Blog

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

August 25, 2021

Get Ready to STIR Up the Fun! 48^th St. Thomas International Regatta Set for March 25-27, 2021

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Registration is now open for the 2022 St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) (yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14738), set for March 25-27, 2022. This is the place to be for world-class racing, the chance to trade tacks and tactics with America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean and Olympic crews as well as with weekend warriors who have sailed year-round in anticipation of besting fellow competitors. What’s more, register too for the Round the Rocks Race (RTR) (yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14737), which navigates by the neighboring island of St. John on March 24, as a great tune-up and extra day of racing and prizegiving. Add the one-stop venue at the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC), the quintessential beachfront Caribbean vibe, and organizers ‘can do’ attitude toward competitors, and it’s easy to see how STIR earned its motto, We Love It Here, You will too!

“For nearly fifty years of running regattas, we at the St. Thomas Yacht Club have provided our fellow sailors with beautiful island racing conditions and great courses, World Class Race Management and our renowned Virgin Island’s Hospitality and Fun. As we say at STYC We Love it Here, come join us and share the feeling!” invites Pat Bailey, STIR 2022 Co-Director with Greer Scholes.

Every One & One-Designs Are Invited

Everyone is invited! STIR 2022 invites CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association-handicap rule), racing, cruising and bareboat classes; ORC; Multihull; PHRF, racing, cruising and Jib & Main classes using the 2021 South East Florida PHRF handicap system; Hobie Waves and One-Design classes with a minimum length of 20 feet. Five one-design entries are required for a class. Some of the hottest classes will be the one-design. Nearly 20 IC24s are anticipated to be on the start line for STIR 2022. The fleet of Hobie Waves is growing too.

Owners of the J/121 APOLLO are already making plans to race in STIR 2022.

“As of now, plans are in place to have APOLLO participate in STIR 2022. We are super excited about heading south for some awesome Caribbean sailing this coming winter. STIR is the first event on our southern racing circuit, we wouldn’t think of going south without including it. We love STIR, the people, the racing format and the top-notch racing committee that make this the do not miss event of the season for us,” says Denise Bienvenu, who captains the boat for owner and avid racer, Donald Nicholson, of Weston, MA. 

BYOB or Charter

Bring your own boat (BYOB) or charter! Chartering especially makes it easy to fly in, jump on a race-ready yacht and set sail! Over half a dozen outfits are offering vessels to charter either by boat or crew spot for STIR 2022.

One of these is the St. Thomas Sailing Center (stthomassailingcenter.com/st-thomas-international-regatta), with its fleet of IC24s. There are a limited number of IC-24s available for race charter for STIR 2022. The charter fee is US $2800 with new sails (no more than use in one previous regatta), US $2400 with very good sails. This fee includes the use of an IC-24 for the Friday through Sunday event, a practice day on the preceding Thursday, and a 30–day Bluewater Membership in the St. Thomas Yacht Club. To reserve, Email: info@stthomassailingcenter.com or call (340) 690-3681.

“IC-24s are a pleasure to sail — our comfortable conversion of a J/24. They are equal in performance, the competition is intense, with great camaraderie among the competitors.  The courses are a mix of windward/leeward and island races, with amazing scenery.  There is always wind.  The air temperature is 84 degrees.  The water is warm, clear, blue and beautiful. And the post-race parties, live bands and great STYC dinners offer an opportunity to really enjoy the whole experience with friends old and new,” says Dave Franzel, of the St. Thomas Sailing Center.

Beyond this, the J/120, J-aguar, is available by the yacht or crew spot from www.caribbeanraces.com or Email: mrbenjelic@gmail.com. So is the J/122, El Ocaso, from www.caribbeanyachtracing.com or Email: chris@rawsilk.co.uk OnDeck (www.ondecksailing.com) in Antigua is chartering its Beneteau First 40.7, Ortac, by the yacht either bareboat or skippered, and whole boat or individual crew spots are available on its Farr 65, Spirit of Juno, by Emailing: peter@ondecksailing.com UK based LV Yachting (lucy@lvyachting.com, www.lvyachting.com) has several yachts available to charter for STIR, including Pata Negra, a Marc Lombard 46; Wings, J/121; Phan, GP42; Escapado; Beneteau First 40.7; Hermes, Pogo 12.5; Hypr, Volvo 70; and Defiance, Swan 68. The STIR Website will be regularly updated regarding race charter opportunities.

Book Flights and Accommodations Now!

Hands-down, STIR is the easiest to reach of all the Caribbean regattas. Host destination, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, welcomes daily non-stop flights on six major airlines from U.S. mainland gateway cities. These include:

● American Airlines (Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, New York, Philadelphia)

● Delta (Atlanta, New York)

● Frontier (Miami, Orlando)

● JetBlue (Boston, Newark, New York)

● Spirit (Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando)

● United (Chicago, Houston, Newark, Washington-Dulles)

Air Sunshine, Cape Air and Sea Flight are airlines that operate within the Caribbean with service to St. Thomas.

Accommodations on St. Thomas include resorts, hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts and timeshares. Plus, there are approximately 600 villa units and 200 charter yachts on St. Thomas/St. John. Airbnb listings number over 1,000 on St. Thomas. For more information, visit the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism’s website at www.visitusvi.com

50% Discount on Registration

Register now for STIR 2022: yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14738. Compete in CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association) racing, cruising and bareboat classes; ORC; Large Multihull; PHRF racing, cruising and Jib & Main classes; Hobie Waves or One-Design classes with a minimum length of 20 feet. Pay only US $170, or 50% off the regular entry fee, between now and January 31, 2022. From February 1 to March 24, the entry fee increases to US $340 and for IC24s and Hobie Waves to US $230. A limited number of Hobie Waves and IC24’s are available for charter.

Early birds can win customized long-sleeve high-performance team shirts! The name of your registered vessel may be randomly drawn to win this highly coveted prize. The drawings will take place on October 31 and November 30.

Also, sign up for the March 24 Round the Rocks (RTR) race (https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14737). The U.S. Virgin Islands is fortunate to have many islands, cays and rocks to sail around. The racecourse will be determined by weather conditions on race day. Entry is US $50 per boat.

All travelers to the USVI must comply with any travel restrictions listed on https://usvitravelportal.com/. Please plan your travel accordingly and check the travel portal for updates regularly as requirements may change at any time. In addition, all competitors, crew, and guests must comply with all USVI and St Thomas Yacht Club COVID guidelines at the time of the event. These will be updated on the regatta website.

For information, visit www.stthomasinternationalregatta.com, Email: stycisv@gmail.com or Regatta Co-Director Pat Bailey at simpleislandboy51@gmail.com, or call (340) 775-6320. Check STIR out on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stirvi), Twitter @stirvi and Instagram #STIRVI

Media contact:

Carol Bareuther

Tel: (340) 998-3650

Email: bareuther@earthlink.net

Skype: Carol.Bareuther