Top sailors in the 'Beach Cat' class started the St. Thomas Carnival Races with a display of hull flying speed. The 20 foot boats had almost perfect winds of 15 to 18 knots in the St. Thomas harbor and ran three races before making way for the usual power boats.
Terry Jackson, an V.I. Olympic hopeful, organized the races to show the waterfront crowd a sample of high speed sailing action. He was joined on the course by Kevin Raymond, second place Rolex Cup finisher, and three other 'Cat' sailors.
The long sail from the east end in these hi-tech light weight craft left one boat with a loose rudder and unable to race in the close confines of the harbor. The four boats left did battle. Raymond won the first race and Jackson the second. In the final race Jackson crossed the finish six seconds ahead of Raymond to win the Carnival Catamaran Races 2000.
Jackson explained, "We had three different (design) boats out there today, but plan to build up the fleet this summer, next year we hope to have two one design starts and really put on a close racing show."
