5th Annual Bocas Del Toro regatta 2024 official schedule:
-Race info and boat registration.
Saturday Feb 10th - You can have your boat registered in the marina office (M-F 9am to 4pm) or in the Swap Meet, Saturday Feb 10th – 9am. ($50 x boat- cash only). In the swap meet we going to have a table destinated for race registrations and information. Here is when you will get you BDT regatta T-shirt + bag. The deadline for registrations will be at the skippers meeting (Feb 16th – 4pm)
Friday Feb 16th - The skippers meeting will take place at Calypso Cantina (Bocas Marina) on Friday 16th – 4pm. (the day before the race). Here is when the skippers will have all the information such Starting times, course way points and boat ratings for Mono and Multi hulls.
Saturday Feb 17th – All the boats may be prepared for a short “parade” between Isla Colon and Isla Carenero, this way part of our sponsors/partners can have a close look at the racers. The time for the parade will be around 12:00 noon or to be announced in the skippers meeting. All the boats may be equipped with VHF at this time.
The race may start between 12:30 and 13:00 (depending on weather conditions) *to be announced in the skippers meeting. All the racers may have an operational VHF radio at this time.
The race consists in two laps with 5nm each. (Please check race course in the pics). The last position competitors normally finishes by 5pm in the N mark (south tip of Isla Carenero).
Sat Feb 17th - 6pm - Awards Ceremony party.
The awards ceremony will take place at Calypso Cantina (Bocas Marina) 6pm where you will find delicious food, drinks and live rocking roll.
The Bocas Marina and Regatta committee wish all the racers and viewers a great event!
We will be holding the captains briefing at the Cantina at the Bocas Marina on Feb 16th 4pm - the day before the race. Here you will receive your start times and exact waypoint for the markers of the course. We also will be collecting the remainder of the entry fees. We hope you can all make it, but if not here are the details of the regatta...
The start will be in front of Bocas Marina around 12am (to be confirmed), with the existing marker (yellow buoy) being one side of the start line, and the “Committee boat” anchored to the North as the other marker. GPS coordinates of the marks will be given at the captains meeting. (Check "Race Course” reference)
It is a pursuit race, so everyone will get a start time dependent on the PHRF rating of your boat. This will de-clutter the start and allow for a photo finish. The DIFFERENCE in PHRF ratings correlate to how many seconds PER MILE difference between the boats. So, a boat with a rating of 100 will start 30 seconds per mile BEHIND a boat with a rating of 130 (which is 300 seconds for the 10-mile course). The monohull class will go first, then the multihull class after that. Engines must be turned off a few minutes prior to crossing the start line, and you must not cross the line before your allocated start time, or you will have to do a loop and go through again.
If you see your boat below without a PHRF rating, it means your boat may be slightly rare and the numbers unavailable. In this case we ask you to give us an example of a more popular boat, which you would consider as close as possible to the sail-ability of your vessel from the website link below. I will then cross reference this rating with other sources, with the help of the organizer of the Heineken Regatta, so please give us an honest comparison.
click here to check handicaps : http://www.phrfne.org/page/handicapping/base_handicaps