Keen competition, cutting-edge BOTS & K3 prized bags for 51st St. Thomas International Regatta
by Carol Bareuther 13 Mar 10:36 PDT
March 28-30, 2025
Marc Uhrich (333) from the newest fleet in Cleveland - 2025 VX One North American Midwinters. BOT in yellow © Scott Trauth /
www.ScottTrauthPhotography.com
Keen competition, cutting-edge BOTS, and cool prizes like K3 Waterproof Bags are just a few reasons to race the 51st St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), set for March 28-30, 2025.
Don't miss out! Enter now here. Everyone is invited! STIR 2025 invites CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association-handicap rule), racing, cruising, and bareboat classes; ORC; Large Multihulls; Hobie Waves; and One-Design classes with a minimum length of 19-feet. Get an extra day to tune-up or play by entering the Round the Rocks Race here on March 27. The highly-competitive eye-candy course circumnavigates the 19-square-mile neighboring island of St. John, home of the Virgin Islands National Park.
"The St. Thomas International Regatta has delivered world-class racing for over half a century. This year, we welcome a highly competitive fleet of nearly 50 boats, handicap racers, and one-design classes, who will all set sail on professionally set courses by some of the best race management in the world. Combine this with great prizes like K3 Waterproof Bags and the friendly island-style beachfront vibe of the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC), and it's a regatta not to miss. True to our tagline, 'We Love It Here! Come Join Us!'" says Pat Bailey, who co-directs STIR 2025 with Greer Scholes.
VX One Class & BOTS
A 10-boat one-design class of VX Ones, 19' high-performance sport boats, will race. STIR is the first leg of the VX One Caribbean Cup, sponsored by Evolution Sails, which concludes at the BVI Spring Regatta (BVISR) the following weekend. Evolution Sail's sponsorship includes bringing MarkSetBots, or BOTS, 7-foot, bright orange, robotic buoys, to STIR and the BVISR for use on VX One courses. First used in high-performance events like the America's Cup and Sail GP, BOTS are self-propelled sailing marks with GPS technology that can set a race course and hold its position without anchors or the need for mark boats. This is STIR's first use of BOTS for one of its classes.
"We are honored to sponsor the VX One Caribbean Cup and help put systems in place that will benefit the sailors," says Greg Fisher, who manages the Sailing Inc./Evolution Sails team in Charleston, South Carolina.
One of the VX One teams will be headed by St. Thomas sailor Walter 'Wally' Bostwick.
"I was interested in sailing something on the high-performance end of the scale, and the VX-One fit the bill well. The balance of high performance, relative simplicity, and low cost were in the sweet spot of what we wanted. When I heard that former USVI Olympian Tim Pitts was organizing the return of the Caribbean Series for the VX Ones to STIR 2025, it was too good an opportunity to pass up," says Bostwick, who has sailed several other types of boats in STIR. "We will be one of the heavier teams on the water but are hoping for the usual March tradewinds to blow and help us stay in touch with the class leaders."
Sneak peek at entries
Nearly 50 boats are set to race in six classes. One entry in CSA Racing is the Baltic 52, Kinship, owned by Tom Selldorff, from Dartmouth, Massachusetts, with Ryan Walsh as skipper.
"I've been competing in STIR regularly since 2004. It started with the boats Wildflower, then Affinity, and most recently, Next and Final Final. We have a few new crew members this season, but the core has raced here many times," says Walsh. "The mix of courses around and through the islands is always fun to navigate and see the scenery."
The 18-boat strong IC24 class is the largest of the regatta. This year, the class will also compete in the 2025 IC24 Caribbean Championship, sponsored by Sea Glass Properties, an event within STIR. One team from Newport, Rhode Island, with Sailing World's Dave Reed on bow, Cruising World and Yachting columnist's Herb McCormick trimming, and Ian Scott, who won the 2023 Ida Lewis Distance Race on his Swan 36, COCO, on the helm, can't wait to trade winter frostbiting drysuits for shorts and T-shirts. The trio have raced together in Newport's J/24 Fleet for years and have chartered the IC24, Stinger, from the St. Thomas Sailing Center (STSC). The IC24 is a converted J/24, with a used J/24 hull fitted with a new Melges 24-style deck mold that is wider, has no traveler, and can carry five sailors.
"I am most looking forward to getting in a week of racing in a Caribbean paradise that I know will deliver four days (practice included) of outstanding sailing and is easy to get to!" says Reed. "As a team, we've never done any away charter racing, and while I'm sure we'd have fun on a bareboat, the IC24 is straight-up our thing. If I can pull off getting my son to race with us, the dream is complete. He's never been to the Caribbean, and when I mentioned St. Thomas, the excitement was real."
The IC24 Class will be ultra-competitive as always, with past class winners such as the USVI's two-time Olympian, Cy Thompson, on Bill T, and Puerto Rico's Efrain 'Fraito' Lugo helming Orion, among the entries.
On Thursday March 27, the STSC will run two practice starts with a short windward-leeward leg, then a short practice race for the IC24 Class. The first start is 2 p.m.
Over half a dozen Hobie Waves are ready to race on March 29 and 30. One of the skippers is Ian Bartlett, who flies over from his home in Gloucestershire, UK, each year to compete.
Sailing in the Virgin Islands is a highlight each year with the warm waters. Earlier this year, my local club in the UK had a water temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a very different sailing experience. The winds at the event are typically 20 knot, which provides champagne racing conditions, says Bartlett, who first competed as a crew in STIR in IC24s in 2007, then migrated to beach cats and now Hobie Waves. "Class racing makes the completion much closer and more exciting. The finishing order on the line provides immediate feedback on your position in the fleet. For visitors like myself, using a club boat enables me to join and continue to be part of this fantastic event, giving me many fond memories."
Strong Sponsor Support - K3 Waterproof Bags
The K3 Company is proud to renew its long-standing support and sponsorship of STIR.
"The long-term partnership is an expression of a shared mentality, one of an uncompromising pursuit of the competitive spirit and collective effort to succeed," says Lisa Keogh, K3's founder and CEO. "STIR encapsulates and showcases exceptional talent, channeling the same energy and philosophy The K3 Company signifies in the design, production, and distribution of their Waterproof leading-edge technology."
For the 2025 STIR event, K3 will be supplying the newest sustainable product for skipper bags with the K3 20-liter TPU Dry Bags in both Nektar Orange and Shadow Black options. Additional items awarded as prizes include the K3 Crosshatch travel products, the Bravo 40-liter backpack, and the Excursion Sport 40-liter backpack duffels.
STIR organizers thank the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism; The Moorings; Michelob, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Goslings Rum, Cruzan Rum, Mount Gay Rum, Teremana Tequila, and Surfside Vodka Teas & Lemonade, distributed by CC1 USVI; Sea Glass Properties; Cardow; K3 Waterproof Bags; Ocean Surfari; and Crucian Gold for their strong sponsor support.
Book flights and accommodations now!
Hands down, STIR is the easiest to reach of all the Caribbean regattas. The host destination, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, welcomes direct flights on six major airlines from mainland gateway cities in the U.S. These include American Airlines (Charlotte, Dallas, Miami, New York), Delta (Atlanta, New York), Frontier (San Juan), JetBlue (Boston, San Juan), Spirit (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando), and United (Houston, Newark, Washington-Dulles). Air Sunshine, Cape Air, Fly the Whale, Sea Flight, and SKYhigh Dominicana operate within the Caribbean, serving St. Thomas.
Accommodations on St. Thomas include resorts, hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and timeshares. There are approximately 600 villa units and 200 charter yachts on St. Thomas/St. John. Airbnb listings number over 3,000 in St. Thomas. For more information about the U.S. Virgin Islands, go to Visit US Virgin Islands.
For more information, contact Regatta Co-Director Pat Bailey, Cell/WhatsApp (340) 690-6607, Email , or visit St. Thomas International Regatta.
Check STIR out on STIRVI and Instagram #STIRVI