Thursday dawns with a good 12 knot breeze from the east, and some high cloud just taking the edge off the Caribbean heat. The fleet of 20 sailing superyachts and seven motor yachts taking part in the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta & Rendezvous are leaving the dock, ready for the fun on the water to begin.
Today’s course for the sailing yachts has been more or less set. ‘Today should be really easy ,’ comments Peter Craig, Principle Race Officer for the event. ‘We have a good breeze, and we are expecting something around 14 knots, perhaps decreasing to 10 knots later, so around the islands we go. Choosing the rating bracket will also be easy – we will pick the 12-knot moderate airs rating for the competing yachts.’
The provisional course set at time of publishing will see the sailing yachts heading anticlockwise, inside the Dog Islands, inside Ginger island for Class A and outside Ginger for Class B, with a beat up the south side of Virgin Gorda and a kite run round Necker Island to the finish. Meanwhile, the motor yachts will head over to Peter Island for a lunch at the Falcon’s Nest.
‘I’m excited to be back,’ says Peter Corr, owner of the yacht Aiyana which came second in 2011, ‘and this year I would like to win my class!’ As a local (Corr is based in nearby St Thomas), you’d have to fancy his chances…