Antigua Race Week back and booming

May 12, 2022

Peter Corr’s Blitz romped home in CSA 4 winning all 10 races © Paul Wyeth/ pwpictures.com

After a two-year hiatus the 53rd edition of Antigua Sailing Week wrapped up on Sunday, brimming with success and a sprinkling of Canadian sailors. The trade winds blew all week, with the international fleet enjoying exhilarating racing in sailing paradise. The compliments from sailors from the four corners of the earth are over-flowing for Antigua Sailing Week which is back and here to stay.

The overall winner of Antigua Sailing Week was Peter Corr’s invincible team racing the King 40 Blitz from St Thomas USVI scoring straight bullets in CSA 4. The new CSA Sportsboat Class at Antigua Sailing Week was a roaring success with young bloods and also some wily foxes blasting through the surf for 15 short, sharp, windward leeward races for five days of high-octane action. Jules Mitchell’s 1720 NSA Spirit knew they were in for a full-on battle when they got soundly beaten in the first three encounters with the highly polished young team from Martinique, racing Surprise 24 GFA Caraïbes – La Morrigane, skippered by Tristan Marmousez. NSA Spirit fought back scoring a string of five bullets over the last two days to win the class by three points and the Big Banana Trophy. GFA Caraïbes – La Morrigane was second winning the Henley Trophy. Ashley Rhodes’ young Antiguan team, racing Melges 24 Whiplash, was third.

“We have had a range of conditions which really equalised the different advantages of all the boats, commented NSA Spirit’s Jules Mitchell. “We have raced in a very competitive fleet and we are really satisfied with the result. The team from Martinique kicked our behinds on the first day so we had to bring it on after that. It was really beautiful racing. We had to sail the best we ever have in order to win. The sportsboat scene is getting bigger in the Caribbean and all the dinghy sailors are not going to stay in those boats, they will get into sportsboats.”

Blitz

Ten boats were racing in Club Class which is designed for teams that want to keep the racing fun and relaxed: one of two spinnaker-optional classes at ASW. An army of crew is not required, and the class is an ideal way to introduce novices to racing regattas. All boats have a time correction which changes after each result, depending on their previous finish. Four teams won races and the top four boats were just one point apart after five races. The winner after tie-break was Torben Lundgren’s Danish First 456 Daisy. Equal on points but second by the narrowest of margins was Sandy Mair’s Antiguan First 35 Cricket, and third by a paper-thin margin was Nicholas’ McGhee’s Ranger 33 Java Jive from the Pequannock Yacht Club USA. Java Jive made the podium after countback from Eduardo Lentz’s Jeanneau 44 Voilactus which hails from Lake Superior USA.

Twenty-nine Bareboats were racing at Antigua Sailing Week, the biggest bareboat regatta fleet on the 2022 Caribbean circuit. A full report from the Bareboats is on the official Antigua Sailing Week website. Class winners in the Bareboat Class were from four different countries.

In Bareboat 2, Joaquín Vázquez’s team from Madrid Spain was the victor racing Aproache Nevis, winning the AHTA Cup, and in a tight result was the winner of Bareboat Overall, lifting the Dream Yacht Charter Trophy and was awarded a Locman Italy watch.

“We are very happy and the ambience here has been so warm and inviting. It is wonderful to come and race in Antigua. I run a charter company and I have sailed all over the world and this is one of the best regattas I have been to.”

In Bareboat 3, Neil Harvey and Michael Cannon’s KHS&S Contractors ~ Girl was the winner of the BOAC Cup and was second overall. KH+P Culebra was the best German boat winning the KH+P Trophy and was third in Bareboat Overall. In Bareboat 4, Adrian Leutenegger’s Swiss team from Lake Constance racing Braque was the winner, lifting the National Parks Authority Trophy. In Bareboat 1 Stevie Beckett’s Royal Southern YC team racing Schrodinger was the winner lifting the Antigua Slipway Trophy.

Provisional Final Results from Antigua Sailing Week, including overall class winners can be viewed at:
https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=14323

The 54th edition of Antigua Sailing Week will take place April 29th – May 5th, 2023.