ST. THOMAS, USVI (March 28, 2004)--For winners in nine classes at the three-day International Rolex Regatta 2004, life was good today. "Real good," according to Chris Curreri of St. Thomas, who--like the other class leaders--claimed a Rolex watch for his efforts in the IC-24 class. The event, in its 31st year at the St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands, hosted 91 boats and hundreds of sailors who were tested by a variety of wind conditions on the racecourse and never a dull party moment ashore.

In Beach Cats, it came as no surprise that Puerto Rico's 2004 Olympic Tornado team of Enrique Figueroa and crew Jorge Fernandez aboard Movistar/Suzuki/Red Bull won its final race to clench a four-race series. This was the first year in recent history that the Beach Cats were not divided into spinnaker and non-spinnaker racing classes. Sailing to a Portsmouth handicap while other classes sailed to the Caribbean Sailing Association rating rule, the Beach Cats were dominated by Figueroa's Hobie Tiger, sailing with a spinnaker. Close on his heels in second was the Hobie 16 Exodus/Ensysa, sailing without a spinnaker and skippered by another, but unrelated, Enrique Figueroa, also from Puerto Rico.

ST. THOMAS, USVI (March 27, 2004) --A fresh northeasterly breeze blew out yesterday's rain squalls, providing plenty of fuel for today's Middle Passage Race at the International Rolex Regatta 2004. The distance competition is a traditional second-day sweep through the beautiful islands and Cays north of St. Thomas, USVI, where the three-day event is being hosted for its 31st year by the Thomas Yacht Club. Sailing in eight classes, the fleet of 91 boats found relatively smooth conditions inside Pillsbury Sound where they were started in 15-18 knot breezes. After two legs, the boats followed a course into more open waters where 10-12 foot waves tested the fortitude of even the best sailors.

In the Beach Cats, skipper Rosarita Martinez (Carolina, PR) was particularly pleased at her performance aboard her Hobie 16 Yuisa. She considered the waves to be "huge" but held on for the challenge and a third-place finish today for a third in overall standings. Martinez, who has sailed this event for the past five years and won her class in 2001, is the 2003 Hobie 16 Continental Women's Champion and is practicing for the Hobie 16 Worlds to be held in Cancun the first week of May. She is closely watching another woman skipper, Susan Korzeniewski of Liverpool, N.Y., who is also sailing a Hobie 16, named WOW, in preparation for the Worlds. "I was pleased she came to the regatta," said Martinez. "She had been the Women's Hobie 16 Continental Women's Champion the year before me, so I won that title from her and now I feel I did very well against her here today." Korzeniewski, who finished ninth today and sits in ninth overall, is a first-time entrant in the regatta and a veteran of the grueling Worrell 1000 event for catamarans. Enrique Figueroa's Movistar/Suzuki/Red Bull still leads the Beach Cats after today.

ST. THOMAS, USVI (March 26, 2004)-- Rain squalls seemingly disrupted paradise today as hundreds of sailors on 91 boats started their three-day competition at the International Rolex Regatta 2004. In actuality, however, the dramatic changes in weather merely tested the preparedness of participants and race committee members, and both groups were pleased with results at the end of the day. Hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the International Rolex Regatta is celebrating its 31st consecutive year and is one of the islands' oldest and most popular regattas, attracting sailors from the Caribbean, the United States and Europe.

Clearly the boat to beat in the Beach Cat class, Enrique Figueroa's MoviStar/Suzuki/Red Bull blasted to the lead in today's first race and finished second in race two despite capsizing--an unusual mishap to have befallen this 2004 Puerto Rican Olympic Sailing Team member. "You had to make a decision whether to follow the rain. That was where the wind was, but I paid the price when I flipped."

International Rolex Regatta Promises Keen Competition,31st Annual Event to Start Today

ST. THOMAS, US Virgin Islands (March 26, 2004)-- Personalities at the 31st annual International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, are proving to be as colorful as rainbow spinnakers against an azure blue sky. With racing at the three-day event starting today, March 26, and continuing through the weekend, hundreds of sailors registered on 91 sailboats have prepared for the regatta's traditional mix of tough competition, warm Caribbean breezes and blue-water courses. Crew rosters are sprinkled with high-profile names from the America's Cup and Olympic arenas, as well as those famous in these Caribbean parts for their own notable accomplishments.

Headlining in the Beach Cat division is Puerto Rico's designated 2004 Olympic Tornado team and defending champions Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez. The duo, known as Team Movistar/Suzuki/Red Bull, decided to sail a Hobie Tiger, an 18 footer that is popular in Europe and which Figueroa, the Hobie dealer in Puerto Rico, is trying to promote in the islands. "It is very much faster than a regular Hobie 18 and more like our Olympic Tornado." Figueroa explained that a Portsmouth Handicap system will keep them honest, however, when it comes to matching up with the other catamarans in their class.

Catapalooza will start this year. The brain child of John Schwartz, Chris Scherba, Buzz Waterstreet, and Gary Friesen, it is a traveling event to appear at various catamaran sailing spots in Southern California.

The idea behind Catapalooza is to declare a date, well in advance, for a day of old fashioned beachcat sailing fun at a popular location and to have as many people show up as possible. This is an attempt to nurture the sport of beach catamaran sailing, allowing it to grow back to the popularity it once had.

We have a group of sailors who sail round trip, camping weekends to Catalina Island. Although there are many curious sailors who dream of attending, the reality is that many of them never get enough chances to sail and practice with some of the veteran So. CA catsailors. The less experienced ocean sailors need more and better chances to rig and sail together with the more tenured catsailors. By announcing a date and a place, well ahead of time, we should be able to encourage more people to take that catamaran out and actually sail it.