Team Caribbean's Stars & Stripes
Sails to St. Croix for Memorial Day Regatta

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, May 12, 1998 --  The Team Caribbean America's Cup 2000 training boat, the former Stars & Stripes 92, sets sail from St. Thomas' Crown Bay Marina on Saturday, May 23 to rendezvous with an armada off the St. Thomas Yacht Club for the start of Leg One of the Memorial Day Regatta, the oldest continuously-run sailing race in the West Indies that has pitted sailors departing from St. Thomas on a run across the Mona Passage to the St. Croix Yacht Club since 1954.

Sponsored jointly by the two clubs for over four decades, the three-day regatta is renown for its competitive racing, hospitality, and fun-filled shoreside festivities. According to Peter Holmberg, Team Caribbean's designated skipper and the world's fourth-ranked match racing helmsman,  "Even though Stars & Stripes is an unofficial entry in the Memorial Day Regatta, our participation affords the perfect opportunity to promote inter-island friendships and showcase the boat  to the people of St. Croix."

Key to organizing Team Caribbean fundraising activities, the St. Croix Advisory Council counts Big Beard's John Macy (Chairman), Gloria Bourne (Press), Jack Bishop, Arlen Wheeler, Jenyne Nelson, Rhonda Dossman, and Senator Holland Redfield, among its more active members.

Says Macy, "The America's Cup is now less than two years away and Team Caribbean's dream of being a viable Challenger is fast becoming a reality.  The worldwide media attention generated by the lead-up to the Challenger Selection Series has put all of the Caribbean in the limelight. Now is the time for St. Croix to come aboard."

On May 24, the St. Croix community is invited to tour Stars & Stripes, the famous Defender Finalist in the 1992 America's Cup, from Noon to 4:00 PM at the Gallows Bay commercial dock. Organized by the St. Croix Advisory Council and supported by the Buccaneer Hotel, this Team Caribbean Open House event will also feature the sale of official team merchandise, personal boat tours by Holmberg and his crew, and the opportunity for youngsters of all ages to sign a special fundraising spinnaker.

For additional information on Team Caribbean's participation in the Memorial Day Regatta or St. Croix Advisory Council activities, contact Chairman John Macy by calling 773-4482.