74.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsLocal sportsBlitz, Spirit of Juno Win Classes in Round the Rocks Race; STIR...

Blitz, Spirit of Juno Win Classes in Round the Rocks Race; STIR Kicks Off March 22

Round the Rocks Race was held Thursday, March 21, 2019. (photo by Bill Kiser)

Ten boats had a great chance to warm up and shake down during today’s Round the Rocks Race, a one-day circumnavigation of the neighboring 19-square-mile island of St. John. This fourth annual event has proven especially popular as a preface to the traditional three-day St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), which takes place Friday through Sunday, from the St. Thomas Yacht Club.

Two teams were especially stoked by the day’s racing: St. Thomas’ Peter Corr’s King 40, Blitz, which won the Spinnaker class and Antigua-based Farr 65, Spirit of Juno, one of Ondeck’s race charter vessels helmed by Arran Chapman, which topped the Non-Spinnaker class.

“We had a bad start after getting squeezed at the pin end, but it enabled us to break free and get into good breeze,” said Blitz’s Corr, whose crew hails from the USVI, USA, UK and Australia.

“After that, we had good speed up the southside of St. John, then the breeze died. We saw it drop to as low as 6 knots. That had the effect of bunching the fleet together, yet we remained in the lead. Then, around the north side of St. John, we sailed very close to Next (the USA’s Ryan Walsh and Jon Desmond’s KP 36) because they were good downwind, while we had better speed on the upwind. In the end, we ran for home and stayed in the lead.”

Liquid, Antigua’s Pamala Baldwin’s J/122, finished second in the Spinnaker Class, while the USA’s Sandra Askew’s C&C30, Flying Jenny, rounded out third. (Photo by Bill Kiser)

Corr said, “It was a good tune-up for us. But more so, this is a regatta unto itself. It was a good start for us to win. For the next three days, it’s all about mistakes. The boat that makes the fewest will win, and we’d love to win. We’re definitely off to a good start.”

The Spirit of Juno’s Chapman, in the Non-Spinnaker Class, shared similar sentiments as Blitz’s Corr.

“We’ve never done this course before and we loved it. It was as good of a warm up as you could ask for. It really put us in the racing mood. Now, it will be moving from a relatively easy race, easy but enough to get our racing blood pumping, too much steeper competition ahead for the next three days,” said Chapman.

St. Thomas’ Stephen Schmitt’s Hotel California Too, a Santa Cruz 70, finished second in the Non-Spinnaker class.

Fifty-one boats in six classes will embark on the first day of racing on Friday in the 46th STIR.

St. Thomas’ Lawrence Aqui will race his Dufour 40, Wild T’ing, in the Non-Spinnaker class, a class in which they hope to defend their champion title from last year.

The 18-boat, one-design IC24 Class is the largest and likely the most competitive. One of the entrants is Puerto Rico’s Luigi Miranda, who will be crewing on El Castigo.

Round-the-buoy and round-the-island courses will take the STIR fleet north, south and east of St. Thomas’ east end, making it possible to see the racing from shore. Racing starts at 11 a.m. each day.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.