trouble with the rigging. I enjoyed doing it and lost 2 stone in the making. It was nice to do - something that I haven’t done in a long time - the “Zen” of woodworking - very therapeutic.”

What a great day for sailing. As part of the August Festival of the BVI, the WEYC once again stressed their love for Island sloops.

Dr. Orlando Smith, Chief Minister of the BVI, won 2nd Annual Island Sloop Shoot-out over BVI Governor Thomas Macan when Macan was late over the start line. Moonbeam and Youth Instructor, two Island Sloops owned by the government and maintained by Geoff Brooks and Al Fraiser of the H. Lavity Stout Community College, were raced as part of the Water Sports Agenda during the BVI Festival. The event was co-sponsored by the West End Yacht Club and the VI Power Boat Association. WEYC Commodore Dave Cooper and Race Captain Martin Van Houten ran the Committee Boat that exchanged the crews between races so that each crew sailed each boat. Dr. Smith’s crew consisted of Laurens Blok, of the college, and Duane Smith, President of the VI Power Boat Association. Gov. Macan’s crew was John Shirley, a 3-time BVI Olympic racer and El Richardson, veteran sailer and owner of Richardson’s Rigging. Bobby Gray, donated his personal powerboat for the press with Jim Linskey at the helm.

A 21st. Century Island Sloop is under construction on Jost Van Dyke. You may have already heard about it! An island sloop is being built on Jost Van Dyke to evoke the tradition of island boat building, yet meet the rules for safety and seaworthiness that are needed in today’s world.

We thank the BVI Island Sun for this nice article.

BY - MIKE KIRK

Mysteries abound in the Caribbean, from the lost pirate treasures of Blackbeard to the more contemporary superstitions of the Bermuda Triangle. But for sailors the history of the Tortola Sloop presents an enigmatic series of questions that have their roots in over two centuries of the culture of the Virgin Islands.

The BVI is now, quite possibly, the leading nation in the Caribbean. As such we should be most proud of our progress through the years but we should also honour our history. The history of the British Virgin Islands centers on the water and the economic & social life that it provided for our people in the past. We should hold dear the fact that the H Lavity Stoutt is the proud owner of three BVI island sloops – Vigilant, Moonbeam and Youth Instructor – however, it is with great dismay we look at the condition of the most historic of all three – VIGILANT