Pro Am Write Up by John Glynn

It only seemed fitting that Ed Baird, multiple World Champion, decorated America’s Cup skipper, and “sailing household name” should come full circle to dominate the 25th Anniversary Pro Am Regatta, sponsored by Maclaren. And, as luck would have it, Baird was the only skipper at this year’s edition who attended the very first running in 1987 (he finished 3rd back then). In the ensuing years, legendary pros with names like Coutts, Cayard, Read, Bertrand, Alison, North, Isler, Hood, Kostecki, and many more have done battle in the BVI at Bitter End.

Going into the silver event, Baird had won the Pro Am six previous times, most recently in 2008. In 2011, he had a challenging task ahead of him. The other invited skippers he needed to overcome included top pros and Olympians Anna Tunnicliffe, Zach Railey, Peter Holmberg, Dave Ullman, and Andrew Campbell, as well as wild card entries Matt Burge from the UK (Fireball World Champ/Endeavour Trophy qualifier), and Tom Lee from the USA (Block Island Race Week winner).

Add to that the Pro Am’s unique twist: Each day, the pros are assigned enthusiastic resort guests ranging in skill from novice to “serious weekend warrior.” Guest crews preference skippers daily and then the pros are tasked with “teambuilding” the crews into a cohesive unit for a series totaling 12 fleet races (two days), followed by a match racing finals, petit finals, and consolation rounds (one day). Racing takes place in a matched fleet of IC-24s (modified J-24s ideally suited for the purpose).

Before the more serious racing gets started in the IC’s, two “warm-up events” take place, the first being the qualifying races for the Gill-sponsored Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championships.   Between morning and afternoon sessions, 47 teams (all “ams”) lined up for the preliminary rounds, featuring bright sun and flatwater, with breeze in the mid-teens.  Competitors raced in Lasers, Laser 4.7s, Hobies, Rhodes 19s and Hunter 21s for the six spots in the club finals slated to take place four days later.

The second warm-up event is an informal pair of “get to know your fellow guests and pros” race, rallying from the Bitter End’s North Sound, down the length of Virgin Gorda to the famed “Baths.” Followed by a second sprint back to North Sound (after swimming, snorkeling and a BBQ lunch). Racers sail aboard matched and sporty Sunsail 384 catamarans and various other cruising cats. Baird set the week’s tone early, winning the Sunsail 384 class, while Scuttlebutt’s famed Tom Leweck (on hand as the event’s “Master of Ceremonies”) won overall with his crew aboard a Leopard 4500, Jet Stream. Commemorative Mount Gay red hats were the highlight of the awards ceremony.

The main event got underway on a sunny Tuesday morning. However the normally steady trade winds were replaced by "lake-sailing" conditions with sizable wind shifts. "We quickly learned how to execute a smooth auto-tack," explained BEYC guest Robin Stout who crewed for Ed Baird for several of those races.  Auto-tacking wind shifts was obviously a successful strategy - Baird won four of the eight races to take a four-point lead over Andrew Campbell, a Pro-Am first timer. Campbell seemed completely comfortable in the fluky conditions, taking two bullets and top three finishes in half of the races. Olympic medalists Zach Railey and Anna Tunnicliffe, third and fourth place respectively, pushed Campbell and Baird very hard.

That evening Scuttlebutt’s Tom Leweck conducted a “State of the Sport” panel discussion group among the invited pros, with the resort guests as audience (and questioners). The lively debate topics ranged from the Olympics to America’s Cup, and from Junior Sailing to Offshore racing. It certainly helped that the group (pro am and am) was “well oiled” with post-racing Pub beverages.

Caribbean events are known for their “laydays” and the Pro Am Regatta is no different. On Layday Wednesday, snorkel excursions to Anegada, “Out of Bounds” sailing, and “beer can racing” highlighted a generally fun-for-all day. The day finished off with a top-notch Wine Dinner hosted by TICO’s Jon Charleton, featuring wines from Treasury Wine Estates (Penfolds, Greg Norman, etc.).

Prior to racing resuming on Thursday morning, a sizable rain cell moved over the BVI putting on a spectacular light show, providing the dense island vegetation with a heavy dousing ... and drawing much of the wind out of the North Sound. The race committee was only able to complete one race in light, shifty conditions. Anna Tunnicliffe won the short, single lap affair, which moved her into third place, three points ahead of Railey.  By taking second place in the race, Ed Baird extended his regatta lead over second place Andrew Campbell to six points.

The six teams that qualified to race in the Gill Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship finals never left the marina. Sadly, no wind meant there will be no SSC champion this year, and the six finalists each received great prizes from Gill. So, with a free afternoon, BEYC staged a Laser exhibition - the "Rock & Roll Relay." It was a team race with Ed Baird and Anna Tunnicliffe challenging Andrew Campbell and fellow Olympian Zach Railey. Rule 42 was ignored - all manner of kinetics were allowed, encouraged and very necessary in the no-wind conditions. Any hope of the Railey - Campbell team prevailing were dashed when Andrew Campbell capsized while doing an overly aggressive rocking maneuver... and lost his daggerboard in the process.  As a result, Anna Tunnicliffe had a sizable lead when she turned over her Laser to teammate Ed Baird, who had no trouble holding off the charging Zach Railey in front of a cheering crowd of appreciative fans.

Friday dawned to glassy conditions, which were quickly (and happily) replaced by more typical early winter south-easterlies of 12-14 knots. The remainder of the fleet racing round robin went off without a hitch, setting up a match race finals between Ed Baird and Anna Tunnicliffe, and a Petit Finals between Zach Railey and Peter Holmberg (Andrew Campbell had a prior commitment he needed to jet off for). While Baird dispatched Tunnicliffe 2-0 with relative ease, the racing between Holmberg and Railey was remarkably close, with the final two heats coming down to a matter of inches combined! Railey prevailed 2-1 to take 3rd overall. But more importantly, the guests (aka “ams”) came away with a week’s worth of racing, instruction, teambuilding, and camaraderie as varied as any they will see in a Summer’s worth of competition.

The awards ceremony was a rousing affair, full of heart-felt speeches from Pros, guests/ams, and BEYC race management. The best coming from Spirit & Enthusiasm Prize winner Chris Smith: “I’ve had so much fun this week, and tonight it shows—to be singled out of this crowd, for enthusiasm, is quite an honor!” Ed Baird commented during his acceptance speech that “this year’s Pro Am featured the most energetic and excited group of guest crews he’d seen in all his years at the event…the smile were all around.” And, as is the theme of the week, the ams go away with arms full of “sailing swag” and prizes from sponsors such as Mount Gay Rum, Regatta Ginger Beer, SailFast, Treasury Estate Wines, RailRiders, Ultimate Sailing Calendars, Gill, Soundview Millworks, LaserPerformance, and Maclaren. See everyone next year at the 26th Pro Am, October 27 to November 3, 2012.