Tony's Virgin territory

When the first air service arrived in the BVIs half a century ago, Tony Rainold and pal Charlie were ahead of the curve in setting up The Moorings yacht charter. Emma Bamford discovers more

- Emma Bamford

It really started over some cocktails after a race one night,” says Tony Rainold. So many stories originate in a pub, the birthplace of countless dreams – and this was exactly how everything began in the late-1960s for Tony and Charlie Cary.

Over those cocktails, ordered to celebrate winning a sailing race, the pair came up with a rough plan to start a yacht charter business. The close pals had met sailing, when Tony did foredeck crew to Charlie’s skipper, and had gone on to work for the same oil and gas company in the Southern States of the US. They didn’t really have a lot of money; it was mainly a hunch, and the potential to turn a passion project – sailing – into a business opportunity.

They had one thing above all in their favour, though – they’d heard the British Virgin Islands were due to get their first air service in August 1969. Most charters in the area at the time were based out of St Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, which were better connected. The most beautiful sailing grounds, however, were in the neighbouring British Virgin Islands – but charterers faced a hard beat to reach them. Better if they could start in the BVIs, Charlie and Tony thought.

So, they set up a little yacht charter business out of Tortola, with just six Pearson 35-footers on the books.

It turned out their hunch was a good one – today The Moorings has more than 20 charter bases around the world and a global fleet of 400 vessels. Its base on Tortola, in the BVIs, is its biggest, with about 300 monohulls and catamarans, hotel rooms, a boatyard, provisioning and even a spa on site.

Humble beginnings

Back at the beginning, things were not nearly so fancy.