St Croix Wins Again...

St Croix on their way to their third consecutive victory

July 9, 2001 - Team St Croix topped the third annual Chief Minister's Cup International Youth Regatta held July 7th and 8th on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands for the third year in a row. 72 children between the ages of 10 and 18 competed from the islands of St Croix, St Lucia, Tobago, Tortola, Cayman, Bequia, Virgin Gorda, Antigua, Jost Van Dyke, St John, Trinidad and St Thomas.

A total of 18 races were run over the weekend with each of the teams completing nine races rotating through six boats. Team St Croix (2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1) led by the youth sailing dynasty of the Stanton brothers bulleted eight races and scored a total of 10 points. Team Antigua (1,1,5,2,1,4,2,3,1) was second with 20 points and four wins while Team St Thomas (3,3,2,1,2,2,3,6,3) was third with 25 points. The die was cast after the first day of racing with the top three teams carving their positions on the winner's rostrum only to cement their positions on the second day. Although St Thomas held on to their second place position it was only by a hair with first time competitors Trinidad (2,5,3,3,2,4,1,3,3) missing the third place slot by one point.

St Croix's dominance started with the powerful combination of the three Stanton brothers three years ago. Eldest brother Chris who skippered the winning boat in 1999 - and topped the 1999 BVI Spring Regatta - was ineligible last year and younger brother Scott stepped into the helmsman's seat, winning. This year Scott once again proved a powerful hand on the tiller ably assisted by his twin brother Peter on jib trim and tactics, Curtis Diaz, Cory Bishop and Diamond Bishop. St Croix will still be a hard team to beat next year but many teams are vying to snatch the title and Antigua looks a strong contender.

With fellowship and sportsmanship the essence of the Chief Minister's Cup, Chris Stanton - straight from an overnight delivery of his J/24 from St Croix - hopped onboard with Team Bequia to give them tips on J/24 racing as they had never set foot on a J/24 before. "This is what this regatta is all about," said Tom Gerker, one of the key organizers of the event, "Chris was dog tired after his crossing and he went to help another team get more out of the event. Hats off to him." This growing youth sailing event saw three more teams this year and the BVI's Chief Minister, the Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal, patron of the event, called for more teams to attend making it a truly pan-Caribbean event. KATS chairman John Lewis was excited about the prospects for growth: "We're very pleased to welcome teams from Bequia, Trinidad and Tobago for the first time. Support for the event is growing and we want to encourage as many teams as possible to participate."

The Chief Minister's Cup is organized by the Rotary Clubs of the BVI and the Kids And The Sea (KATS) program. Presenting sponsor was CCT Boatphone with The Moorings, Tola Mitsubishi and the BVI Tourist Board as gold sponsors. As a Rotary-sponsored event, with the teams sponsored by their local Rotary clubs 'fellowship' was an integral part of the event. Competitors were accommodated in the CCT Boatphone Regatta Village - eight person tents on the grounds of event host Nanny Cay. The committee boat Aristocat, a Privilege 48 catamaran, was donated by John and Sandra Hayes.

Silver sponsors were Insinger de Beaufort, Nagico Insurance, HSBC Guyerzeller Bank (BVI) Ltd., Century House Montessori School, Arias Fabrega & Fabrega, VP Bank, the Marine Association of the BVI and Banco Popular.