40th Annual Around St. John Race Scheduled for Sunday, March 10

 

The 40th annual Around St. John Race, sponsored by the St. John Yacht Club, will be Sunday, March 10.

The race will begin at 10 am near Two Brothers rocks off Cruz Bay. One of the oldest and most varied sailing races in the territory the Around St. John regatta requires a full circumnavigation of St. John with a multitude of challenges for the  spinnaker and non-spinnaker racers.

“The racers will deal with many changes of winds and  have the need for many tacks as the racers make their way through the Drake Channel, and then have a chance to let it all out along the south shore,” said Jim Swan, commodore of the St. John Yacht Club. “The sight of many racers with full spinnakers deployed makes the long reach in the latter stages of the race especially beautiful.”

This year a special prize of $400 for a haulout will be offered. Instead of awarding the prize to the winner, the club will host a special drawing for which all entrants qualify.

Other prizes, sponsored by the club and Budget Marine, will be awarded to the top finishers including the Cees De Graaf Memorial Trophy for the first boat across the finish line. Cees De Graaf was a founding member of the St. John Yacht Club  and helped organize the first Around St. John Race in 1973.

The prerace captain’s meeting and race registration will take place at the Tap Room at Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. A postrace award ceremony and party will be at the Banana Deck in Cruz Bay immediately following the race on Sunday.