The British Virgin Islands is the Mecca for sailing which lends to the assemblage of some of the largest sailboat racing fleets for sailing regattas in the Caribbean. The diversity of organized sailboat regattas in the BVI is one thing that makes sailing here in the BVI so unique. Regattas of all types spanning from a "whatever floats race," where crews bring their "boats" to the regatta, assemble them, and set off racing, to high level international match racing regattas.

The BVI Spring Regatta, held on the waters off the capital island of the British Virgin Islands, Tortola, attracts about two hundred fifty yachts annually for the event. All types of racing classes are spread out on five separate racing courses, from beach catamarans to eighty-foot maxi racers. The charter boat fleets also have a large racing class, giving those that don't have their own yachts based in the British Virgin Islands, the opportunity to compete in the fabulous venue, with steady trade winds and warm waters. The IC 24 class, which is built here on Tortola, also assembles a large sailing fleet with an international blend of sailors. This upcoming year will be the twenty-ninth running of the Sweethearts of the Caribbean Regatta, that has a diverse fleet of the "oldies but goodies" wooden boats and also gives the vintage fiberglass yachts of decades back an opportunity to test their skills against each other on a more even playing field.

On nearly every weekend during the season, which starts in October and goes through the end of July, one can find all types of regattas being held - from groups of junior sailors in small prams to the larger fully crewed keelboats. Several organizations in the British Virgin Islands also hold racing clinics throughout the year for both juniors and adults to hone in on their racing skills. One of the better-known sailing clinics in the British Virgin Islands for teaching sailing and sailboat racing for the children of the BVI is the Kids and the Sea (KATS) program, which are in their sixteenth year of operation.

In the British Virgin Islands, there are three main yacht clubs that maintain a busy regatta calendar during the year. The yacht clubs based in Tortola and Virgin Gorda sponsor the majority of the regattas in the BVI. The water sports oriented resort Bitter End Yacht Club of Virgin Gorda, hosts a variety of regattas held during the year on the Gorda Sound. The Bitter End also sponsors a Pro-Am regatta that attracts some of the world's best sailboat racers from the top tier America's Cup teams along with amateur sailors that are given a chance to sail with and against these well-known sailing personalities.

Based in Tortola is the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club that among being the sponsor of the BVI Spring Regatta, hosts a plethora of regattas during the year from dinghy races to keelboat regattas. Loyal West End Yacht Club holds many "fun" type regattas that attract many of those racers that love to compete, but also to have loads of fun doing it, with great parties and prizes for all that sail.

If you are one that likes sailboat racing, whether watching from a spectator boat or actually joining in with a crew, the British Virgin Islands is truly one of the finest places to participate in a sailing regatta in the world. For more information on regattas in the British Virgin Islands, please visit http://www.escape-bvi.com/Regattas.

About the Author

Jim Linskey of Escape BVI. For more information on vacation and travel in the British Virgin Islands visit http://www.escape-bvi.com.

Country on the south-western Europe. Located on the west part of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal occupies an area of 92,152 km2. It is bordered by Spain on the east and north and by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and south.The Portuguese territory is divided in three parts: the mainland, the autonomous region of Madeira and Azores which have their own administration.

The mainland is divided into 18 administrative district : Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Bragança, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Viseu, Guarda, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Leiria, Santarém, Portalegre, Lisbon, Setúbal, Évora, Beja and Faro; the districts are divided into municipalities (311), which are subdivided into civil parishes.

The autonomous region of Azores is an archipelago of 9 islands, divided in three groups: the western, the central and the eastern. The islands of Flores and Corvo are part of the western group, the islands of S. Jorge, Terceira, Faial and Pico are part of the central group and the islands of S. Miguel and Santa Maria are part of eastern group. The autonomous region of Madeira is an archipelago formed by the island of Madeira and Porto Santo.

The capital of Portugal is Lisbon. Other cities of more importance are Porto, Coimbra, Setúbal, Aveiro, Braga and Faro. The Portuguese terrain has several different forms. On the north of the Tejo river, it is very rough, with mountains, except the coast plain, and with an average height above 400 meters. These mountains are crossed by valleys and rivers.

On the south part of the Tejo river the terrain is formed by rolling plains, with low altitude, where the plains prevail. The highest mountains are located on the north of the Tejo river, and the most importants are Serra da Estrela (1991 m), Serra do Gerês (1508 m), Serra do Marão (1416 m), Serra do Montemuro (1381 m) and Serra do Caramulo (1075 m). On the south of the Tejo river, the most important mountains are Serra de São Mamede (1025 m), Serra do Monchique (902 m) and Serra do Caldeirão (577 m).

The rest of the Portuguese terrain is the coastline, which can be divided in three big set of plains: the Beira Litoral Plain formed by the alluvial plains of Vouga and Mondego, the Algarve Plain and the alluvial Plain of Tejo and Sado. The archipelagos of Azores and Madeira have theirs origins on volcanic activities and theirs terrains are very rough.

The coastline of Azores has a lot of cliffs and inside the islands the terrain is very mountainous. The highest mountain in Portugal is located inside the Pico island and it has 2351 meters. One characteristic of Madeira is that it has high mountains on the central part of the island.

The most important rivers are, from north to south of the mainland, the Minho, the Douro, the Tejo and the Guadiana all they rising in Spain and flowing to the Atlantic Ocean. Among the rivers whose course is Portuguese only, we have the Cávado, the Vouga, the Mondego, the Sado end Mira.

About the Author

Ilidio Lopes owns the site http://www.portugalturistic.com where you will find information on a variety of subjects relating to Portugal.