Post Hurricane(s) Irma and Maria

 It has been one crazy fall. Many of you have had significant damage to your homes, boats, cars and lives. As you can see, our IC-24 fleet was badly wrecked as the trailers blew over and then got tossed around by Irma’s winds. Five of our seven ICs were punctured and shattered to varying degrees. Thanks to the work of Forrest and Greer our Hobie Waves came through the storms unscathed.

The question is, what can be done to not merely “get back to normal”, but turn destruction into an opportunity to emerge better and stronger than before?

For the Sailing Center, the answer is several things:

My friend Chris Small, one of the best fiberglass guys I have ever met, graciously agreed to come to St. Thomas for a month to fix our boats. Here are before and after pictures of Boat Drinks:

We are modifying some of our offerings to make it easier and more fun for everyone including non-sailors to join the community of members who race, by:

• Racing for everyone: Starting off the new IC-24 racing season with no spinnaker racing so skippers do not have to worry about finding four experienced crew and therefore opening opportunities for up to three new racers crew to join each team
• More Boats: Acquiring more IC-24s so we will be able to have a fleet of up to 12 boats on the line!
• Fun and Casual races: Offering more “Island Races” on alternate weekends for both ICs and Hobies that incorporate a party at a beach bar or at the club. Please note that Ched has created a new beach bar at Latitude 18 that is a mere 18 minute Hobie sail from Cowpet Bay.
• Hobie Wave Racing: Continuing weekly Hobie racing Thursday afternoons starting in December
• Pizza Pi events: Continuing to offer monthly weekend events in conjunction with Pizza Pi VI that are fun for the whole family.
• New Courses: This season, we are offering a Cruising Course and a US Sailing Bareboat Certification program so anyone who is interested can become qualified and certified to bareboat charter in the Virgin Islands. As always, annual members of STYC get a substantial discount on all our courses.

  Of course we will continue to offer our North U Clinics and Clinic/ Regattas to help more competitive racers move up in the fleet and we will also have boats available for STIR, BVI Spring and other events. Stay tuned.

  And, for those of you who might be interested in Boat Access for the first time, we are making this special offer:

  Sign up for Boat Access for the 2018 season and we will include access during November and December at no additional charge!

  We have ICs in the water and Hobies on the beach so members with Boat Access can use the boats now. Details on course formats and starting dates as well as Boat Access are available on our website at stsc.styc.club

  Of course internet is still sketchy and our land lines don’t yet work, so if you have questions or would like to sign up or reserve a boat, don’t hesitate to stop by our office or call me at 617 513-1468.

  Dave Franzel
  Director, St. Thomas Sailing Center