Report by Bill Wiggins, USA 160
An already fun winter sailing schedule for the VX One just became more fun. That’s right. The VX One Class received a special invitation to return to the Bacardi Invitational Regatta for 2020. With such late notice, only eight boats made the trek across Alligator Alley last week to retest the waters of Biscayne Bay. These eight teams were treated to spectacular sailing conditions for all three days.
The first four races had four different winners and the points remained extremely close throughout the event. In fact, the event lead may have changed after each race. After each day of racing, the fun kept going as Bacardi and numerous other sponsors treated us to free libations and fun in the hanger at Shake-A-Leg Miami. The Bacardi Family were also in attendance for the final night and prize giving.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention Sandy Askew’s generosity in allowing the fleet to utilize her support boat and coach throughout the event. I truly feel that most teams were able to take something away from this event due to this fleet asset.
With a huge thanks to longtime VX One sailor Tim Pitts, not only did the VX One Class get the special invitation to this event, but we were also given our own staging area with parking, dockage and our own hoist. If we continue to grow our fleet for this event, this staging area should be able to accommodate us for years to come. Dockage will get slim. However, Tim promises a solution.
The event organizers are very interested in having us back in 2021 and beyond. They recognize the growth of the class and would like to see us back with 20+ boats as in years past. Obviously, we have a decision to make as a class whether we want to add a 5th event to or busy winter schedule or swap this event in for an existing event. I’m sure the board will be discussing this issue shortly. Stay tuned and keep in touch with your fleet captain if you have any thoughts or concerns.
Full Results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=9503
Congratulations to Team Send It (Bill, Jeff, and Darby) for winning the event!