The 30th International Rolex Regatta in St Thomas, USVI starts tomorrow (28 March and continues throughout the weekend, concluding in Monday.

So far over 90 boats have signed up for the regatta which will see the winners in each of the classes – spinnaker racing, spinnaker racing/cruising, non-spinnaker racing, IC24, J/24 and beach cats, being awarded a Rolex timepiece.

The bulk of the fleet will comprise mid-size boats ranging from 24 to 45 feet, with a large contingent of beach cats and IC-24s rounding things out.

The beach cat competition will benefit from an influx of talent from stateside, including three-time North American Tornado Champions Jay and Pease Glaser (Long Beach, Calif.) and two-time Worrell 1000 Champions Brian Lambert (Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.), and Jamie Livingston (Miami, Fla.). Puerto Rico’s designated 2004 Olympic Tornado team of Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez will have to size up against USVI’s Olympic Tornado hopefuls Terry Jackson and Morgan Avery.

The IC24 class will be packed with local talent, including last year’s winning tactician Chris Rosenberg aboard Old and Gray. Introduced to the regatta in 2001, the IC24 is constructed from an old J/24 hull with a new deck mould not dissimilar to the Melges 24.