Royal BVI Yacht Club Commodore Clair Burke, center—the 1st woman to be elected to the post—with past Commodores during 35th anniversary celebrations at Government House on Saturday. L-R: Peter Haycraft, Chris Haycraft, James Bridgewater, Dr. Robin Tattersall, Bob Phillips and Barney Cook. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

TORTOLA—The Royal BVI Yacht Club celebrated its 35th anniversary of existence on Saturday night, with a function hosted at Government House, hosted by Governor David Pearey.

Clair Burke—the first woman to be appointed Commodore—said it was a wonderful event. “We had lots of our current members, past members and guests and it has been really, really good,” she said. “Government House is a very good location and we are thankful to the Governor for allowing us to have this event here tonight and it has been a really, really nice night.”

Among those attending were several past Commodores. “Without the support of the past commodores, the club would not be the success it is today,” Burke noted. “They are all very interested in the club, always have the yacht club’s interest at heart and they are always there to fall back on if we need support or guidance, they are always there.”

Reflecting on her watch, Burke said several programs have been developed and they have just recruited another instructor bringing the total to two full time instructors. They also have a greater number of children coming through their programs.

“We’ve started working with the KATS program again and we now run a sailing program for them on Saturday mornings using the Yacht Club’s instructors with the KATS equipment,” Burke explained. “It has been really good and its good to have KATS on board again.”

The British Virgin Islands Yacht Club was started on July 25,1973 with a group looking to sail Squibs. The initial membership was 76 with 4 Sunfish boats in it's fleet.

In 1975 the clubhouse, a boathouse named "The Anchor Club" remained until 1979 when hurricane David took his toll.

In 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics, Dr. Robin Tattersall led the British Virgin Islands as the smallest nation to ever compete in the Olympics. There were entrants in the sailing fleet. Keith and Peter Barker competed in the 470 class, and Tattersall as helmsman along with his two man crew of Keith Thomas and Elvet Meyers sailed against the world's best in the Soling class. Robbie Hirst competed in 1992 and 1996, secured the BVI’s first World Championship medal at any level when he won a silver medal in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth Championships in 1987. John Shirley was part of the BVI’s 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games sailing team.

Both Hirst and Shirley were honored with a National postage stamp created on 2008 commemorating their participation as BVI Olympians. The other honoree is in Athletics. Hirst and Shirley are still actively involved in sailing and have sailed together in the BVI Spring Regatta, winning their division on several occasions. The Yacht club has hosted the BVI Spring Regatta since 1972 and is now one of the largest regattas in the Caribbean with sailors attending from around the world.

The Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club was granted the Royal Warrant by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in her New Year's Honors list of December, 1999. The Warrant was officially bestowed by HRH Prince Andrew the Duke of York, during his official visit to The British Virgin Islands in the Spring of 2000.

(Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway is a freelance journalist. This article does not reflect the views of the BVIOC)

© Copyright 2008-9 BVI Olympic Committee

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