Premier's Representative Wins Festival Sloop Race

Premier’s Representative in the fifth annual Great Festival Sloop Shoot Out, Honourable Irene Penn O’Neal (centre) shakes hands with second place winner His Excellency, David Pearey (extreme right). Also pictured left to right are Messrs. Elmore Stoutt and Valentine Hodge who crewed the Governor’s sloop and Messrs. Dwayne Smith and Elvet Meyers, crew for the winning sloop. Photo Credit: Race Coordinator, Geoffrey Brooks

Braving a variety of sea and wind conditions, first-time competitor, Mrs. Penn O’Neal at the helm of the Sea Moon out-sailed His Excellency, Governor David Pearey who captured the second place and Vice-President of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC), Dr. Christine Hodge, who finished third.

The race started in fair weather but midway through, a powerful squall enveloped the area, bringing with it heavy rain and strong wind gusts and creating a serious challenge for the competitors.

For 20 minutes, the extreme conditions persisted, testing the skill of the crews on all three sloops. The race committee boat and three other support vessels stood ready to assist the sloops in the event of an emergency.

However, this contingency plan went unused because the proficiency with which the crews handled the sloops triumphed in the end, as the squall passed leaving both sloops and crews intact. ~~Adz:Right~~

The squall was not the only challenge presenting itself on race day. As the storm moved away, the seas became flat and there was barely a hint of wind, leaving the sloops to drift rather than sail to the finish line.

The crew of the third placed sloop ’Youth Instructor’ was actually forced to use oars to get their sloop across the finish line.

Despite the challenges posed by the weather, there were smiles from all of the participants and the unanimous sentiment that the real winner is the maritime heritage and culture of the Virgin Islands (UK).

The final results are:
1st Place – ‘Sea Moon’ captained by Honourable Irene Penn-O’Neal representing Premier Honourable Ralph T. O’Neale, OBE. Her crew comprised former Olympic sailor, Mr. Elvert Meyers and President of the BVI Power Boat Association, Mr. Dwayne Smith.

2nd Place – ‘Moon Beam’ captained by His Excellency, Governor David Pearey and crew of veteran sloop sailor, Mr. Valentine Hodge and former Minister for Communications & Works, Mr. Elmore Stoutt.

3rd Place – ‘Youth Instructor’ captained by HLSCC Vice-President, Dr. Christine Hodge and crewed by Marine Biologist at HLSCC and veteran sloop sailor, Dr. Lianna Jarecki; HLSCC students, Miss Latoya George and Mr. Derek Fahie and veteran West End mariner, Mr. Butch Romney.

Premier’s Representative in the fifth annual Great Festival Sloop Shoot Out, Honourable Irene Penn O’Neal gives the ‘thumbs up’ after winning the event on August Tuesday. Photo Credit: Race Coordinator, Geoffrey Brooks	The crew of ‘Youth Instructor’ use oars to get their sloop across the finish line. Pictured left to right are Marine Biologist at HLSCC, Dr. Lianna Jarecki; HLSCC Vice-President, Dr. Christine Hodge, veteran West End mariner, Mr. Butch Romney and HLSCC student, Miss Latoya George. Photo Credit: Race Coordinator, Geoffrey Brooks