KATS Chief Ministers Regatta

The 8th Annual KATS Chief Ministers Regatta was held July 7th – 9th on Tortola, BVI, at Nanny Cay Marina. Friday was an arrival day for the competitors where they were given the opportunity to practice up against the IC 24 racing fleet in the late afternoon.

Eight teams made up the field coming from all over the Caribbean. The venue at Nanny Cay was ideal for the regatta, with camping tents set up on the lawn next to the pool and docks for all the junior sailors to spend the weekend along side each other meshing new and old friends together from previous regattas.

The racing started Saturday morning and went to lunchtime where the Rotary Clubs of Tortola fed the teams. The timing was perfect, as a severe squall passed over minutes after the sailors raced back to the dock. A rotation of boats was made for the second part of the day's racing, making the playing field as fair as possible, even though the IC 24 sloops are a strict one-design class. The team from St. Thomas dominated the day by winning most of the races, showing great teamwork and obvious determination to take the Cup back to the U.S.V.I. once again. The newest team to the Cup Regatta was from Puerto Rico who gave the "Tomians" a run for their money.

Sunday brought perfect conditions with winds blowing 15-18 knots with a steep chop making the sailing downwind exhilarating. The Regatta format changed slightly from Saturday with the sailors racing past the lunch break to get in enough races prior to a team having to leave early to make a flight home.

Honorable Dr. D. Orlando Smith presents
the Chief Ministers Cup to St. Thomas

At the end of the day, St. Thomas managed to hang onto their lead even after being disqualified in one of the races for being over the starting line early. Taking second place and showing the most promise for next year's regatta was Team Puerto Rico, followed by the ever challenging Team Antigua, St. Croix, Team Yellow Tortola, Team Green Tortola, Anguilla, and then Team Bequia.

Hat's off to all of the volunteers, Nanny Cay Marina, Peg Legs Landing, Rotary Clubs of Tortola, and all of the sponsors that made the regatta possible.

KATS compete in International Rolex Regatta
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

The 2006 International Rolex Regatta, hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S.V.I. had one of the clubs highest attendances in recent years. Racing conditions were ideal for all classes that ranged from 80' racing yachts to the ever-exciting beach cat fleet.

The IC 24 class had 19 entries, the largest number of boats that the class has ever had. Competitors from Europe, United States, Puerto Rico, St. Marteen, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the British Virgin Islands made up the highly competitive fleet.

Going into the final day of racing, the first place winning boat could have been any of the top four boats. Sailing in light winds tested the skills of the fleet, with Robbie Hirst and his crew dominating the final day and taking home to the BVI's, a Rolex Watch awarded to the winners of each class.

Entered in the International Rolex Regatta was Team Tortola, of the British Virgin Islands, sailed by seven of the KATS Sailing program kids, ranging from age 12 to 16, based at the West End of Tortola. The crew was up against some of the best sailors in the world and came in a very respectable 16th place, excellent, considering the level of talent that was on the course for the three days of intense racing.

As a volunteer and sailing instructor for the KATS Sailing program for many years in the BVI's, I was lucky enough to spend the four days with the kids during the regatta and watch them improve with every race. In the past 46 years of racing yachts, I have never seen a group of kids sail and conduct themselves both on and off the water, as true Yachtsmen, as they did.

Because of the timing to organize our return trip back to the BVI's, we could not attend the awards presentation, but this morning I was told by one of our fellow BVI competitors that the kids, sailing their IC 24, "CCT Boatphone KATS", had won the Sportsmanship award, which included all classes that had sailed in the Rolex Regatta.

In all my years of sailboat racing, I have found that the Sportsmanship Award is the most prestigious award in yachting, even above winning a regatta in the overall standings.

The Crew of CCT Boatphone KATS

Javan Cooper: 16 years old, is now into his 6th year in KATS Sailing. He is team Captain and has sailed in several Chief Ministers Cups, as well as local Regattas. He was at the helm during Rolex and had some good results in several races against some very serious competition in what is probably the toughest fleet, the IC 24s.

Jamie Bibby: 16 years old, has also been a KATS sail member for over 5 years. Jamie was Captain of the second Tortola entry at last year's Chief Ministers Cup. He will be helming at the BVI Spring Regatta this week as we train toward our big finale, the CM Cup. At Rolex Jamie was all over the boat handling the whisker pole on the downwind jibes and mainsheets on the windward legs. He also has competed in several Chief Ministers Cups as well as local races. Look for good results from him this weekend in the BVI Spring Regatta.

Jamar Cooper: Age 14. Javan's younger brother has been with us for 3 years. He is fast becoming an accomplished sailor and closing in on his brother. Jamar was busy at Rolex handling the jib sheet duties. He has also been on the team in our last 3 CM Cups.

Amal Maduro: Age 14. We were pleased to see Amal come back into the program after a time away. He is settling in and becoming a good all-round sailor. We look for big things from him down the road.

Jamal Wintz: Age 14. Jamal is now into his 4th year in KATS Sailing. He did a great job on foredeck duty this past weekend. He also has been on previous Team Tortolas at CN Cup.

Theo Stoddard: Age 15. Theo is also one of our long termers, now in his 4th year of KATS Sailors. We’re pleased to have Theo on the team and know he'll be a valuable addition.

Dontae Hodge-Dickenson: Age 12. Dontae may be smaller in stature than some of the older teammates, but what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in enthusiasm and spirit. He did a great job of keeping the boom out on the downwind legs. We should see a lot of this lad in the future.

Hats off to the KATS kids for their performance last weekend and watch out for them in the upcoming BVI Spring regatta, hosted this week at Nanny Cay Marina.

The KATS Kids

Kids And The Sea is a water sports program developed in 1987, on the Island of St. John, USVI. The program in the British Virgin Islands was started in 1990, mainly backed by the Rotary Club of Tortola. The KATS program has many types off classes offered to anyone that wants to participate. The program does have some parameters that must be met before a child can move on from one class to the next.

Number one is that the child must first take a swimming course, successfully pass, and then can move onto the rowing / boat handling course where knot tying is also taught. The next level is sailing courses, in which there are three levels. Level one is for the complete beginner who is given course books to read and is tested on, on the water sailing with either a volunteer instructor or a level two or three-student as their on board coach.

From there, a student moves to level two, which means that they are qualified to sail the boats on their own. They are taught to capsize the boat, re right the boat and continue on sailing, and having fun! The third level of students are kids that have started out in the program when they are eight years old and can continue on in the program until they reach their eighteenth birthday.

These are the very advanced kids that race our fleet of Lasers here in Tortola, and also compete all through the Caribbean. Another boat that the KATS program is very proud to own and race is the IC 24, which is a newly founded fleet of old J24's that have had major modifications made to the cockpit and down below bulkhead layouts. The company that does the conversions takes a J24 in nearly any condition and makes it into virtually a new yacht.

The grand finally of the KATS sailing season, which starts in January, is the coveted Chief Ministers Regatta, held here in the British Virgin Islands, and consists of up to ten teams from all over the Caribbean, for three days of really exciting sailboat racing. The regatta is also when all KATS sailors receive their certificates of achievement for the past year.

Enough cannot be said about the all volunteer instructors, The Rotary Club of Tortola and all of the donations, personal and corporate, that are made to the KATS program, to keep our kids safe on the water, have great fun and meet kids from other parts of the Caribbean for friendships that last a life time. Truly a program that keeps the community of the British Virgins Islands a shining star in the whole of the Caribbean.