O Y S TER NEWS
Leſt : Dinghy racing at Bitter End Yacht Club
Above: On board the Oyster 42 Katharsis
Right: T e Oyster 82 Oceana, owned by Stuart Smith and Barry Cooper Jnr
By contrast, the Ostrika crew, had a stress-free day. Starting in clear air, they soon overhauled David and Tamsin Kidwell’s Twice Eleven and continued to carry the breeze with them until Race Offi cer Alan Brook decided to put the rest of the fl eet out of their misery by shortening course. By then, Ostrika was but a dot on the horizon to most of her rivals, some of who were seemingly, still struggling to cross the start. T e Kidwell’s Twice Eleven took second place, ahead of Ian Galbraith’s Oyster 53 Jigsaw and Vincent Bloem’s Oyster 56 Windfl ower.
Class 1 was fi nally led home by Chris and Susan Shea’s Oyster 72 Magrathea followed by two 82 footers, Bill Dockser’s Ravenous II and Oceana owned by Stuart Smith and Barry Cooper. Katharsis II, was one of four yachts judged to be over the line at the start, but recovered to take fourth place.
Some crews took the opportunity to visit the famous Baths in Spring Bay at the southern tip of Virgin Gorda before continuing up to North Sound for two days of fun at the famous Bitter End Yacht Club. T ose that did make the diversion were as amazed as I was by the piles of giant boulders thrown up during the island’s volcanic origins. T ese granite boulders, some of which are 40ſt long, form natural tidal pools, tunnels, arches and grottoes, and being open to the sea, you can lie out in the warm azure pools lit by the sun’s rays pouring through the rocks and simply wonder at it all.
T e fi ve-star Bitter End Yacht Club is like no other. Quite apart from its idyllic setting on a sandy spit overlooking Prickly Pear Island, the marina was big enough to take all 23 Oysters and allow crews to chill out, enjoying all the facilities for a day. One activity designed to work off the splendid surf ‘n turf dinner the previous night was an informal dinghy championship, which proved anything but, with Olympic aspirants and youth champions swelling the ranks of gladiators representing each of the Oyster crews. Everyone came back a winner, with Race Offi cer Alan Brook claiming the most spectacular capsize and David Tydeman for sailing furthest without a rudder before also taking a tumble.
Andy Lovell carried the day in the Laser class for the Oceana crew by counting three fi rsts and a second over Zig Zag’s Phil Henderson. Alan Harris representing Katharsis II, fi nished third.
In the Hobie Cat class, Tom Davis from Stravaig stamped his authority on the fl eet with four fi rst places, leaving Vincent Bloem from Windfl ower and Paulina Kierebinscy from SunsuSea to fi ght over second and third places.
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