First Tonga Regatta Slated for September

By all accounts, the islands of Tonga comprise a fabulous sailing venue. Despite the fact that hundreds of cruising sailors are drawn there every year, there has never been an actual regatta held within the so-called "friendly Kingdom." That is, until now.

Nautical business leaders announced recently that the first annual Regatta Vava’u and Sail Week will be held September 3-8. Staged within the 50-island Vava’u group in the northern region of the Kingdom, the six-day festival will feature "two race events, a food and craft fair, a humpback whale presentation, traditional Tongan feasts, a fantastic Full Moon Party, a pub crawl, a kids’ day and other fun activities, and opportunities to learn about ocean ecology." Sounds like big fun to us — in fact, a must stopover for west-bound cruisers.

As regatta volunteer Lisa Newton explains, the festival also includes a strong environmental component: “We’re also involved in the Vava’u coral gardening programme and it makes sense to combine the two projects — have an ecological focus for the regatta and also raise funds for coral gardening. The people who participate in this event will get to see the wonders that ecologists are so keen to protect, and will hopefully leave Vava’u with great memories, as well as a sense of responsibility for the Pacific Ocean.” See the website for complete program details, and look for a report on this first-time-ever event in an upcoming edition of Latitude 38.