Tortola, British Virgin Islands, April 10, 2007 - Twenty miles of “no pain, no gain” racing will take place on Sunday, April 22, in the 2007 Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller. This windsurfing event in the British Virgin Islands was resurrected for 2005 and takes competitors on a 20-mile downwind ride from Pusser’s Marina Cay to Nanny Cay Marina.
The start will be held off Pusser’s Marina Cay at 10.00a.m. with the finish off the Island Surf and Sail lagoon entrance at Nanny Cay. The race is an open class format with any board or sail accepted. The prizegiving will be held at the Pusser’s Pub in Road Town at 5.30p.m. the same day. There is a reserve date of Sunday April 29, if conditions are not suitable on April 22.
Race organiser Owen Waters is looking forward to this traditional ‘Thriller’ race: "The race track doesn't get any harder each year but the sailors get hardened to the conditions. We have had 30 knots and 12 knots, it’s real world windsurfing and everyone is competing against themselves and local knowledge. Everyone is a winner in this event simply for having the bravado to do it. It’s a personal challenge for many and the ability level at the start of the race will have changed by the end.”
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Tortola, British Virgin Islands, April 3, 2007 - Tishan Solomon and Robyn Fawcett were the lucky winners of $250 deposit accounts with FirstCaribbean International Bank in the BVI on Sunday, April 1st. As Gold sponsors of the 2007 BVI Spring Regatta, FirstCaribbean International Bank held a free raffle that was open to all eligible visitors to the Regatta Village from March 29th through March 31st.
Ms Solomon and Ms Fawcett, both BVI residents, were drawn from over 125 names at the start of the BVI Spring Regatta 2007 awards ceremony held at the Regatta Village, Nanny Cay Marina on Sunday evening.
Following the welcome by Mr. Chris Haycraft, awards MC for the BVI Spring Regatta 2007, Mr Michael Spencer, Country Manager and Head of Corporate Banking for FirstCaribbean International Bank, BVI, invited His Excellency, Governor Mr David Pearey and The Honourable Chief Minister, Dr Orlando Smith, to draw the winning names.
Read more...Tortola, British Virgin Islands, March 28, 2007 - FirstCaribbean International Bank in the British Virgin Islands, gold sponsor of the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival 2007, is providing all eligible participants and visitors to the Regatta Village at Nanny Cay Marina, the opportunity to enter a free raffle draw which could win them one of two prizes of a $250 Deposit Account.
“The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival has become such a major annual international event and FirstCaribbean International Bank is pleased to have been offering support for the last three years to something that so greatly benefits the local community and invites world wide visitors to experience the best of the sailing spirit in the BVI,” comments FirstCaribbean International Bank Country Manager and Head of Corporate Banking, Michael Spencer. “Our free raffle provides an additional fun element to the festive occasion as well as an opportunity for FirstCaribbean to spread awareness of the variety of services we offer. The raffle is open to all qualifying persons who may or may not be existing FirstCaribbean clients and we encourage eligible participants to take advantage and visit our tent at the BVI Spring Regatta Village at Nanny Cay from 4pm – 9pm from Thursday, March 26 through Saturday, March 31 to enter the draw. We will reveal the two lucky winners at 5pm just before the BVI Spring Regatta awards on Sunday, April 1.”
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Jolly Harbour, Antigua, March 16, 2007 - Horizon Yacht Charters (Antigua) has announced that it will be launching a seven-day 'New Adventure' course commencing May 1, 2007. This course is designed for people who have always wanted to enjoy the benefits of sailing instruction but without the pressure or structure of studying for a formal qualification.
Horizon Yacht Charters has teamed up with RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Instructor and Examiner Frank Pearce to provide tailor-made instructional packages that will suit individual requirements. Frank gives the benefit of his vast experience whilst providing a fun charter with excellent learning opportunities for all skill levels. Course content ranges from coastal and inter-island navigation, principles of sailing, basic rules of the road, mooring and anchoring to safety at sea. Seven days are spent sailing on a Horizon yacht between 40 and 50 feet in length.
Antigua, January 30, 2007 - Horizon Yacht Charters Antigua has launched an eight-night 'Sail & Dive' package designed to accommodate sailing divers that want to enjoy everything Antigua has to offer above and below the water. Three nights are spent ashore with up to five dives over two days and five nights are spent sailing on a Horizon yacht between 40 and 50 feet in length.
The shoreside accommodation is provided in Antigua's premier resort marina - Jolly Harbour Marina - in one of their waterfront two-bedroom, two-bath villas with air-conditioning throughout. The diving is offered in association with Indigo Divers, which together with Horizon Yacht Charters, is based at Jolly Harbour Marina. The only requirement is an internationally recognized Open Water PADI certificate. Complimentary refresher courses are also offered for those that haven't dived for a year or more.
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, November 27, 2006 - The 37th annual Pusser's Round Tortola Race took place on Saturday (November 25) and Milt Baehr's Jeanneau 52.2 igoodia, last year's winner, won for the third time in the racing class. Pipe Dream was second and 2004 winner, Mistress Quickly, was third. Second Nature, Bill Bailey's Hughes 38, took the cruising class.
Trimaran Triple Jack, a 28-year old Transat veteran skippered by Steve Davis, took line honours with a time of four hours and eight minutes but periods of light airs in the second half of the race put paid to her chances of a win once corrected time was calculated. Over the four-hour race Triple Jack needed to finish 46 minutes ahead of igoodia to win but missed by eleven minutes finishing only 35 minutes ahead.
With little interaction between the fleet after the first part of the race, competitors tend to race against their handicaps, where the winners are those who keep up their concentration and speed throughout the race and fall into as few wind holes as possible. "We thought as long as we could see Triple Jack we could beat her. We couldn't see her at the finish so weren't expecting to win," said Milt.
Both the racing and cruising classes started in the Sir Francis Drake Channel off Nanny Cay and then headed anti-clockwise around Tortola. The 15-yacht fleet started in a better that expected breeze of 12 knots which got patchy as the fleet headed round the north side of Tortola. After the beat east up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, the fleet turned the corner at Great Camanoe and it was a downwind run to West End where, after a quick wiggle through Soper's Hole, it was a beat back to the finish off Nanny Cay for the racing fleet. The Cruising class finished off West End.
Every boat "parked up" at some time on the 35-mile circumnavigation of the British Virgin Island's major island. The first three boats through Soper's Hole - Triple Jack, Manta and igoodia - had to tack twice to get through, while the rest of the fleet sailed straight through in one.
"This is the third year that we've won this race. We won it in 2003, were downisland for 2004, we won 2005, and now this year. What's nice about racing here [Tortola, BVI], is that you're racing against your friends," concluded Milt.
High Hopes, an IC24, was last across the line and received a Pusser's Rum Survival Kit. Sun Bum II and Balaju came from Puerto Rico for the event.
The prize giving party was held at Pusser's Landing, Soper's Hole, where Pusser's Rum ships decanters, flagons and hip flasks were awarded.
Final Results
Racing Class
1 igoodia, Milt Baehr, Beneteau 52.2
2 Pipe Dream, Peter Haycraft, Sirena 38
3 Mistress Quickly, Guy Eldridge, Melges 24
Cruising Class
1 Second Nature, Bill Bailey, Hughes 38
2 Delerious Dreamer, Ken Dunbar, Beneteau 50
Pusser's Rum, the Original Navy Rum, has sponsored the Round Tortola Race since 1989. Pusser's Rum is the Original Navy Rum that was served onboard ships of the Royal Navy for 330 years. The "single malt of rum" and father of grog, Pusser's Rum is recognized as the world's most rich and full-flavoured rum - and it's all natural, no flavouring agents are used.
Pusser's owes its rich and unique flavour to its distillation in wood. It is the only rum, and in fact the only spirit in the world, that is still distilled in wood; hand-crafted in the inefficient and costly old way in wooden pot-stills. Pusser's alcohol recovery is a mere 57% in contrast to the 99% or better of modern industrial metal column stills.
Pusser's was recently chosen by Forbes Magazine as "One of the World's 10 Remarkable Rums", while the Financial Times chose Pusser's as "one of the choice morsels from the enduring and the rare" in its "The Best of Spirits" feature article published on November 18th, 2005. As further testimony to its quality, in the only two prestigious competitions Pusser's has ever entered, it won gold medals at both the International Wine & Spirits Festival, London, 2001, and the Double Gold at the San Francisco World's Spirits Competition, 2003.
ENDS
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, May 27, 2006 - On Saturday May 27, a record twenty-five hardy souls entered the 2006 Pusser's Painkiller Thriller, a twenty-mile downwind windsurfing race in the British Virgin Islands. Nineteen finished, last year's winner defended his title and some do or die sailors landed at Nanny Cay beach over fours after they left the start line.
Last year's event took place in grueling 30 knot winds and 4-6 foot standing seas but this year conditions were more killin' than thrillin'. The race started in solid planing conditions with an upwind beat from the mouth of Trellis Bay to Beef Island Bluff. The lead was won and lost several times as the fleet approached the lighter and fluky conditions off the Bluff. Last year's winner, Ewan Anderson, was the first to emerge and managed to hold his lead in the downwind sprint all the way to the finish in a time of one hour and three minutes. Next to finish was Rusty Henderson followed by Bill Bailey.
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Tortola, British Virgin Islands, July 12, 2005 - Horizon Yacht Charters, one of the Caribbean's fastest growing yacht charter companies with bases in the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and the Grenadines, is offering to refund the full cost of up to two first issue passports for US Citizens who are planning a sailing vacation in the Caribbean with them next year but may be affected by the new travel initiatives introduced by United States Departments of State and Homeland Security.
US citizens can currently travel with birth certificates to and from the Caribbean region but from December 31, 2005, US travellers will be required to have a passport to re-enter the United States.
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Horizon Yacht Charters, True Blue Bay, Grenada, June 17, 2005 - Horizon Yacht Charters (Grenada), based at True Blue Bay Marina, is offering a 25% discount on sailing charters of seven nights or more and a 35% discount on a two week booking or more from June through to the end of October 2005. This “Summer Extravaganza” is subject to availability and is valid for new bookings made after June 15, 2005.
“Our Summer Extravaganza is designed to coincide with the time of year in Grenada and surrounding islands when the best of Caribbean culture comes to life,” said Jacqui Pascall of Horizon Yacht Charters (Grenada).
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, June 6, 2005 – At an informal ceremony held on Saturday, June 4, at the Tortola Yacht Services boatyard in Road Town, FirstCaribbean KATS (Kids And The Sea) was launched and sailed to Nanny Cay Marina, home of the BVI IC24 fleet. FirstCaribbean KATS is a conversion and rebuild of the J/24 Barclays KATS which was originally donated to KATS in 1997 by Barclays Bank PLC whose involvement with KATS dates back to 1993.
"Today was a proud day for us at FirstCaribbean. FirstCaribbean KATS looked great as she was lowered into the water and it was gratifying to watch her sail off with her KATS crew," said Michael Spencer, head of corporate banking and country manager for FirstCaribbean in the British Virgin Islands. "The more we learn about KATS, the more we realize how important it is to support this organization that puts so much effort into ensuring that the youth of the BVI can safely enjoy the watersports that the Territory offers."
Nels Hagenson speaking on behalf of the KATS sailing program thanked FirstCaribbean bank whose donations have made the funding possible for the build process.