The mid-February day started out like so many other sailing events I’ve enjoyed over the years: meeting up with a new crew, scoping out the particulars of a boat I’d never sailed, reviewing the sailing instructions and forecast for the day’s race, and then dropping the dock lines and heading out. Such is the life of an itinerant sailing writer, and I’ve never taken any of it for granted. 

Little did I know, however, that before this day was done, I’d hear something bordering on the profound. 

It was the opening day of the St. Petersburg, Florida, edition of the Sailing World Regatta Series, sponsored by Cruising World’s sister publication. As he often does, my longtime J/24 mate Dave Reed, the editor of Sailing World, threw me an assignment: Go racing with a team of seasoned homeboys from the St. Petersburg Yacht Club on the day’s distance race, a relatively new element of the regatta for the cruiser/racer set. I was more than happy to oblige. 

Which is how I made the acquaintance of Tim Landt and his close pal Doug Jones, who attended high school in the same prehistoric era that I did, and who have been racing sailboats together ever since. The pair were in the same class as a couple of other St. Pete luminaries, Ed Baird and Allison Jolley, who each rose to the pinnacle of the sport—the former as a winning America’s Cup skipper, the latter as an Olympic gold medalist. “Doug and I were different,” Landt said, laughing. “We had to go to work.”

Landt grew up racing Optimists and Lasers, moved into crewed boats with a Columbia 24 and a Cal 40, and even owned a couple of big Ted Irwin-designed cruising boats. But he seemed proudest of his current ride, a relatively rare Nightwind 35, a centerboard sloop designed by his friend and hero, the late Bruce Kirby, who also created the ubiquitous Laser. “I’d been looking for one for years,” Landt said. “They never come up for sale.” This past October, one did, and he pounced. 

This was only the third race aboard his new Charisma, but he downplayed it. “I got all my old buddies together,” he said. “We’re just out here to have fun.”

But Landt was—how shall we put this?—an aggressive and vocal racer, and he wasn’t there to fool around. He nailed a port-tack start; was on the foredeck for a sail change as the breeze built; called out spinnaker trim early and often; and was more or less a cyclone the entire race, in which Charisma scored a respectable fourth in the 13-boat Cruising division. A very good sailor, Landt’s enthusiasm and exuberance were infectious; it’s always great to sail with a dude who just bloody loves it, and it was clear he did.  

Back at the dock, Landt shared a cool story about naming Charisma: As a kid, he landed a gig as a gofer for a wealthy captain of industry in the days of the great Southern Ocean Racing Conference series. The guy had a boat by the same name. “He was so humble,” Landt said. “I always said if I got a nice race boat, I’d call it Charisma.”

And then, he added: “You’re a writer, you might appreciate this. An old commodore, who was also my coach, once told me that the key to sailing is recreation. That’s what you have to turn it into. Now take that word apart, it’s re-creation. You always have to re-create yourself through your recreation. And that’s what sailing does for me.”

In the moment, I laughed and thanked him for a fine day. Only later did it occur to me that Landt had put into simple terms something I’ve always felt about sailing. I’m sure that a ­truly manic surfer or alpinist would say the same thing. That time away from the daily grind, laser-focused on the natural world, is priceless. Every time I’m on the water, whether on a daysail or after crossing an ocean, I come away refreshed and renewed. A new man. Hopefully a better one. Re-created. 

It always keeps me coming back for more.

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large.

The post The Re-creation: My Day at the St. Pete Regatta appeared first on Cruising World.

If you’re ever looking for a good dose of humility, try joining the French crew on a French-built performance catamaran in a sporty breeze on Rhode Island’s Newport Harbor.

I was nursing a cold one with my longtime yacht broker pal and sailing buddy, El Jefe (yes, that’s actually what he goes by), at the Black Pearl on Bannister’s Wharf, comparing notes on a sweet Nautitech we had just sailed. The breeze was stiff on the sound in the wake of a front that had ripped through, and, as anticipated, the ride was a thrill.

What I hadn’t expected was to feel so utterly useless. To be honest, I got my ass handed to me out there. I spent most of the ride trying to stay out of the way as the crew made the catamaran fly.

I’d been raised in a family who sailed monohulls, so opportunities to sail cats had been few and far between, save for the occasional charter or sea trial, which usually tends to err on the milquetoast side of sailing. My lack of experience showed that day. I consider myself a pretty darn good sailor, but put me on a fast-paced multihull machine, and I’m about as useful as a putter in a sand trap.

So, when Steve Burzon, co-founder and organizer of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge, hit me up to join this year’s rally, I leapt at the opportunity. I signed on to help crew a Sunsail 424 charter cat for four days in the Leeward Islands.

To be clear, I’m not a racing guy. Dave Reed, editor of our sister publication, Sailing World, is a racing guy. That dude can carve circles around me on a course. And, for many a monohuller, an event with the words “multihull” and “challenge” in the title might conjure feelings of inadequacy. I get that. But for me, the idea of steering a little outside my lane, challenging myself to become a better multihull sailor, had a lot of appeal.

And so I joined the ranks of scores of other casual sailors who decided to take a new tack in their cruising careers, pushing their boats—or even just themselves—a little bit further. Around the water cooler, I’ve started referring to this as competitive cruising.

Competitive cruising can be different things for different sailors. It can be racing, to some—the regatta scene is robust and a great opportunity to test your competitive spirit in a controlled environment with other like-minded cruisers. For others, it might be joining a rally to somewhere over the horizon, as I did. And for the scant few who become skilled and confident enough, maybe it means chasing adventure way off the grid.

This spring, 29-year-old sailor Cole Brauer just became the first American woman to sail solo nonstop around the world, finishing in second place in the Global Solo Challenge aboard her 40-foot racing boat, First Light. Brauer, who captured worldwide attention through her Instagram posts chronicling the treacherous 30,000-mile journey, said that she hopes young girls in and out of the sport can draw inspiration from her experience. She has received hundreds of comments from people saying that although they’d never sailed before, they were amazed by her bravery, tenacity and positive outlook.

Her milestone is more than a physical triumph; it’s a testament to her courage. She faced a challenge head-on as she persevered through rough seas and navigated the complexities on board for 130 days. That’s the sort of indomitable spirit we should all celebrate as adventurers of the sea. She may not have won the race, but she’s a champion all the way.

Competitive cruising is about the fact that the allure of sailing lies not just in the destinations we reach, but also in our journey of continual learning and growth.

As I navigated the tumultuous waters of the Newport Bay, grappling with the complexities of an unfamiliar catamaran, I realized that the true sport of sailing transcends vessel types. It’s about embracing the unknown, embracing the challenges, and embracing the exhilarating feeling of sailing into uncharted territory. With that as our compass, our learning never ends.

The post Competitive Cruising: It’s a Rally, Not a Race appeared first on Cruising World.

The sun, the warm spray, the thrill of driving fast boats all day and then partying hard every night deep in the Caribbean—it’s an awesome trifecta. 

If you’re a cruising sailor who wants to give racing a try, there’s good news: You no longer have to fly into Antigua’s English Harbour, walk the docks, crew aboard a large schooner, and then pass out on sail bags on deck for the night. Today, there are many more options for getting in on the action during the Caribbean regatta season. 

The 2024 season began in January with the RORC Transatlantic Race. In February, there was the Caribbean Multihull Challenge, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta and the RORC Caribbean 600. The season winds down starting in April with the BVI Spring Regatta, Antigua Classic Regatta and Antigua Sailing Week. 

If you’re on your own boat, then you can enter a cruising division using white sails (no black carbon fiber and no spinnaker). There are bareboat divisions for cruisers too. 

Don’t have your own cruising boat or bareboat? Each regatta website has a “crew board” where skippers post openings. Or do it the old-fashioned way: Walk the docks, hang out at the yacht club bar, and introduce yourself. Bring your sailing résumé with you. 

Tricked-out racing machines are available from a number of chartering outfits, usually at a higher price than cruising bareboats. Chris and Lucy Jackson run LV Yachting, a racing-boat charter agency in the UK. Chris brought Pata Negra, an IRC 46, to Antigua for a group of British sailors to charter. LV Charters also has a half-dozen retired Volvo Ocean 65s available for charter. 

Global Yacht Racing in the UK brings its Beneteau 47.7s into the Caribbean each season and offers berths for singles and couples—including sailors who are racing for the first time. 

“We take them out for a few days before the races to get them familiar with the positions and maneuvers, then it’s full-on racing,” says Andy Middleton, director of Global Yacht Racing. 

On Deck, based in English Harbour, offers a race-training program aboard a Farr 65, Spirit of Juno, and rents bunks aboard for regattas. 

Even people who are used to sailing faster typically enjoy racing charters. San Francisco-based racing skipper Bratz Schneider is among them. He chartered a Beneteau Oceanis 46 from The Moorings for a vacation with his regular racing team, and told me that they couldn’t get enough, even at a slower pace than they usually hit. “We were all having a blast,” he says. For more information about these events and all of the ones in between, check out caribbean-sailing.com/calendar.

The post Navigating the Caribbean Regatta Season appeared first on Cruising World.

St. Petersburg Yacht Club has announced “last call” to register for the 52nd sailing of the Regata del Sol al Sol, an open yacht race from St. Petersburg to Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

The open-water race across the Gulf of Mexico will feature sailboats, a minimum of 30 feet long with either ORC or West Florida PHRF handicaps. Events begin April 25, 2024, in St. Petersburg with seminars and a street party send-off.

Racing starts Friday, April 26, 2024, in the vicinity of the St. Petersburg Pier. The fleet races 456 nautical miles to the island of Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun, in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Arriving racers may be greeted as early as Sunday and a week of events are planned in Mexico. The top three finishers in each class, an overall champion and other honors will be celebrated with awards at a dinner scheduled for May 3, 2024, in Isla Mujeres.

The historic race began as a challenge for open-water sailors after the St. Petersburg-to-Havana race could no longer be sailed to Fidel Castro’s Cuba. In its five-decade history, the race has recorded seconds-tight finishes and harrowing crossings. Today, it features GPS tracking devices to ensure boats arrive and return safely. The race was sailed annually until 2018, when it became a bi-annual event.

For more information about the race or to register, see the Notice of Race on yachtscoring.com. Other information can be found on the regatta website. The race can also be followed on Facebook.

The post 2024 Regata del Sol al Sol Registration Closing Soon appeared first on Cruising World.

Yes, of course, Cruising World is a magazine dedicated to the glorious pastime of cruising. But, from time to time, it’s worthwhile to examine this basic truism: Racing sailboats will make you a better cruising sailor. Tacking and jibing at full speed, paying extra attention to windshifts and currents, trimming sails to get every last tenth of a knot of performance from them—these are all things you can apply to cruising that will make your life on the water a little more fulfilling. 

And there’s another, perhaps even greater, benefit as well. With the right crew on a sweet boat on a beautiful day, racing is also just a ton of fun.

This, I discovered, yet again, on a lovely Saturday in February when my colleagues at sister magazine Sailing World wrangled me aboard the Beneteau 40 Liquid Time for the North Sails Rally Race during the St. Petersburg, Florida, stop on the nationwide tour of six events that comprise the Helly Hansen Sailing World 2022 Regatta series. The 40-foot racer/cruiser is owned by a trio of pals who sail out of nearby Davis Islands: Pemmy and Ed Roarke, who set and trim the sails, and champion Sunfish sailor Gail Haeusler, whom I’d soon witness was one heck of a helmswoman. 

The name has two origins: Liquid Time is the title of a favorite tune by the progressive rock band Phish, with these appropriate opening lyrics: “The sea is so wide, and the boat is so small.” The name is also a running joke with the tight, nine-person crew, one of whom always pops the same question before a race: “What time is it?” To which the collective answer is, well, always the same: “Liquid Time!” It’s a joke that never gets old. 

My time on Liquid ­unfolded over a 20-mile course in a shifty northerly breeze around government marks on busy Tampa Bay, with plenty of visual treats to spice up the proceedings: the ever-­expanding St. Pete skyline; the weird, lopsided arena known as Tropicana Field, home to baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays; and the distinctive Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which replaced an earlier span that a freighter creamed in a 1980 storm. 

The starting line for our Racer/Cruiser division was a busy place, indeed; we shared it with a fleet of maniacs sailing light, twitchy L30 one-designs. Plus, unusually, it was a downwind start in about 8 knots of fluctuating wind, which meant a spinnaker set right off the bat. The Liquid team flowed through the maneuver like water running downhill (sorry). Haeusler timed it all perfectly. Off we went. 

It was pretty obvious right from the get-go that it was going to come down to a head-to-head match race with a Sarasota-based O’Day 40 called Mother Ocean, a name I assumed was borrowed from the opening line of Jimmy Buffett’s A Pirate Looks at Forty. (Also, what’s up with these Florida folks, their boat handles and their beloved recording artists?) 

In the early going, Mother was definitely a mutha, and we had a wonderful view of her transom as she assumed the lead. But all that changed when the kites were doused about two-thirds of the way through the race; the northerly ratcheted up to 14 knots, kicking up whitecaps as the skies cleared to reveal a spectacular sailing day. We hardened up for the closehauled beat back to the finish. Thanks in large part to Haeusler’s skilled driving, Liquid Time was both higher and faster, and before long, it was Mother Ocean in arrears. Which is how everything concluded, with Liquid Time the overall class winner. 

“We won that race in the second half,” said Ed Roarke, who then invoked another name, that of a recent Tampa Bay arrival—yet another cliched snowbird from New England—whose prowess has won over the local populace. “It was a Tom Brady special.”

The tunes came on, and, in the time-honored tradition of nearly all competitive sailing, the icy-cold beers were cracked and passed around. 

So, hey, what time was it again? 

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large.

The post Off Watch: A Cruising Sailor Joins the Race appeared first on Cruising World.

Musket Cove Fiji Regatta Week, held September 15-19 on Malolo Island in the Mamanuca archipelago, welcomed 96 boats and 400 people for three regattas. Some 64 teams raced in the Hobie Cat event, another 30 yachties paddled in the standup paddleboard challenge, 30 sailors competed in the Fun Run, and more than 40 eco-aware cruisers helped with a beach cleanup. 

The five days and nights continued an event that has been going for 38 years. Yachties from around the world flock to this event in the turquoise lagoon west of Viti Levu. Some Kiwi yachts are regulars here on their Pacific Circuit, and a growing number of American and international yachts participate too, before heading westward.

“It started out as a warm-up for the Fiji-Vanuatu regatta, has grown every year, and by now it’s one of the biggest events in the South Pacific,” says Will Moffat, owner of Musket Cove Island Resort and Marina. “It’s all about the fun, really, and everybody’s welcome.”

When this year’s first regatta started on day two at 10 a.m., only a light breeze rippled the sea. We watched flabbergasted as the participating boats simply revved up their engines and motored over the starting line.

How was that possible? Well, it turned out that it was Beach Comber Pirate’s Day, and the rules for this regatta state that “there are no rules for pirates.” The skipper of the Stealth 14GT lightweight catamaran Wow lowered his 50-hp outboards and managed to win the race, reaching 11 knots at times. 

Fortunately, the weather gods played along on the third day and sent a stiff, southeasterly breeze for the main event: the Round Malolo Classic. With full sails up, the 24 participating boats bashed into 15 to 20 knots of southeasterly trade winds. At first, the biggest cats rushed ahead, chased by huge monohulls and a fleet of cruising yachts. But then, three little, local racing multihulls charged through the field, leaving the bigger yachts in their wake. Burt, a 33-foot Reynolds cat, won the 15-nautical-mile race in one hour, 26 minutes, followed by Kaia, a Seacart 26, and 8.5 metres box cat, Miss Minnie. The first cruising catamaran over the finish line was 60-foot Marcato, and the first monohull was Fenice, a 62-foot Beneteau.

On day five, the participants in the 6-nautical-mile Sandbar Race merely drifted over the starting line with flapping sails. All crews rushed on deck to hoist their light-wind sails as quickly as possible, and went chasing the cat’s paws on the otherwise calm seas.

As the race went on in slow motion, we had plenty of time to admire the aesthetics: The boats looked like pretty butterflies with all the canvas they could carry. Colorful spinnakers, gennakers and other light-wind sails reflected on the sea under a deep-blue sky.

Big, heavy boats had no chance in these conditions, and for a while Burt, the winner of the Round Malolo Race, and Wow, the winner of the Pirate race, were neck and neck. Wow won in one hour, 17 minutes, with Burt in the second place.

If you’re heading toward the South Pacific in 2023, stopover in Musket Cove in September. The entry fee for regatta week includes an opening and closing dinner, and free drinks. Prizes range from free haul-outs at sponsoring marinas to gift baskets. https://www.musketcovefiji.com/yacht-club-marina/sailing-regatta

Birgit and Christian have been cruising on their Sparkman & Stephens design Pitufa for 11 years. See their blog www.pitufa.at or follow Pitufa on Facebook.

The post 2022 Musket Cove Fiji Regatta Week appeared first on Cruising World.

The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series continues this weekend with races in Annapolis. The series runs May 13-15 and is hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club. Events include Saturday’s popular North Sails Rally Race– open to multiple classes including the ORC cruiser class–along with nightly Mount Gay Rum and Anchor Brewing Happy Hours.

This is the third event in the series and follows the February St. Petersburg regatta and the March San Diego regatta. The series continues in Chicago, June 10-12, and in Marblehead, July 28-31. The series finale takes place in the Caribbean October 22-29.

For information visit sailingworld.com/regatta-series-annapolis/.

The post Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series On In Annapolis This Weekend appeared first on Cruising World.

As cruisers, charterers and racers cast a hopeful eye on the 2022 sailing season in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Sailing Association is hosting a well-timed Zoom call this weekend to provide up-to-date information on the islands and to answer questions local and visiting skippers and crews may have. The CSA Zoom hour, set for Saturday morning, October 9, is designed for sailors planning to join the 2022 regatta and race events.

CSA has invited regatta organizers from the major Caribbean international regattas to present quick updates from their islands, then the floor will open for questions. Questions on 2022 regatta itineraries along with the islands’ COVID-19 protocols are expected. Some sailors are seeking information on which islands to target for flights in and out of the islands, while cruisers may be searching for check-in procedures and updated race rules.

With a full docket of events scheduled for the season, Alison Sly-Adams, CSA president, said cruisers are often drawn to the early-season Grenada Sailing Week, January 30 through February 4.

“It’s a destination event, with a race around the island. Racers sleep on board, which is suited for cruisers. And the Sailing Week is preceded by Grenada’s popular sailing festival, the week before the regatta.”

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta March 3 to 6 is another cruiser favorite, along with Antigua Sailing Week, set for April 30 to May 6.

The CSA recently added a club class rule, opening up some of the most popular races with a cruising class.

“We realized that there are loads and loads of boats that want to get involved,” Sly-Adams said. “CSA said, ‘Let’s look at a rule for the cruising boats.’”

CSA’s chief measurer Bastien Pouthier, based in Trinidad, and treasurer Jaime Torres, based in Puerto Rico, were instrumental in adding the club class to the events, Sly-Adams said. “We want the regattas to be safe, competitive, and fun.

Sail, then go in and have a beer, have a meal ashore in the islands. We look forward to seeing you there!”

The RORC Caribbean 600 is a perennial favorite of racers, cruisers and sail charterers. With a February 21 start from Antigua, the 600-mile race takes competitors around 11 Caribbean islands. A dozen teams from around the world have expressed serious interest in taking line honors this season, including the 100-foot Supermaxi Comanche. A strong crew and solid trade winds could set the VPLP-Verdier 100 on a record-winning streak around the islands.

The line-up of 2022 CSA races and regattas include:

• Barbados Sailing Week, January 18 to 23
• Grenada Sailing Week, January 30 to February 4
• Caribbean Multihull Challenge, February 4 to 6
• RORC Caribbean 600 February, 21 to 25
• St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, March 3 to 6
• Antigua Superyacht Challenge, March 9 to 13
• St. Barths Bucket Regatta, March 17 to 20
• St. Thomas International Regatta, March 25 to 27
• BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival, March 28 to April 3
• Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, March 30 to April 4
• Les Voiles de St. Barths, April 17 to 23
• Antigua Sailing Week April 30 to May 6

For information see the CSA website caribbean-sailing.com.

For the Zoom meeting, see the registration link below:

When: Oct 9, at 8 a.m. EDT, 9 a.m. ADT.

Register in advance for this meeting: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckd-utqj8tGNf0odifbGD0bBBaDaHFj8p_.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The post Add a Regatta to Your Caribbean Fun appeared first on Cruising World.

Of course I was at the wheel when the spinnaker halyard broke. Why is it that I always seem to be driving when things get, um, interesting? It’s an unanswerable question. Anyway, here’s what happened.

Aboard the sweet-sailing 57-footer Sky, under the command of one Johannes “Jopie” Helsen, the sun had risen after our second night at sea en route from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, in the 50th running of the Regata del Sol al Sol, an international yacht race spanning the Gulf of Mexico. I’d been at the helm for about 40 minutes when, suddenly, in a rather fitful breeze at 0940, the kite’s halyard parted and the sail fluttered into the sea, as soft and gently as if I were applying a crisp new sheet to a freshly made bed.

The very first thing that popped into my mind was, “This is great!”

I wasn’t kidding. I’ve watched a few spinnakers blow in my day, invariably on a black night in a rising wind in a rough seaway. Here, the waters were calm, the wind lightly astern, and our eight-person crew was wide awake, on deck and ready. If you had to drop a kite, it would be hard to imagine better conditions.

One of the handiest things to have on any sailboat, at any time — but especially in an emergency, large or small — is a skilled sailmaker. Luckily, we happened to have one handy: Dan “DJ” Driscoll, the Doyle Sails rep who’d built Sky‘s handsome set of brand-new sails. In a tone that was at the same time laid-back and urgent, he said, “Bear off.” I was headed in that direction anyway, but his advice was reassuring.

It was a bit of a chore for the crew to gather the soaked sail back aboard — the spinnaker sock’s hoop, streaming astern, was a pretty effective sea anchor, and I had to luff head to wind to help them corral the sail — but the job was accomplished fairly quickly. And almost immediately, Jopie, Dan and the gang had a new chute on deck. Sheets and a fresh halyard were affixed, and it was hoisted aloft in no time flat.

“Nice job, bro,” I said to Dan, who had calmly orchestrated the whole maneuver. His shrug suggested next time we should give him something more difficult to do.

I’d glanced at my watch the moment the old kite hit the drink and did so again when the new one was up and drawing. Twenty-three minutes. Exactly. Hold that number.

Fifty years ago, in the spring of 1969, a pair of strapping, sailing-crazed lads from the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, Jopie Helsen and Charlie Ball, were ­crewmembers aboard an Ohlson 38 called Marespell, one of 15 entrants for the inaugural edition of the Regata del Sol al Sol. The event was initiated by the Mexican government as a means to promote tourism and the little island off Cancun called Isla Mujeres, at the time a sleepy fishing village with about a thousand residents and not a single paved road. “From the sun to the sun” was an appropriate name — after all, the sun rises over the starting line near St. Pete and sets over the finish near Cancun. Over the course of the race, the boys had quite an adventure, sailing through a fleet of Cuban fishing dories guarded by a looming gunboat; catching a glimpse of their first leopard ray; washing down beers that cost 18 cents apiece at the finish. Great memories all.

A half century later, on April 27 of this year, Jopie and Charlie were at it again, once more on the starting line for the race to Mexico. This time, naturally, things had changed. Instead of being mere deckhands, the old friends were the skipper/owner and navigator, respectively. The navigation itself was no longer by sextant and loran, but by sophisticated satellite-based instrumentation. And then there was the ride. Sky, to put it mildly, is no Ohlson 38.

No, the strapping 57-foot yacht, built in New Zealand at the vaunted Vaudrey Miller boatyard with a carbon rig and a lifting keel that drops down from 5 feet 6 inches to 11 feet 6 inches, among other features, is something altogether different. And ultimately, above and beyond Mexican races, so is its long-range mission. That’s because Jopie, with his girlfriend, Heidi Trilsch, is planning to sail it around the world.

Jopie says that, until very recently, the notion of circumnavigating never occurred to him. But it almost seems like his life’s journey led down such an inevitable road. Born in Holland to a boatbuilding father who moved the clan to Florida when Jopie was around 10, he started sailing at 5 or 6 and has fond recollections of puttering around his dad’s shop, fiddling with wood and model yachts he fashioned himself. By 13, after the family had settled in St. Petersburg, he decided to become a yacht designer and builder, and never changed his mind. In high school, he basically apprenticed with the legendary Charlie Morgan. He studied naval architecture at the Westlawn Institute, and by 25, ran his own boatbuilding company. Eventually, he tired of manufacturing and shifted his attention to yacht brokerage and his own high-end service and repair yard, Sailor’s Wharf in St. Pete, which has now been in operation for 40 years.

His interest in circling the globe was piqued when Sailor’s Wharf did the refit for a client sailing in the World ARC Rally. After the customer returned, he regaled Jopie with stories and photos of his adventures in French Polynesia and beyond. Jopie was transfixed. A lifelong sailor, Heidi was also fascinated. One thing led to another, and a search for the right boat commenced. At first, Jopie had little interest in Sky, but he sailed it, then had a second look, then another. Something clicked. He saw the potential. It could definitely be the right tool for the job.

When Sky set out for Isla Mujeres after its own major refit, it was the first time its new sails were raised. The Regata del Sol al Sol was more than a boat race. It was the shakedown voyage.

Just two hours before the starting gun was fired to begin that shakedown sail (and two days before our drama with the spinnaker), it seemed to me that our participation in the race was far from a foregone conclusion. An army of workers still scurried about the decks, screwing things down. The interior was in shambles, with brand-new cushions scattered everywhere, still in their plastic wrap. Aft, a worker had just affixed the name Sky to the transom in embossed letters, and another broke some bad news to Jopie, standing nearby.

“The S is upside down,” he said, gazing at the nameplate. Before stalking off, Jopie ­replied loudly, and in unprintable fashion.

The poor guy looked to me for solace. “Well, it is,” he said, sheepishly. For multiple reasons, I remained speechless.

But somehow, we made it to the start, over an hour’s motor from Sailor’s Wharf, with minutes to spare. I considered it nothing shy of a miracle. The trouble with owning a shipyard, Jopie later explained, is that all the customers’ boats come first. In any event, we were off.

To say that the roughly 450-nautical-mile Regata del Sol racecourse is interesting and challenging is an understatement. There are not one but three significant currents that must be addressed and compensated for, and doing so correctly (or not) holds the key to one’s success (or not) in the race. The circular, clockwise Loop Current in the middle of the Gulf is the first obstacle, but those who latch on to the southerly flowing east wall can enjoy a significant boost in the early going. Farther south, nearing Cuba, you must avoid, as best you can, the easterly flowing Gulf Stream, which can set you in the opposite direction from which you need to sail. Lastly, on the final approach, the northerly flowing Yucatan Current off the coast of Mexico can be dastardly if you find yourself too far north of Isla while crossing it. Happily, navigator Charlie had seen all this before, and he was ably assisted by yacht broker Josh McLean, of David Walters Yachts, an ex-Air Force man who knows his vectors.

In fact, the whole crew — which included another set of St. Pete sailors, Linwood Gilbert and Karen Park, as well as videographer Chris Gourley — was top notch. We’d never sailed together before, but I have to say we meshed quickly. It was a fun bunch.

We enjoyed a good, clean start, and were soon accompanied by a big crew of workers from Sailor’s Wharf on a spectator boat, who were no doubt ecstatic and relieved to bid us farewell. Under Tampa Bay’s iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge we went, beating to the one and only mark on the course, a channel buoy where a fleet of small-boat fishermen cursed and stamped as we slid past. Little did they know, there were another 29 yachts — the rest of the race fleet — still to come. Sorry, gents. See ya!

Before long, the wind freed and we were able to set the spinnaker, reaching before a sweet 10- to 12-knot breeze under brilliantly sunny skies. Dolphins frolicked in the bow wave as we clicked along at a tidy 8.5 to 9 knots. It was Champagne sailing at its absolute very best. And it ­continued on through the night, with steady pressure and a nearly full moon illuminating the sparkling seas. The speedo was locked on 10 knots and even nudged upward in the puffs, with DJ notching the top number of 13.4 knots. The next day, 24 hours into it, we’d reeled off 209 nautical miles. Sweet.

It lightened up as the day wore on, but we never doused the spinnaker. The second overnight sail was a little less sporty than the first. Lighter air meant we needed to sail deeper angles, and the breeze was up and down with small but persistent shifts. The level of concentration required at the wheel wasn’t commiserate with the results achieved; our speed hovered between 5 and 8 knots. But it wasn’t bad. The moon remained gleaming, and we were on our way to Mexico. It would’ve been rather churlish to complain.

Hours later, the halyard broke (we should’ve been adjusting it periodically to prevent chafe — oh well) and we had our brief but ultimately satisfactory fire drill. And lo and behold, there were only another 100 miles to go.

They were not easy ones. Actually, our last night at sea was pretty darn wild.

Charlie and Josh had done a spectacular job navigating, hitting the currents precisely at every waypoint for maximum advantage. Just before sunset, they called for a jibe to head south early so we’d have a favorable slant on the Yucatan Current — we had to cross it sooner or later; there was no avoiding it. With a northeast wind opposing that northbound current, which at times trucked along at up to 4.7 knots, as verified by our B&G instruments, the going was downright nasty. Fast. But crazy.

At the wheel, I soon realized it was best not to look over your shoulder, but sometimes I couldn’t help myself. The scene was mightily impressive, with standing waves measuring 4 or 5 feet tall. But Sky handled them like an absolute champ, plowing ahead with purpose and dispatch, never rounding up, just tracking along under complete control with its twin rudders as if it were on rails. At one point, the tack line for the spinnaker stripped and the sail went flailing, but ­naturally, DJ was all over it, and it presented but a minor hiccup. We crossed the finish line, one end of which was the 90-foot Mexican navy ship Tulum, right around 0400. Only a pair of boats had already finished, one of which was the famous racer Merlin, the other a Tripp-designed 75-footer. Serious company. For a ­cruising boat on its first major test, Sky had acquitted itself nicely. The cold breakfast cervezas, followed by heaping plates of huevos rancheros, went down smoothly.

Isla Mujeres is no longer a quiet village with a single hotel but a bustling island with two towns, 20,000 residents and countless day-tripping tourists from Cancun availing themselves of the many beaches and watering holes. We happily joined the festivities. We also welcomed a boatload of local kids and their families on board Sky for one of the event’s traditions, the Regata Amigos. It was a great day.

On the night of the awards ceremony, Charlie and Jopie were justifiably recognized as competitors in both the first and 50th Regata del Sol, a happy and proud moment for both the longtime friends and their crewmates. And Jopie gladly accepted the prize for Sky‘s victory in our class. The shakedown trip could not have gone better.

Well, except for one thing. When the handicaps were applied for the overall fleet prize, Sky finished second to a well-sailed Irwin 38, After You. Well done, guys.

But we couldn’t help chuckling at the ironic delta in corrected time between After You and Sky. Remember that broken spinnaker halyard story that begins this little tale? You guessed it. Sky finished second by precisely … 23 minutes.

Herb McCormick is CW’s executive editor. For more on the Regata del Sol al Sol, visit the event’s website.

The Regata del Sol al Sol has a fascinating history. It was founded by a local Isla Mujeres businessman named Jose de Jesus Lima (right), who wished to promote his home, at the time a sleepy fishing village. The Lima family continues to play a major role in the event today.

Way back when, the elder Lima was friends with Fidel Castro, who trained on the island before returning to Cuba and raising no end of rabble.

Sky‘s Next Adventure

When Jopie Helsen and Heidi Trilsch set sail from St. Lucia on January 12, 2019, to begin the World ARC 2019-20, they will be doing so not only as a personal quest to sail around the world, but also for a cause. Jopie is a cancer survivor, and the couple have many friends and family members who have been affected by the disease. So their goal is to raise $1 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A videographer, Chris Gourley, is part of Sky‘s crew, and the team plans on recording the voyage on YouTube and making their videos available to school kids for educational purposes and also for supporters of the adventure. For more details on how to follow the passage, or to make a contribution, visit Sky’s website.

The post Sailing from Florida to Mexico in the Regata del Sol al Sol appeared first on Cruising World.

An atmosphere of Caribbean-inspired euphoria, unbridled enthusiasm and — in retrospect — a pinch of overconfidence blew across the cockpit of Aigue Marine, our Sunsail-chartered Beneteau 50, as we sailed from English Harbour to nearby Green Island, just off of Antigua’s eastern flank. The plan was to toss the hook and clean the boat’s ample undercarriage in preparation for the next day’s start of the 2008 edition of Antigua Sailing Week. Given that our crew all had racing experience, and given that we were competing in the regatta’s chubby-hubby bareboat fleet, we naively assumed that our competition would be soft.

Three days and numerous mid-fleet finishes later, we were quickly learning that it takes more than a scrub brush and some late-winter cabin fever to win a Caribbean bareboat ­regatta, especially with other accomplished racers gunning for the same prize. Fortunately, as we happily discovered, competition can be as stiff or relaxed as each crew chooses to make it, giving sailors of all sailcloths the opportunity to engage in fun-spirited racing on some of the world’s best racecourses.

For sailors who want to do well, however, bareboat racing ace Neil Harvey shares secrets gleaned over 20-plus years of racing — and winning — these storied events.

“Bareboats are a ­wonderful concept of racing,” says Harvey, a longtime marine-­industry veteran and world-­famous Australian ocean racer, a few days after winning the 2018 Heineken Regatta’s 10-boat-strong Bareboat 2 division aboard KHS&S Contractors, the Dufour 44 that he and Michael Cannon chartered from Dream Yacht Charters. “You can bring your family and friends — your crew doesn’t have to be rock stars, and the boats are quite comfortable to stay aboard.”

As with all sailboat racing, assembling the right crew is one of the most important pieces of any winning formula, and the key, says Harvey, is to build a core group who are complemented by other sailors of varying experience levels. “We don’t practice together at home beforehand, but we like to practice before the first day of the regatta,” says Harvey, adding that the KHS&S Contractors crew used the regatta-within-a-regatta Gill Commodore’s Cup at this year’s Heineken regatta as their warm-up.

Much like our ­bottom-scrubbing sojourn to Green Island aboard Aigue Marine, Harvey and company arrive a day or two before the regatta and carefully comb through the boat. Their checklist includes a thorough bottom scrub (taking particular care to clean the leading edges of all appendages and the keel bulb’s underside), tuning the mast and inspecting the running rigging. Here, Harvey suggests dividing the crew into “bow,” “mast” and “mid-deck/cockpit” teams that are responsible for inspecting every individual piece of equipment, ferreting out broken sheaves and chaffed halyards and sheets, taping off lifeline fittings and gates, and taping over mast-mounted cleats that could otherwise snag jib sheets.

Most charter boats are equipped with a midboom traveler, and Harvey recommends carefully rinsing out the traveler car and its bearings, track and bearing races with fresh water and dish soap, then slacking all control lines and running the car back and forth on the track to remove all salt crystals before a final freshwater rinse. “Then, I put a little bit of McLube or WD-40 in the traveler car to condition the ball bearings,” says Harvey, who also advises polishing the compass prisms on both helms.

Next, Harvey suggests pasting white electrical tape next to each of the jib tracks — port and starboard — and numbering each pin-stop hole for easy visual reference. Also, if your boat’s jib-furling line leads aft to a primary winch, Harvey suggests re-leading it from the bow through an empty slot in a cabin-top organizer to a rope clutch and then to a cabin-top winch, which allows you to shorten sail if the primary winch is otherwise occupied.

Following the rules is an important part of mastering any game, and it’s critical that multiple crewmembers have read the regatta’s notice of race and are familiar with its sailing instructions. While most Caribbean regattas are governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing and handicap each boat using the Caribbean Sailing Association’s handicap formula, some events, including the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, employ their own bareboat rules. In all cases, it’s critical to understand the rules and penalties (such as 360- or 720-degree penalty turns), and while no one wants to be penalized and go into “the room,” Harvey suggests taping a protest flag to the backstay for fast deployment, just in case. “It’s a fabulous set of rules, and they made it even for everyone,” says Harvey about the even playing fields found in the bareboat fleets.

Once under sail and in full upwind trim, Harvey recommends marking your outhaul and halyard positions with a magic marker and then adding additional marks a few inches behind the clutch to serve as rough-trim reference points when quickly switching gears from upwind mode to ­reaching or running.

“I joke with the charter companies that I’ll be ­disappointed if the boat doesn’t come back in better condition than when we took it,” Harvey says of his pre-race setup work.

Next, the task becomes one of employing the fastest boathandling tactics. This starts, says Harvey, by backing down the boat minutes before your starting gun to remove any errant seaweed or kelp, while also ensuring that the engine’s gear shifter is in its neutral position.

Sails come next, and the first commandment of bareboat racing is never to reef the mainsail in less than 28 knots, says Harvey. “Full-batten sails with internal slugs make it almost impossible to pull the sail down without heading into the wind,” Harvey says, adding that swept-back spreaders make it extremely hard to re-hoist the main after rounding the windward mark. “Instead, it’s better to go with a full main and a [partially] rolled-up jib because this opens the slot, letting you lower the traveler in puffs.” Similarly, when pounding into bathtub-warm seas and preparing to tack, Harvey often puts four or five reefing rolls into the headsail and then unwinds this cloth on the next board.

While roller-reefing the headsail — rather than the mainsail — is fast, don’t ­forget to adjust your jib cars to achieve the correct sail shapes. Here, Harvey says, a smart move involves using the end of your jib halyard as a temporary jib sheet (running from the clew to a rail cleat) while adjusting a jib car, and to adjust the port and starboard jib cars at the same time — using the numbered tape as a fast reference — so the helmsman can tack as needed.

Carrying a full mainsail in a fresh Caribbean breeze requires active trimmers, and Harvey stations crew on the port and starboard ­traveler-control lines, which are never cleated off. This allows the crew to instantly crack the traveler off in puffs — keeping the boat on its feet and reducing weather helm — and quickly trim it to weather during lulls.

As with all sailboat ­racing, it’s important to watch the breeze and to react by “changing gears” as necessary, using controls such as sheets, outhaul and halyard tension, and movable ballast. “We have two rules when going to weather,” Harvey says. “We prefer you sit on the windward rail, but it’s OK to lean against the cabin side, and if you go below, you’d better come up with a few beers.”

Downwind tactics are eased considerably by the fact that bareboat fleets don’t use spinnakers, and Rule 49.2 of the Racing Rules of Sailing limits how far outside the lifelines crews can reach while holding sheets, but fast crews will pay close attention to the boat’s heel angle and attitude. “We’ll move two bodies to leeward [when sailing downwind],” Harvey says. “And we move all weight forward of the shrouds to get the stern out of the water.”

While spinnakers are out, sailing wing-on-wing is fast and class legal. In light to moderate airs, Harvey and his crew ease the mainsail all the way out and tie the boom to the cap shroud (using duct tape or a towel to protect it from damage), and move all crewmembers to the headsail side of the boat to help encourage the jib to fill. Also, steering 5 degrees to the lee is quick when sailing deep angles, Harvey says.

While fairly obvious, it’s important to avoid competitors’ dirty air and adverse currents, just like on any racecourse. However, Harvey points out that the equatorial current generally flows through the Caribbean in a westward direction (eventually becoming the Gulf Stream). Here, smart tacticians will monitor the difference between the vessel’s speed over water and its speed over ground, and will leverage this information.

Likewise, wave angles ­relative to the breeze are ­another important consideration, and Harvey suggests using the roller-reefing headsail to help deal with offset seas. For example, when negotiating the Anguilla Passage at the Heineken Regatta, where the seas are generally skewed a bit to the prevailing breeze, Harvey suggests putting in four or five headsail rolls when tacking into the waves, and then shaking out one or two rolls on the opposite board.

Harvey’s final pieces of ­advice are ones that we fortunately heeded aboard Aigue Marine, namely that the Caribbean sun is hot and intensely bright, especially for anyone accustomed to northern climes, so proper hydration and sun protection are critical. Consider carrying large water jugs to refill individual bottles, and definitely use strong sunscreen and SPF-rated clothing, the latter of which can be ordered with team livery.

While chartering a boat and enjoying a fantastic week of sailing at a Caribbean regatta is relatively easy (see “Charter Considerations,” above), winning is another matter. Still, Harvey and his core group of “nuclears” have used this playbook to collect more than their fair share of racecourse hardware over the past 20-plus years.

“It’s the most enjoyable keelboat racing I’ve ever done,” Harvey says, adding that he often optimizes his experience by tagging on a few days of cruising before or after racing. “And it’s an affordable way to do a major Caribbean regatta.”

David Schmidt is CW’s ­electronics editor.

Charter Considerations

Given bareboat racing’s popularity, Harvey recommends booking your reservations as early as possible to secure your spot on the starting line. Josie Tucci, the vice president of sales and marketing at Travelopia Marine (owners of The Moorings and Sunsail), advises that prospective customers must provide a sailing resume detailing their qualifications, pay a nonrefundable race-supplement fee, put down a refundable damage deposit and obtain the charter company’s permission to go racing.

“We’ve had fleets participating in the BVI Spring Regatta, St. Maarten Heineken Regatta and Antigua Sailing Week since their inception,” Tucci says. “We have a big contingent of active customers who enjoy the racing circuit in the Caribbean and can’t bring their own boats down but who still want to enjoy the awesome breezes, sunshine and turquoise waters. It’s nonspinnaker racing, so it’s accessible for all and a lot of fun.” Finally, Tucci says, “If you book your race package through us, we’ll handle registration with the regatta organizers for you.”

The post Bareboat Racing Basics appeared first on Cruising World.