Roundabout Takes Second Straight Regatta in Winning Island Hopper

By Jim Furneaux

Roundabout at right took the second regatta of the season, Island Hopper, hosted by The St. John Yacht Club.

The St. John Yacht Club’s Island Hopper regatta winner, Paul Stoeken of St. Thomas, skippered his JC-24, Roundabout to a second straight victory in convincing fashion Saturday, February 12.

In January, Stoeken and his crew  won the  club’s Duke’s Trophy Race.

The regatta experienced perfect sailing weather for most of the race with 12 to 15 knot winds in three to four foot seas. The participants were however subjected to a passing storm late in the race which tested the racer’s mettle.

The start  between Two Brothers rocks and Lovango Cay was very competitive but Roundabout took an early lead by the first mark at Rata Rocks. Zing and Southbound vied for second  as the fleet  sailed back down past Lovango, Mingo and Grass Cays and then around Thatch Cay.

As the sailor’s approached the west end of Grass Cay, Zing’s skipper George Stuckert took the aggressive approach of passing between Boss Rock and Grass Cay to put the vessel securely in  second place. Stuckert’s move was somewhat daring as Boss Rock is notorious for the number of boats that have come a cropper on its well hidden danger zone.

The fleet then sailed back up around Carvel Rock then back down around Grass Cay and finally past Stephens Cay to the finish in front of Gallows Point. The course measured a total of 17.5 miles.

The final result was Roundabout in first, Zing in second and Larry Boxerman’s Southbound was the third boat. Roundabout’s skipper, Stoeken, a sailing instructor from St. Thomas, was presented the Bill Morris Trophy by Lee Morris, widow of the late past St. Yacht Club Commodore for whom the trophy is named.

The next St. John Yacht Club regatta is the Around St. John Race currently scheduled for April 10. The organizers are considering switching the date to Saturday, April 9, and hope to hear from racers about their preferences.

For more information call SJYC Commodore Scott Barnett at 693-8577.