2005 International Rolex Regatta -New Courses And Brilliant Performances Define Success

ST. THOMAS, USVI (March 31, 2005)— When near-perfect tropical conditions combined with some intriguing new twists at the 2005 International Rolex Regatta, the 32-year-old "Crown Jewel of Caribbean Racing" became an Easter weekend spectacular. The March 25-27 event, put on by the St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands, hosted 79 boats and hundreds of sailors, serving up warm steady breezes under skies that matched the sapphire blue of the water below. The regatta’s previous trend toward a schedule of mostly around-the-buoys competition was reversed, giving sailors distance courses on two of three racing days and a chance to fully appreciate the spectacular venue where they sailed. The post-racing parties, as well, were reinvigorated, taking advantage of the unique beachside setting of the St. Thomas Yacht Club where the crews gathered each night after racing.

For Richard Shulman (Riverside, R.I.), winning skipper on the IMX 45 Temptress in Spinnaker Racing Class 2, Good Friday lived up to its name for the regatta’s opening day. He and his all-Rhode Island crew posted victories in two of three short-course races -- their flawless boat handling and decision making aided by two decades of sailing together. It was during the second day’s racing, which featured a spectator-friendly course that skirted the south shore of St. Thomas and finished just inside the harbor at Charlotte Amalie, that Shulman’s childlike enthusiasm for where he was and what he was doing bubbled over.

"I actually gave up the helm at one point," said Shulman, "because I wanted to just sit on the rail and look around. It’s my first time sailing in this event, and the scenery is just so amazing."

To get back home that day, the fleet reversed course after restarting in the shadows of the magnificent cruise ships berthed in the harbor. The two-hour slog against 12-15 knot headwinds -- the antithesis to the easy mix of downwind and reaching angles that had preceded it -- was longer than some might have liked, but Shulman, back at the regatta beach party after adding two more victories to his lineup, didn’t seem to mind. "I mean, we’re racing in the Caribbean, what’s there to complain about? And we’re winning; so we really can’t complain. I’m absolutely thrilled."

The next day’s traditional Pillsbury Sound Race wove through and around the islands, bringing forth all the colors associated with Easter day when the boats launched their spinnakers against a relentlessly blue sky. At day’s end, winners in nine classes -- including Shulman -- received Rolex Submariner watches as prizes, another tradition that sets this Caribbean regatta apart from the others.

Tom Hill’s Puerto Rican entrant, Titan 12, continued its recent string of regatta wins by turning in an awesome performance in Spinnaker Racing Class 1, reserved for the fleet’s five largest boats. The 75-foot Reichel/Pugh design posted six victories in as many races, showing that boat handling, as much as spot-on navigation, was the name of the game.

"We nailed the starts in all three short-course races and led from the get-go," said Titan’s navigator Peter Isler (San Diego, Calif.). "It was really incredible when the race committee shortened the weather legs to one mile. It took us only 6 1/2 minutes to go downwind and less than ten minutes to go back up, so it put a lot of pressure on the crew to deal with the spinnaker. On a 75-foot sled that’s pretty hard to do, but the crew was up to the task."

Another team to post a perfect scoreline was Enrique Figueroa, a multiple world and national catamaran champion who has represented his country in the Olympics four times, and his wife Carla. The Puerto Rican couple, sailing their Hobie Cat 16 Suzuki/Red Bull in the Beach Cat Class, went so far as to take line honors from the biggest cat, a 20-footer, in the final race, passing it in a brilliant display of talent within 200 yards of the finish line.

"We don’t normally cross the finish line first, because we are one of the smallest boats," said Figueroa, explaining that the beach cats, like all but two of the regatta’s nine classes, depend on a handicap rating system to determine finish positions. "We normally just work to keep as close as possible, but they flipped, we passed them, they caught us again, and then we passed them at the end." The episode will stand out as a favorite for Figueroa, even though he has won this event more times than he can remember.

Some of the closest competition in the regatta took place in Spinnaker Racing Class 3 where, up until the last day, Don Q Limon, a Melges 24 skippered by Puerto Rico’s Enrique Torruella, had managed to keep a one point lead over Mistress Quickly, another Melges 24 owned by Guy Eldridge of Tortola. In a last-race showdown, Mistress Quickly hunted down Don Q Limon at the start, ultimately finishing second to Don Q Limon’s third. In overall scoring, the boats shared the same number of points but Mistress Quickly won the regatta on a tiebreaker. Eldridge has been aboard a winning boat at the International Rolex Regatta before but received the Rolex watch for his efforts this time. "I’m real pumped about that," said Eldridge.

It was also "do or die" on the last day for the IC-24s, uniquely altered J/24s that are indigenous to the area and draw an abundance of local talent to their sailing ranks. While the other classes sailed the Pillsbury Sound race, the IC-24 sailors -- 16 in all -- did their own thing on a separate race circle, turning in three buoy races to complete a nine-race series. Winning the regatta by a single point was Sea Hawk, skippered by three-time Olympian Robby Hirst (Tortola, BVI) and his brother Michael. Though short-course racing was its focus, the IC-24 fleet proved fiercely competitive in the second day’s distance racing as well. As St. Thomas skipper John Holmberg explained, "We were 16 boats wide at the start, and then rounding the next buoy three miles away, we were still 16 boats wide."

In the other one-design class for J/24s, Fraito Lugo, sailing his Puerto Rican entrant Orion, counted a DNS (Did Not Start) in his first race for going to the wrong race circle, but he went on to win five of his next six races. The performance gave his veteran team the top spot on the leader board and Lugo, a multiple past winner at this event, his sixth Rolex watch.

Lost Horizon II, an Olson 30 skippered by James Dobbs (Antigua) posted five bullets in six races to win Spinnaker Racing Class 4, while the First 40.7 Lazy Dog, skippered by Sergio Sagramoso (San Juan, PR), topped the Spinnaker Racer/Cruiser Class. In Non-Spinnaker Racing Class, Antonio and Ellen Sanpere’s (Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI) Soverel 27 Cayennita prevailed to win. Said a delighted Antonio, who sailed in the very first International Rolex Regatta in 1974: "I guess you could say I’ve been waiting 32 years to win this Rolex."

For rosters and full results, visit www.rolexcupregatta.com.