News from RBVYC
Mark Sanders won the 2020 Nanny Cay Round Tortola Race that took place on Saturday 14 November. Eleven boats took to the race course in what turned out to be a challenging day on the water with afternoon squalls and wind shifts.
The cruising and racing fleets were first away at 09:05. Don Pietrykowski’s Pirate Flag was a little too keen, crossing the line early so had to return back and re-start. The others were clean away and settled in to the beat up the Sir Francis Drake channel. The multihull start was one hour later and as usual offered an impressive sight for the spectators at Nanny Cay. Sadly it wasn’t a day for record breaking and the Nanny Cay Challenge so all boats opted for the inside track rather than outside Guana, Camanoe and Scrub.
Line honours went to Firewater, the Melges 24 with Christian Thompson at the helm, finishing at 13:59:09. It was a waiting game for them to see if RIP, the IC24 skippered by Jason Putley, could do enough for the corrected time win. RIP came in almost exactly one hour later so on corrected time the win was safe for Firewater.
The second boat home was the 31-foot Corsair, Island Hops skippered by Mark Sanders, finishing at 14:10:23. Chris Haycraft’s Ting a Ling, another Corsair, and Miles Sutherland Pilch with Odyssey a Beneteau 44.7 kept the race committee guessing who was going to cross the line first with 24 seconds between them. Becky Paull’s Jeanneau 42, Aira, was the next home and, like Odyssey, it all came down to how soon the boats behind them would finish.
The final positions came down to the wire in both the multihull and cruising fleets. Each boat’s final position is decided by their ‘corrected time’ which is calculated using their rating and the ‘elapsed time’ (actual time spent racing). Ultimately, the wind gods favoured the faster boats and Island Hops clinched the win from Ting-a-Ling by 1 minute and 26 seconds whilst in the cruising fleet, Aira was the victor just 23 seconds ahead of Odyssey.
Thank you to everyone who raced, Dick and Tamara the race committee, Mandi for the photos and of course Nanny Cay for their sponsorship and continued support for the RBVIYC activities.
Results
Multihull
1. Island Hops, Mark Sanders
2. Ting a Ling, Chris Haycraft
3. Whoop Whoop, Kevin Rowlette
4. Airgasm, Barney Crook
Racing
1. Firewater, Christian Thompson
2. Racing in Paradise, Jason Putley
Cruising
1. Aira, Becky Paull
2. Odyssey, Miles Sutherland Pilch
3. Wicked Winch, David Lake Jnr
4. Pirate Flag, Don Pietrykowski
5. Tranquillo, Sean Laming
Nanny Cay Challenge
The Nanny Cay Challenge was launched in 2010 when yachts visiting the BVI were invited to make an attempt to beat the latest Round Tortola Records. The NCC can be attempted any-time any-day but must start and finish off Nanny Cay, circumnavigate in an anti-clockwise direction and leave Beef Island, Scrub Island, Great Camanoe and Guana Island to port.
During the 2019 BVI Spring Regatta the monohull and multihull records were both smashed. Bieker 53 Catamaran, Fujin posted an elapsed time of 1:57:16 whilst E1 the Volvo 70 skippered by Rafal Sawicki set a new monohull record of 2:53:08
Record breakers will receive a free dinner for up to 15 crewmembers and champagne at the beach side Peg Legs compliments of Nanny Cay. They will also have their names added to the perpetual trophy.
Challengers must pay an entry fee of $250 which is donated to a BVI charity of the challenger’s choice.
Find out more about the Nanny Cay Challenge at: https://nannycay.com/nanny-cay-challenge/
Current Records
Outright & Multihull: Fujin, Beiker 53, Greg Slyngstad – 27 March 2019 – 1 hours, 57 minutes & 16 seconds.
Monohull: E1, Volvo 70, Rafal Sawicki – 27 March 2019 – 2 hours, 53 minutes & 08 seconds.
Kiteboarding: Mike Hirst – 18 January 2019 – 2 hours, 14 minutes and 54 seconds
