WIM Series sailors welcome to St. Thomas

– 2016 Finale in one of the world’s best sailing destinations

Twelve of the world’s best women match racers will compete in the Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR), presented by the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, on December 1 to 4. This year, the CAMR is the fifth and final event of the 2016 WIM Series. Equally, St. Thomas’ Charlotte Amalie harbor is one of the world’s best sailing destinations:
“We want to welcome all the sailors and visitors who are traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands for this year’s Carlos Aguilar Match Race,” says Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Commissioner of Tourism, U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Our warm weather, beautiful waters and first-rate marine facilities make the U.S. Virgin Islands an ideal choice for sailing. We also encourage everyone to venture beyond the shores to explore and enjoy the variety of attractions, activities, shopping and restaurants during their stay in the Territory,” Beverly Nicholson-Doty adds.

More specifically, there are two main reasons that make St. Thomas’ Charlotte Amalie harbor such an amazing place to match race:
“The first is that it is so beautiful,” says Henry Menin, a long-time St. Thomas resident, former Chairman of ISAF (now World Sailing) Match Racing Committee, and one of five Umpires for the CAMR.
“You are sailing in a natural amphitheater, with the colorful Danish buildings of the old town just a couple of hundred yards to the north. Then you have Hassel Island, a beautiful National Park just to the south. Behind the town, you have magnificent green mountains overlooking the course and the harbor. And last, but not least, you have the main thoroughfare of the town, bordered by the sea wall, bringing much of the island traffic within easy viewing distance of the racing.”

Secondly, adds Menin, are the beautiful racing conditions:
“The water is blue and warm with virtually no waves and almost no current. The breeze is warm and friendly, but shifty. However, it is almost always out of some form of the east, so it is highly unlikely that the Race Committee would ever have to reverse the starting line with the windward mark. In the eight years of the CAMR, I have never seen that kind of wind shift,” he says.

What does the harbor conditions overall represent for the WIM Series teams?
“It means you have to be intensely vigilant all the time, looking around to see what is coming your way, and sometimes it means taking a flyer, especially if you are behind.
The harbor will test the mettle of even the very best sailors. Keep your eyes open and look for every clue as to where the wind will come from next, or where it will die and leave you struggling to keep up your speed. Never despair though, because you may be the victim of a dying breeze one moment and the beneficiary of a private puff that will take you into the lead the next,” Menin comments.

One WIM Series skipper, the USA’s Morgan Collins, will have a U.S. Virgin Islands crew member aboard:
“It will be great to have a USVI crew to help out with the sailing areas as well as sailing the IC24’s,” says Collins, who is from Port Washington, New York.

Collins is the sailing coach at the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College and sets sail in the CAMR as her second WIM Series event:
“Our team’s strategy will be to work together using our diverse backgrounds to make our boat the fastest one on the course. We are all previous college sailors and know that speed is one of the most lethal weapons on the course. Our goal in the final event of the WIM Series will be to aggressively control in the pre-start and gain an advantage early in the race.”

Collins’ USVI crew is Mayumi ‘Mimi’ Roller, who learned to sail in the KATS (Kids and the Sea) program in Coral Bay, St. John, and later raced with the Antilles School sailing team. More recently, Roller is a 2012 Olympian in Laser Radial and 2013 All-American Skipper and St. Mary’s College Athlete of the Year:
“I am very excited to crew in the CAMR,” says Roller. “I have never competed in a match racing event before, so this regatta is presenting a new challenge that I am enthusiastic to meet. Other than my fleet racing background, I was a key player on my college’s team racing team my senior year, so hopefully that experience helps!”

Another local aspect of the CAMR is the boats, IC, or Inter-Club 24s. The design takes a used J/24 hull and fits it with a new Melges 24-style deck mold that is wider, has no traveler, and can carry up to five sailors. The design was innovated by St. Thomas sailor, Chris Rosenberg, and boat builder, Morgan Avery, in 1999 in response to a need to jump-start racing and instruction following the decimation of the local sailing fleet after successive hurricanes.

St. Thomas as the site of the WIM Series Finale came about through the friendship forged over the years between CAMR co-director, Verian Aguilar Tuttle, and Liz Baylis, executive director of the Women’s International Match Racing Association and manager of the WIM Series. Baylis has competed as crew in the CAMR in the past.

The CAMR is named in memory of Aguilar Tuttle’s late husband, Carlos Aguilar, who was an avid sailor and loved match racing. Aguilar also enjoyed mentoring young sailors. Thus, the CAMR Youth Regatta, scheduled on December 3 during a mid-day break from WIM Series competition, offers an opportunity for local youth to get out on the water.

“The intent at the inception of the CAMR eight years ago, was to always tie in the youth and especially the local Virgin Islands kids who may not have the opportunity to be exposed to this kind of sailing. The organizing association of the CAMR wanted this event to give back to the community through the youth!” says Aguilar Tuttle.

15 to 20 8- to 17-year old students enrolled in the MVP (Marine Vocational Program), will team up with WIM Series skippers for three short fleet races in the harbor. These students have already participated in the MVP’s learn-to-swim program and sailing lessons at the St. Thomas Yacht Club.

The CAMR WIM Series finale is a World Sailing Grade One event. The format features a full round robin of all teams, followed by knockout quarterfinals for the top eight, and then knockout semi-finals, petit-finals, and finals.

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The Women’s International Match Racing Series (WIM Series) is the first and only professional sailing series for women, hosted by the Women’s International Match Racing Association and joined by the world’s leading women match racing sailors. Match racing is sailed in two identical boats around a short course, providing fast action close to the crowds on shore. The intense racing is just as exciting for the spectators as it is strategically, tactically and physically challenging for the competing crews.

An overall prize purse of 50 000 USD will be distributed by the WIM Series in addition to the prize money at each of the four events included in the 2016 WIM Series (date, event name, location, boat type):

• June 27 – July 1, Helsinki Women’s Match, Helsinki, Finland, J/80.
• August 8 – 13, Lysekil Women’s Match, Lysekil, Sweden, DS 37.
• September 20 – 25, Women’s Match Racing World Championship & Buddy Melges Challenge, Sheboygan, USA, Elliott 6m.
• October 25 – 29, Busan Cup Women’s International Match Race, Busan, South Korea, K30.
• December 1 – 4, Carlos Aguilar Match Race, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, IC 24.

The WIM Series is hosted by WIMRA. Official suppliers are Sailnet, Sebago, MILK, Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, Adstream, Intertidal Ventures, Fredag and Match Racing Results Service.

Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on www.wimseries.com/media/
Videos: All videos are available on www.wimseries.com/videos

More information about the Women’s International Match Racing Series:
WIM Series Press Officer Joakim Hermansson, , +46 70 604 25 04
WIM Series Manager Liz Baylis, , +1 415 691 6202
www.wimseries.com
www.facebook.com/WIMSeries
www.twitter.com/WIMSeries
www.youtube.com/WIMRSeries
www.instagram.com/WIMSeries

The Virgin Islands Sailing Association (VISA) and St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC) are the organizing authorities for the CAMR, namesake for the late Carlos Aguilar, who was an avid sailor and loved match racing. The CAMR traditionally features highly ranked men’s and women’s match racing teams. Past winners of the Open Division in the CAMR reads like a Who’s Who of sailing: the USVI’s Taylor Canfield (2008, 2015), USVI’s Peter Holmberg (2009), Portugal’s Alvaro Marinho/Seth Sailing Team (2010), USA’s Sally Barkow (2011), Finland’s Staffan Lindberg (2012) and the USA’s Don Wilson (2013). Women’s Division winners are just as renowned: the USA’s Genny Tulloch triumphed in 2008 and 2010 and France’s Claire Leroy in 2009. The CAMR is known internationally for introducing young sailors to the sport, working cooperatively with the V.I. government and V.I. Department of Tourism in its efforts to get more of the island’s youth out on the water.

Sponsors for the CAMR include the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism; Heineken and Captain Morgan, distributed by Bellows International; Yacht Haven Grande; K3; International Capital & Management Company; Auven Therapeutics; John and Claire Foster; XO Energy; the Prior Family Foundation; Ballerina Jewelers, St. Thomas and St. John; AH Riise, Official Rolex Retailer, U.S. and British Virgin Islands; Self Insurance Consultants, Inc.; and VINow.com.

Images: A number of hi-res images are available for download on
www.carlosmatchrace.com/index.html#press

More information about the Carlos Aguilar Match Race:
CAMR Co-Director Bill Canfield, , +1 340 626 0239
CAMR Co-Director Verian Aguilar Tuttle,
CAMR Press Officer Carol Bareuther, , +1 340 774 2736 or +1 340 998 3650
www.carlosmatchrace.com
www.facebook.com/CarlosAguilarMatchRace
www.instagram.com/CarlosAguilarMatchRace