Fun seekers from throughout the BVI and further afield, will converge on Anegada in March for what has become one of the B.V.I.'s most anticipated yacht races - the Dark and Stormy.

The three-day event will take racers from Trellis Bay to Anegada on Saturday, March 8th, where they will stay for two days of games and play, before racing back to Soper's Hole on Monday.

Vessels of all shapes and sizes compete in this multi-class, low-intensity handicap event. Along with the racers, a loosely organized network of planes, ferries and private boats will converge on Anegada, a coral atoll northeast of Tortola ringed by white sand. Indeed, many cruising sailors centre their season around the event.

Begun in 1997 by Sailors Ketch and Neptune's Treasure Hotel and Restaurant in honour of the Soares family, the event has grown larger with every year. The Soares family, who own Neptune's Treasure, is the oldest commercial fishing family in the British Virgin Islands. The race is organized by the Loyal West End Yacht Club, which ensures a relaxed sailing competition while at the same time allowing for a sense of fair competition.

The race starts on Saturday morning at the Loose Mongoose Restaurant in Trellis Bay. After the fleet rounds the Dogs and heads for Anegada, it's roughly two hours before the first sighting of the low-lying isle, just 11 feet at its highest point. As they approach, yachtsmen jockey with one another, each trying to set the most precise course for the finish line before the island becomes visible - often the deciding factor in the race. Once at the anchorage off Neptune's Treasure, the competitors come ashore to swap racing stories, argue about who set the smartest course and whose handicap was most unfair.

Then the real fun begins. There are $2 happy hour beers, complimentary smoked fish appetizers and a buffet dinner that includes the Soares' famed seafood. By Sunday, things become even more relaxed with a horseshoe tournament, kite flying, sandcastle building and dinghy racing. That evening, the day is capped off with more food, an awards party and fireworks.

Monday's return to Tortola is a pursuit race down the north side of the island, and it is always a dramatic sight to watch the swiftest boats try to overtake the early starters. The slower and the faster yachts often vie with each other near the end, tacking back and forth in Soper's Hole as they approach the finish off the Jolly Roger restaurant - site of the last evening's festivities. With good food, parties and music every day, everyone is a winner at the Dark and Stormy.