Puerto Rico’s Marco Teixidor is already thinking about his tactics and strategy going into Sunday’s last day of sailing in the 52nd St. Thomas International Regatta.
Teixidor, who has raced in this major Caribbean regatta since he was a kid crewing for his father, and his team on Cachondo, are currently leading the highly competitive 14-boat one-design IC24 Class. “For us, it’s all about being consistent. No breakdowns. No bad races. Anything can happen, and that’s what makes it exciting. But for us, it will be all about consistent starts and staying in front.”
Nearly 40 boats, racing in CSA Spinnaker Racing and three one-design classes: IC24s, Hobie Waves, and Sunfish, took to the seas today for the second day of competition. Sailors from all three U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and St. Maarten; several U.S. states, ranging from Massachusetts to California; and the UK and Ireland, are all here to race in the best sailing conditions and venue in the world.
IC24 Class A Chess Match
“The secret sauce for us is having the whole salad bowl on board,” says the BVI’s Mark Plaxton, who’s raced in STIR since 1995 and is helming the IC24 INTAC, and is in second, only four points behind Cachondo. “We have a sailor from Puerto Rico on the bow, a Canadian crewmember, and our jib trimmer is Morgan Avery from St. Thomas. Morgan brings his sailing knowledge and experience from racing with some of the great St. Thomas professional sailors like Peter Holmberg, Anthon Kotoun, and Taylor Canfield. Jersey Bay and Great Bay on St. Thomas are incomparable to anywhere else in the world to sail IC24s, except perhaps North Sound in Virgin Gorda. We’re looking forward to tomorrow. The fun out there is the tactics, the close competition, which makes the racing feel like playing a game of chess.”
The USVI’s Teddy Nicolosi, with his team on the IC24, Bill T, finished third in the class today. With Olympian Thomas Barrows and U.S. SailGP grinder, Mac Agnese, as crew, Bill T is still very much in contention to defend their IC24 Class win from 2025.
Meanwhile, St. Maarten’s Frits Bus, sailing with St. Thomas’ Chuck Pessler on the IC24, Island Water World, moved up to 6th place today. “We weren’t in the groove yet yesterday,” says Bus, who regularly sails Melges 24s and Lasers rather than IC24s. “Today, we had a great day. Great conditions, everybody right on the line at the start, and figuring out the wind shifts through the day. The class is tough because there are so many good sailors in the front of the pack.”
CSA Racing – Starts are Everything
Privateer, the USA’s Ron O’Hanley’s Cookson 50, took over first place in the class with a slim two-point lead over Puerto Rico’s Enrique Figueroa on the Melges 24, Exodus.
“The starts are tricky with the disparity of boat speeds in the class, so once we get off the line, we do our own thing, “says Tim Dawson, tactician, of the Newport, RI-based race boat sailing under the burgee of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Dawson says modifications made to both the equipment and crew training for inshore, shorter-leg racing in the RORC’s Admiral’s Cup last year enabled Privateer to better capitalize on the racecourses in STIR. “We sailed in and won our class in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta in March, and that shook the cobwebs out since we hadn’t sailed since last October. On Sunday, our goal is clean starts and sail smart.”
Puerto Rico’s Juan Jose Mari on his J/100, Freelance, rounds out third in CSA Racing.
ISCAs Take to the Seas
Today was the first day of racing for the ISCA’s, also known as Sunfish. The Sunfish World Championships, first held in St. Thomas in 1970, will be hosted by the St. Croix Yacht Club in November, making STIR a tune-up event for several local sailors. St. Croix’s Peter Stanton leads the Class on the scoreboard with brother, Scott Stanton, second, and St. Thomas’ Tyler Rice in third.
“The trick was applying the learning in the morning, and tips picked up over lunch, to the afternoon of racing,” says St. Croix’s Michele Petersen, who raced today and will compete in the Sunfish Worlds.
For 15-year-old St. Thomas high school sophomore, Keondy Ambo, STIR was his first regatta sailing a Sunfish. “I was introduced to the Sunfish at the Junior Sailing Program hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club two summers ago. I really liked it and wanted to continue. This regatta is more for fun than competition, but I am learning a lot about how to rig better and power the sail.”
Hobie Waves Feature Sports Future
Teen and pre-teen sailors dominated the One-Design Hobie Wave Class. Leaders after Saturday’s racing were St. Thomas’ Kip Hodgens and St. John’s Hunter Reinbold in first aboard Boogie Board Bandits.
“Our goal today was not to capsize,” says 12-year-old Reinbold.
“The Sunfish class went before us, so we were able to watch them and have a better idea of where to go,” says 11-year-old Hodgins.
Hodgen’s brother, Finn, and St. Thomas’ Will Zimmerman, finished second in WINN, while St. Thomas’ Rowan Walters, on Hobie Speed, rounded out third.
