News & Photos
- Boxing Day Race December 26, 2011, Buck Island Channel
After weeks of strong winds and early morning squalls, Boxing Day turned out to be one of the perfect sailing days of the year with 10 knots of wind from NNE and minimal swells. Of the total of 5 boats signed up, four came to the line, with Delphine (Vincenzo Ambrosi) still on her mooring due to technical difficulties. Three of the contenders came to the line at 1000, with Nick Castruccio and his youthful crew trailing the fleet by about 6 minutes, otherwise Annick would have been a contender!!
Chris and Debbie Schreiber, in the onlyRhodes19 entry, led the fleet the entire way and took line honors; they also were the only spinnaker seen on the course. The balance of the fleet, Ambivalence, Annick, and Barbaric Yawp, sailed competitively, swapping leads and finishing only 2 and ½ minutes apart, after nearly 2 hours of racing. The actual and corrected finish times were:
| Boat | CSA TCF | Actual Time | Corrected Time |
| Ambivalence | 0.759 | 1 Hr 54 Min 07 Sec | 1 Hr 26 Min 37 Sec |
| Barbaric Yawp | 0.786 | 1 Hr 52 Min 44 Sec | 1 Hr 28 Min 36 Sec |
| Annick II | 0.783 | 1 Hr 55 Min 10 Sec | 1 Hr 30 Min 10 Sec |
Race committee was headed by past Commodore Joe San Martin and included Walt, Karen, and Scott Stanton, Kate Diaz, and Julie San Martin. Prize giving (traditionally boxes, this year sailing stuff bags) took place at the St Croix Yacht Club at 1330. While a much lighter turn out than years past, it was a delightful day on the water, enjoyed by all.
VIODA Inaugural Optimist Championship Regatta
*Excerpt from the VIODA Newsletter November, 2011
“Congrats to the whole fleet of 23 sailors who enjoyed the beautiful waters of Maho Bay, St. John, and the memorable opportunity to stay in the Maho Bay Campgrounds for the Tino’s Clinic and Championship Regatta.
Sailors came from St. Maarten, BVI, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John to learn from Coaches 
Santiago Galan, Damian Saponara and Caitlyn Connolly. The coaches helped the sailors to improve their sailing skills greatly in just a few days. And those skills were put to the test as the week ended with the Championship Regatta.
The Regatta was a qualifier for the South American Championship (Sudo2012), to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March/April, 2012. The top five finishers from the USVI will represent the Virgin Islands in Buenos Aires. Special congratulations go to Sudo2012 Team ISV members Scott McKenzie, Paige Clark, Chris Murphy, Teddy Nicolosi and Natalie McConnell.”
Congratulations to Dylan Marohn and Sam Watterson for their acceptance into the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point!