52nd St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), April 3-5, 2026 – Entry Discount, Boats for Charter, Extra Day of Racing in Tune-Up Round the Rocks Race April 2!
52nd St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), April 3-5, 2026 – Entry Discount, Boats for Charter, Extra Day of Racing in Tune-Up Round the Rocks Race April 2!
Volunteer! Ocean Surfari Sponsors STIR Volunteer Shirts for 5th Year.
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Race, charter, or volunteer! There are plenty of ways to get a front row seat at the 52nd St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), April 3-5, 2026, one of the Caribbean’s premier regattas.
Sailors of all levels are invited to compete under CSA, ORC, IRC, and Multihull handicaps in classes spanning Racing, Cruising, CSA Bareboat, and One Design fleets, including IC24s, Diam 24s, Hobie Waves, and Sunfish, plus additional One Design classes 19 feet and over. Entry is $340, with reduced fees of $240 for IC24s, $150 for Hobie Waves, and $75 for Sunfish. Enter now at www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50483.
Photo: The USA’s Ron O’Hanley’s Cookson 50, Privateer, racing in the 2023 St. Thomas International Regatta. Credit: Dean Barnes.
Heading over from the BVI Spring Regatta? Boats racing there receive a 10% discount on STIR entry at registration, making it easy to extend your Caribbean racing circuit.
Looking to charter? Join one of the region’s most competitive IC24 fleets and vie for podium honors in the class and for the 2nd Caribbean IC24 Championships, held within STIR. Only a limited number of boats remain. Charter rates, including race-ready sails, are $3,400 for STYC members and $3,700 for non-members. Reserve through the St. Thomas Sailing Center by contacting Bobby Brooks at (340) 690-3681 or info@stthomassailingcenter.com.
Arrive early and tune up at the Round the Rocks Regatta on April 2, where IRC, CSA, Multihull, and One Design classes race around the neighboring 19-square-mile island of St. John. Enter at yachtscoring.com/emenu/50495.
Photo: The USA’s Stephen Schmidt and his crew sailing the Santa Cruz 70, Hotel California Too in the 2025 Round The Rocks Race. Credit: Ingrid Abery Photography, www.ingridabery.com
Not racing? Get involved on shore or on the water. Volunteers are needed for the race committee and mark boats, as well as shoreside support at the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC). All volunteers receive a complimentary, stylish STIR Performance Shirt as a ‘thank-you,’ sponsored by Ocean Surfari, featuring moisture-wicking, quick-dry fabric and SPF 50 sun protection.
“As we like to say, ‘We Love It Here’—and we invite you to enter STIR now and race with us,” invites Pat Bailey, who co-directs STIR 2026 with Greer Scholes. “STIR delivers professionally set, highly competitive racing—whether it’s challenging courses around our beautiful islands or tight, tactical round-the-buoys competition—offering some of the best handicap and one-design racing in the Caribbean. Pair that with cold drinks, live music, and a toes-in-the-sand atmosphere ashore at the St. Thomas Yacht Club, and you have the perfect blend of world-class racing and authentic Caribbean atmosphere.”
Teams Ready to Take Their Starts
Sailors from the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Antigua, several U.S. states, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland are already registered to race STIR 2026.
“The STIR has been a staple of the Privateer program from the beginning,” says Tim Dawson, tactician aboard the Cookson 50, Privateer, based in Newport, RI, and sailing under the burgee of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. “You could say it all started in Cowpet Bay. The very first Caribbean regatta we did was back in 2006 on the Swan 48, so this year is a bit of an anniversary. The Privateer we sail now was just under construction, and I recall conversations on the porches of the condos there in St. Thomas about the build details of the Cookson 50 and its launch later that year. We’ve done STIR several times on the Cookson. We always look forward to the race courses, the combination of open water and ‘rock hopping’ races. And the vibe at the yacht club is always great and very hospitable.”
Privateer will be racing in the same class as Apollo, Donald Nicholson’s J/121. After a ‘port-starboard’ collision at the starting line last year, Apollo has been fully repaired and refitted like new.
“We are a 50:50 mixture of Canadian and USA sailors, which makes it very difficult to discuss hockey, but we are harmonious otherwise. Our three goals are simple: have fun sailing in this incredible venue, see what the’ new’ Apollo can do in her revised configuration, and, of course, do our best to be on the podium,” says Nicholson, who hails from Westin, MA.
Puerto Rico’s Enrique Figueroa and his Melges 24 team, which won their class two years ago, are back aboard Exodus.
“We’ve been attending STIR since 1994,” says Figueroa. “Some highlights include winning the beach cat class in 2001 and 2002, and in one of the spinnaker racing classes in 2024. Same as always, fun racing, good fives, a great bar, and awesome club are what we look forward to.”
The One-Design IC24 Class is the largest of the regatta to date, with nearly a dozen entries. St. Maarten’s Frits Bus and St. Thomas’ Chuck Pessler, along with their crews, will again race as Team Island Water World.
“The hospitality at STYC and reconnecting with old friends are always highlights, but since the start of the IC24 class, it’s the one-design racing I enjoy most—it’s the best,” says Bus. “I’m looking forward to tight competition, a few general recalls, and, as a bonus—but not a must—a strong finish.”
Strong Sponsor Support
This marks the fifth year Ocean Surfari has sponsored STIR’s volunteer shirts. The lifestyle brand and retail chain, known for its high-performance beachwear, sun protection gear, and ocean adventures, has four locations in the U.S. Virgin Islands—on the Waterfront in downtown Charlotte Amalie, Havensight Mall, and Red Hook on St. Thomas, as well as Cruz Bay, St. John—and in Florida.
Our shirts are tested tough 365 days a year by our Captains and Crew and will last a very long time,” says Marc Blackburn, who has sailed for nearly two decades, living on sailboats for half that time. “We have enjoyed regattas both here in St Thomas and other Islands such as the Bahamas. We are proud to support both this year’s STIR Regatta and the St. Thomas Yacht Club, which shares the sailing passion with so many young people in the USVI!”
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Photo: STIR Volunteer Shirts sponsored by Ocean Surfari. Courtesy Ocean Surfari.
STIR organizers thank the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, The Moorings, K3, Ocean Surfari, Cardow Jewelers, and Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Gosling’s Rum, Mount Gay Rum, Michelob Ultra, Teremana Tequila, and Surfside Iced Teas & Vodka, distributed by CC1 USVI, for their strong sponsorship support.
STIR 2026 is a Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta featuring green initiatives.
For more information, please contact Regatta Co-Director Pat Bailey at Cell/WhatsApp (340-690-6607), Email: simpleislandboy51@gmail.com, or visit www.stthomasinternationalregatta.com. Check out St. Thomas International Regatta on Facebook, and @STIRVI on Instagram.
Media contact:
Carol Bareuther
Tel: (340) 998-3650
Email: bareuther@earthlink.net
Skype: Carol.Bareuther
