Bacardi HIHO 2000

Trolling back through the memory bank and at random we come across the biggest HIHO event we ever ran: the 2000 Bacardi HIHO. Yes, memorable because of it's size- something like 90-racers. Also because of the parties, great wind, and so forth. Back then we had a bunch of Polish in the event. I guess the event defined freedom, or maybe they just loved the tour of the beautiful British Virgin Islands. Anyway, these guiys could party. One of may favorite anecdotes was some guy telling me they arranged that the Polish would come out to their boat for a late night drink. The host cannily hid the mixers so the Poles wouldn;t stay for long. The problem was, he said, they just drank everything straight, and stayed up all night partying on his yacht!

Stand Up Paddling

Our new favorite watersports activity is stand up paddling, simply called SUP, or SUPing. The boards are 11'+ feet long. You stand on them and use a long paddle to move around. We love catching waves or just cruising around: going for a hike on the water as we put it.

Last weeks Christmas winds eased off and we've been out catching waves at our favorite out-island spots. We have a long list of favorite places to paddle; it really depends on conditions and where we want to go. The above photo is off Sandy Cay near Jost Van Dyke. It's hard to imagine a more perfect island than Sandy Cay- it's just a half dozen acres of gorgous sand, with a cliff and some coconut trees. The water is translucent and catching waves off the reef that extends off the islands NW corner is a cinch. Out there off the corner of the island is magical. You glimpse the wonders of the reef as you move around looking for waves while the raw salt scent of the sea permeates the air. Out beyond the line up big rays occassionally leap clear of the water ; every now and then a turtle pops up only to freak out when they spot you.

For the record we ride Naish and BIC SUP's. I like the Naish 11'4" (that's what I'm riding in the photo). Josh prefers the BIC Jungle (10'10") while Sam rides an August 9'6' Surftech board. Carbon paddles are the only way to go. Check out our HIHO guide to SUPing in the BVI on our website www.go-hiho.com