We are going to have a 17th Annual Fools Regatta despite a lot of things that obliquely got in the way. The thing is the Fools Regatta is supposed to be a fun thing… the reality is it drove my Katya to distraction in organizing. People came out of the woodwork to condemn us for taking it on and acting as though we were taking it on… strange, but sometimes you forget this is a small community.

So now, the Provo Sailing Club has stepped up to the mark and is going to have a no rules sailing day of races and rides on boats. That is the Fools Regatta.

The Federation is going to have the second in a three part series of races called the TCI Challenge Cup Regatta with an ultimate aim of bringing other Caribbean workboat preservationist organisations here to share knowledge and skills through contests and conversation.

The Department of Culture is seeing this as an opportunity to bring cultural traditions to the forefront of a party. The other nonprofit organisations see this as an opportunity to let their concerns be presented to a happily receptive audience.

We all win.

The venue and date, which were left off our first banners and notices from a marketing firm are outside the Veranda construction site on the beach in front of the old stand and at Ol’ Smokey’s for those who remember. It is right next to, or West of The Alexandra and is gotten to by taking the to be well marked Beach Access that winds between the two locations. Keep going and it is not a dead end.

There is plenty of parking and the Veranda is happy to have us choose this site.

Boots Luddington is supplying the tents for the refreshments, food and displays, and shade. There are trees there also, and remember this is a site that Sloops from the Bight were built. He is also supplying the space at Turtle Cove for the Sloops to anchor before the race to insure easy delivery before the event.

The Mariners’ Week Celebration

We have a concern about the general media inquisitiveness about this movement of maritime preservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Within this Mariners’ Week Celebration we are including two new plays, traditional music, children’s skits, special prayers on Sunday, a challenge regatta to the whole of the Caribbean that starts with three days of racing and ends with a $20,000 overall prize, the Fools Regatta, The Great Raft Race, people investing lots of money on designing and building sloops, a crowd of over forty people ready to crew these boats, a Premier’s family sloop, the Governor crewing a sloop, yet aside from Gemma Handy of the Weekly News nobody actually calls to ask what is happening?

Is it that we are wooden and archaic that the interest does not stir the collective journalistic loin? Here you have a place that sits in the sun and is surrounded by turquoise waters but except for a couple of Hobies is vacant of sail. There are some parasail boats out there, and some dive boats and off in the horizon a couple of charter boats. But, even in the upper reaches of the Sea of Cortez where there are hardly anybody living in a real settlement, there are sailboats sailing. Here, no.

And here there is a tradition in sailing that goes back at least to 1678, and it has not died out. The Dean(e) family of Wheeland maintained the tradition pretty strongly. Gold Williams, Albert Higgs, Carlon, Headley and Marcus Forbes did also. Goldray Ewing came in late but moved strongly. JJ Parker sailed with his father and Baba Harvey sailed with his grandfather and they both still do.

Minx goes sailing for pleasure almost every Sunday and has done that for donkeys years, so has Tim taken his Polynesian dream boat out every chance he gets, charter or no. They are traditions within themselves.

In San Francisco a traditional sailing race with a $20,000 overall prize would make the front page on all the newspapers but here it doesn’t? Look at the front page stories in the media for your inspiration to go out into the day… Show me one that has sailing on it, outside the Haitian work invasion by sail.

What is this rigid stance against things that are brought about by the people in the community and are not a government function?

TCI Challenge Cup Regatta 2007

We are suffering setbacks. The most regrettable of which is Wil Gibson’s beautiful 30-footer he has invested a great deal of money and time in and has just had a freight box dropped on his specially designed mast. Wil has invested in a carbon fibre sail for the Challenge Cup and it is his boat that is featured in our weekly Maritime Heritage half page in the Free Press last week, showing Gold Williams shaving using the reflection off the paint job. Wil, our hearts go out to you. He worked after work completing this special design, with everything unique and awe inspiring but still with a traditional aura.

Wil’s second Sloop will not be able to compete due to his turning his attention on the first one to get that completely finished in time.

James Dean is also not going to enter his Eagle III in the regatta but will put his newest design in the fray. The grey-green beauty will touch water this afternoon (Wednesday) around 2PM.

The Middle Caicos contingent will not be coming this year. Carlon Forbes will race his new Leeward Going True if we can get it up from South Caicos in time but that will be the only participant from Middle. $20,000 is a tempting offer but not so much if you don’t think you can win and Providenciales and North Caicos are moving forward in the design area for traditional racing classes. There is very little hang up underwater around the bailing timbers today.

A secretly absconded photograph of Albert Higgs’ new design will be featured in Wednesday nights’ How Culture Works, along with all of the contenders, now numbering about twelve, given our recent dunking and non-recovery of Ranger. We do plan on going back and seeing about retrieving her by the way. And, I joined Goldray to win our class at the South Caicos Regatta that was not really covered by the media the day after we were found. H crewed with JJ Parker on Environment I, getting back on the tricycle, as they say.

The gaff riggers seem to be proving themselves almost invincible when the crew sails around all the markers.

Albert Higgs has already secretly launched his Sloop in North Caicos. George Deane launched his Sloop today without notice. JJ Parker will be launching the Misick’s Mary Jane tomorrow or Thursday, hopefully not secretively. Marshal will be delivering Leeward to Provo from South tomorrow. Goldray will be delivering his Maroons I Thursday. Wil will not be launching either of his Sloops for a while. All of the sloops will be gathering at Turtle Cove tomorrow and Thursday to give rides and practice and be worked on.

H and I will be bringing Mobile Enforcer to Turtle Cove to finish working on her tomorrow or Thursday. We hope Andy and crew will bring Weehoo to Turtle Cove tomorrow. Marshal will go back to his Environment I and bring her to Turtle Cove tomorrow or Thursday. Wing does not stop sailing and practicing so it is  hard to talk to him.

The DECR are providing the buoys for both the course markers and for moorage. They are always there to assist. We are hoping they will be there for the event to monitor the safety of so many boats in the general area.

We need crews. Call me if interested or go to Turtle Cove Marina. 243 2093…

The races will be Friday, Saturday and Monday. You do not have to do all the races, just let us know what you can do.

The Secret South Caicos Regatta

Well, we turned over. Five Sloops were delivered to the Rock, a desolate piece of green mangrove and sand with shallows all around named Black Rock on charts and left to spend the night. The next day we had no safety boat two hours after we were supposed to start and had the option of sailing to South Caicos or staying at the Rock with nothing in particular to do but get wet from an almost constant down pouring and getting blasted by wind and rain squalls.

We raced, trusting that the two promised safety boats would be in reach the closer we came to South Caicos. We were hammered by five separate minor storms with winds in excess of thirty-five knots. On the third, H and I were driven under water and sunk. Three other Sloops were towed in with damages.

But that was not the South Caicos Regatta. The next day, still bruised by our seven and a half hour ordeal, H and I separated to compete against the other on different Sloops in the South Caicos Regatta.

We had a Captains’ Meeting and our course was described but due to the distance of the first buoy we were told that the committee-safety boat would go out and place itself on the first buoy to show exactly where it was. There seemed to be a hurry to get the race going without the taking of the skippers to this hard to define buoy. The statement that was defining was that it was the same course as last year, meaning if you did not race last year you would not know the course.

Anyway, and innocently we went to our boats and at the signal raised anchors and sails and started the race. I misunderstood a Goldray grunt for starboard and moved the boat the wrong way at the start and everybody took off ahead of us in a light to moderately light breeze. Goldray wanted to chuck ballast and we put over about four bags of sand.

Then the breeze became a wind and we started making our bodies ballast as we started to close on the pack ahead. Then, they split into two patterns some going on a starboard tack and Evergreen maintaining a straight course for an invisible buoy. We knew last years course and Goldray insisted on his memory so we stayed behind Evergreen.

We eventually saw a buoy but not before some knockdown winds swept across the harbour reducing everybody’s sails one reef and causing havoc after yesterday’s havoc. There was no safety boat again. There was none at the distant buoy, not any out there when the wind was pushing everybody down. After the day before.

Rasta pulled bags of sand from the port to the starboard then back again as we tacked around the laid down conical buoy. We raced on gaining on everybody in a wind that got really fierce then died to a breeze again. We then saw the safety-pace-committee boat approaching and waving to everybody about something we could understand. I think they were asking if we were all right…

We yelled to them that only Evergreen and ourselves rounded the first buoy and to tell the others that they all needed to round all three buoys, and for them to show everybody where the first buoy was like they promised. I am not sure what they did because we concentrated on sailing more for pleasure then racing since we would win in our class now if we came in with our mast up.

There was a lot of yelling at the prize ceremony and the prize money was not what was promised, so there was more yelling. But, we did have hotel rooms this time and good food.

Mariners Week 2007 Schedule of Events

TCI Challenge Regatta 2007

Wed- Declaration of Mariners’ Week by Minister of Culture and Sports on Special Pre-Recorded Presentation
How Culture Works Old Time Interviews Channel 4
Possible Free Sail Rides to Public 4-6PM Turtle Cove

Thurs- Turtle Cove Sloop Day
Captains’ Meeting aboard Caribbean Queen 4PM
Rigging and Practicing off Grace Bay
Possible Free Sail Rides to Public 4-6PM
Captains’ Cocktail Party at Stargazer Villa 7:00-9:30PM
Local Media Coverage
Min of Culture Speech
Governors’ Speech
Catered

Fri- First Day of Racing
Captains’ Meeting at 2PM at Alexandra Resort
Official Beginning of TCI Challenge Regatta by Premier at 4PM
Alexandra Resort Starting Line
Race #I A, B Classes- WIV coverage
End of First Day of Racing Bragging Rights Party
Sponsors & Corporate Members Invitation Only Party with TCI racers at Alexandra Resort at 7PM
Sloop Dog
Ol’ Conch Duo
After Bragging Rights Race Party at Sailing Paradise at 9:30PM

Sat-Fools Regatta 2007 at The Alexandra

Rental local craft and local food stalls opening at 11AM
Official Opening of 17th Annual Fools Regatta 12PM by Governor in wig and tricornered hat

NON-SAIL RACE schedule includes;

• DJ,
• live music;
• lessons on Hobie Waves; 

LAND EVENTS and contests feature

• conch blowing,
• best seafood dish,
• rope making,
• children’s games,
• face painting,
• watermelon eating;

MARINER EVENTS feature

• scull racing,
• conching with waterglass and scull,
• diving for conch,
• pirate dinghy wrestling,
• greased spar climbing,
• children’s find the conch contest

SAIL RACE SCHEDULE includes

• Big Boat race to Pine Cay and return;
• 2nd Day of TCI Challenge with A, B classes;
• 3 types of beach cat races;
• The Great Raft Race

Sun- Day of Rest

Mon- Last Day of Racing at 4:30PM
  A,B classes
Alexandra Presentation of Awards by Min of Culture 7:30PM

Tue- Departure Day for Racers
 Min of Culture  taped Presentation on TV of Week’s Events

 

Captains Meetings
We are going to have at least two Captains’ meetings to sort out the reduction in Sloops available for racing and their class sizes and measuring standards. Since we will just have eleven Sloops at this last count and they range in size from 21’ to 30’, with some having overhanging sterns we have to have a conclusive class structure and specifications. Each Sloop has to be measured once more and a course has to be resolved and announced.

The first Mariners’ Week Captains’ Meeting will be held aboard the Fools Regatta Judges’ Committee Boat, the paddlewheeler, Caribbean Queen this Thursday, June 7th at 4PM. All judges and safety boat handlers should be in attendance. As well as all those interested in having their say about what the class size should be for the TCI Challenge Cup Regatta.

The second Captains’ Meeting will be at The Alexandra, on the VIP platform, at 2PM on Friday. The Captains will receive their course chart and get a tour of the buoys by safety boat. This meeting will also decide how many circuits of the course will be assigned by the force of wind and sea.

Sloops Sailing in TCI Challenge
Without the application count but by word of mouth, there are now 12 Sloops to be racing this Friday, Saturday and Monday in the TCI Challenge Cup Regatta 2007.

Though this number is the most to be seen out on the blue for over twenty years it shows the diversity of problems inherent to putting on an event such as this. There are five Sloops still under construction, one sloop sunk, one Sloop in a yard awaiting a decision, one Sloop on the beach awaiting funding to repair, two Sloops in Middle Caicos needing encouragement to travel and race.

Check out the Sloops at Turtle Cove and off Grace Bay before the racing. 

Take off work Friday to see some very competitive Sloops racing on Friday.
Enjoy the 17th Annual Fools Regatta as an all day beach party with a lot of sails flying.

Take the Monday holiday in stride with the last race of the TCI Challenge Cup Regatta under way off the Alexandra.