Racer Cruiser C.O.R.T. class leader, Lazy Dog, barrels down the Buck Island Channel.

Brisk winds and boatloads of competition set the scene at the 15th annual St. Croix International Regatta, the kick-off event for the 2008 Cape Air Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (C.O.R.T.) Series. “We had about 15 boats sign up for C.O.R.T. in St. Croix,” says Angel Ayala, C.O.R.T. organizer and director of the Culebra Heineken International Regatta. “Up to another five boats will be signing aboard for C.O.R.T. in Culebra. Enthusiasm is running strong.”

One of the magnets for C.O.R.T. entry this year is the chance to win a pair of round-trip tickets aboard Cape Air. St. Thomas’ Chris Curreri pocketed this much-welcome prize in St. Croix. Two round trip tickets each will be drawn from among the names of entered C.O.R.T. participants at the Culebra Heineken International Regatta and at the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival. The tickets are good for any route Cape Air flies in the Caribbean.

Devil 3, a Melges 24 sailed by the Stanton brothers – Chris, Peter and Scott – of St. Croix, is leading the Spinnaker Racing II class for C.O.R.T. These savvy sailors and their crack crew made the most of the wind. “Competition between us and the other Melges, and with J/Walker, was close upwind, but we made our best time on the downwinds,” says Scott Stanton.

In the Racer-Cruiser class, it was Puerto Rico’s Sergio Sagramoso who took the lead in C.O.R.T. aboard his Beneteau First 40.7, Lazy Dog.

Meanwhile, in the Jib & Main Class, St. Croix sailor, Howard Silverman, finished first among C.O.R.T. participants aboard his Jeanneau 54, Mary Ellen.

Close competition is always a part of IC24 racing. Even so, it was Puerto Rico’s Fraito Lugo who skippered his, Orion, to a 10-point lead and C.O.R.T. class win. “We’ve practiced a lot together as a team and with the other IC24s in Ponce in December and January,” says Lugo. “The tough thing in this regatta, with all the wind, was to keep the boat flat and going fast.”

Ayala says, “There were no boats in the Performance Cruising class of C.O.R.T. in St. Croix. However, we expect to have at least five in Culebra.” These will include two J/105s, Umakau and Abracadabra; two J/30s, Déjà Vu and Tiglar; and the Pearson Flyer, Poco a Poco

The 2008 Cape Air C.O.R.T. Series will continue with the Culebra Heineken International Regatta, March 14-16, and conclude with the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival April 4 to 6. Winners of the 2008 Cape Air C.O.R.T. Series will be announced at the series conclusion in the BVI. First, second and third place boats in each of the classes – Spinnaker A, Spinnaker B, Racer-Cruiser, Performance Cruiser, IC24, and Jib & Main – will receive $100, $75 and $50 gift certificates, respectively, from West Marine. The first place finisher in each class will also receive foul weather gear.

For more information, visit www.sailcort.com

2008 Cape Air C.O.R.T. Results – As of first leg, St. Croix International Regatta

Racing Spinnaker 2
1. Devil 3, Chris Stanton, St. Croix, USVI
2. Good Bad and Ugly, John Foster, St. Thomas, USVI
3. Magnificent 7, Paul Davis, St. Thomas, USVI
4. Sun Bum, Angel Ayala, Puerto Rico
5. Ghost, David Flaherty, St. Thomas, USVI

Racer Cruiser
1. Lazy Dog, Sergio Sagramoso, Puerto Rico
2. Boomerang, Pat Nolan, BVI
3. Kick Em Jenny, Ian Hope-Ross, St. Maarten

Jib & Main
1. Mary Ellen, Howard Silverman, St. Croix, USVI

IC-24
1. Orion, Fraito Lugo, Puerto Rico
2. Brand New Second Hand, Chris Curreri, St. Thomas, USVI
3. B-Mobile, Fred Ruebeck, BVI

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