Please select your home edition
Edition
PredictWind - GPS 728x90 TOP

Antigua Sailing Week - 106 strong fleet ready to rumble

by Louay Habib on 25 Apr 2014
Antigua Sailing Week Tim Wright
Antigua Sailing Week gets underway on Sunday with an entry list slightly up on last year of 106 yachts. It features seven days of superb racing from the Guadeloupe to Antigua Race on Friday 25th April to the final awards ceremony on Friday 2nd May. There are over 100 entries for the main event which is the last big regatta of the Caribbean season. Yachts from an astonishing 21 different countries will be taking part from all over the Caribbean, Europe, North and South America, Scandinavia, Russia, Eastern Europe and even Australia.

Prior to the regatta, the Guadeloupe Race and the Yachting World Round Antigua Race stand alone as one off races with their own prestigious awards. The Guadeloupe Race has been running for as long as Antigua Sailing Week and this year has attracted 20 entries including Rob Date's RP52, Scarlet Runner. 'Scarlet has sailed all the way here from Melbourne, Australia, about 18,000 miles in total,' commented Rob. 'Four of the crew have done the whole trip. This is the first time I have been to Antigua Sailing Week and we are really looking forward to some top competition. The Guadeloupe Race and the Round Antigua Race will be a good shake out for us for the regatta.'

45 yachts have entered the Yachting World Round Antigua Race and there should be a fascinating encounter between two canting keel carbon flyers. Mike Slade's Farr 100, ICAP Leopard, and Andy Budgen's Volvo 70, Monster Project are both capable of beating the race record, currently held by Sir Peter Harrison's Farr-designed 115-foot, Sojana, which completed the race in four hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds in 2009. Sojana is undergoing a major refit and will not be racing this year.


Mike Slade, owner of ICAP Leopard has been coming to Antigua Sailing Week for many years. 'Leopard has been very busy this season with charter guests and I thought it was high time I got to have some fun with her,' laughed Mike. 'Antigua is like a second home to Leopard and we have many friends here - some already in Antigua and some flying in from abroad. Leopard broke the Round the Isle of Wight record last year and there are a lot of similarities with the Yachting World Round Antigua Race but it will be all about the weather on the day.'

On Wednesday 23 April, 106 yachts had entered Antigua Sailing Week including 75 yachts racing under the CSA Rating Rule, 28 bareboats and three multihulls. Classes are yet to be finalised but it seems likely that ICAP Leopard and Monster Project will have an epic duel. ICAP Leopard will be giving Monster Project about six minutes an hour for their handicap.

A large number of performance surfing machines will be screeching around the courses. Piet Vroon's Dutch Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens 3 has been in fine form this season and is likely to face stiff competition from Scarlet Runner, Spanish TP52, Balearia, Leo van den Thillart's Kernan 47, True and Jan Olesen's Danish team on Essex Girl. The surfing is sure to continue with a number of pocket rockets entered. Lewis Fitzgerald will skipper the Antigua National Sailing Academy Cork 1720, Digicel Spirit, going up against father Marc Fitzgerald on another Cork 1720, Team Sojana. Ian Hope Ross' Melges 32 Kick 'em Jenny 2 is down from Sint Maarten, as is John Gifford's Melges 24, Amcon Express.

No less than six Beneteau 40.7s will be battling it out: Ortac-Team Seeland, Cheeki Rafiki, Girls For Sail, Spirit of Venus, Visiooptic and Caipirinha. Of the displacement charter race boats, Scarlet Oyster, Northern Child, EH01, Southern Child and Lancelot II will have a friendly yet full on battle. EH01 has a crew of Canadians this year who have never been to the regatta before, but they enjoyed a few Wadadli beers on arrival and got in the swing of things! Richard Wesslund's J/122, El Ocaso and Philippe Falle's Deep Blue Racing team on Grand Soleil 43, Quokka, are sure to have a close encounter.


This year, there is a significant number of Caribbean yachts vying for the bragging rights of the best local boat including Sir Hugh Bailey's U-Go, Steve Carson's Hightide, Geoffrey Pidduck's Biwi Magic, Tanner and Shari Jones' Blue Peter, Sandy Mair's Cricket, David Townrow's Calypso, Hans Lammers' Frolic, Alex Jonstone's Bluewater-Sailing-Grenada, Peter Lewis' Whistler, Claude Roth's Visiooptic and Reginald Williams' Legacy.

Last year, Carlo Falcone's Antiguan flagged, Caccia alla Volpe, was best Caribbean Yacht (Start Boat A). Geoffrey Pidduck's Antiguan Biwi Magic was best Caribbean Yacht (Start Boat B). Both yachts will be racing again this year.

28 bareboats are currently entered, mainly through regatta sponsor, Sunsail. The bareboat fleet is one of the most competitive fleet at Antigua Sailing Week. Alfred Geisser's KH+P Sea You Later was last year's overall bareboat winner with Christoph Nielsen's KH+P Bageal winner of Bareboat 2 and both yachts have returned this year to defend their respective titles.
Event website

Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px-04 BOTTOMGJW Direct 2020 FOOTERRooster 2023 - Aquafleece Robe - FOOTER

Related Articles

Shawyer qualifies for the New York to Vendée Race
The Canadian skipper is preparing to line up with 30 fellow IMOCAs Scott Shawyer, the Canadian skipper of the IMOCA Be Water Positive, will be competing in the prestigious single-handed transatlantic race, the New York Vendée, which starts on 29 May 2024.
Posted today at 3:47 pm
Waszp X Camp Talamone 2024
An all-round project to train sailors and athletes thanks to X-Camps Improving sporting performance by deepening mental, structural, physical as well as technical aspects, consolidating team spirit.
Posted today at 2:23 pm
UpWind by MerConcept announces 7 female athletes
For the inaugural season of Ocean Fifty Racing After four days of physical and mental tests, individual interviews, and on-water racing, seven female athletes have been selected to join the very first UpWind by MerConcept racing team.
Posted today at 1:43 pm
Cape 31 class at Royal Southern YC Regatta
German team secure their second overall win in the circuit The Royal Southern Yacht Club played host to Round One of the 2024 31 Race Circuit, delivering a spectacular weekend of competitive sailing that truly tested the mettle of the 17 Cape 31 teams in attendance.
Posted today at 1:18 pm
The price of heritage
A tale of a city, three towns but one theme, from dinghy historian Dougal Henshall The meeting in question took place down at the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth and saw the 1968 Flying Dutchman Gold Medal winning trio of Rodney Pattisson, Iain MacDonald-Smith and their boat Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious brought back together.
Posted today at 12:00 pm
Trofeo Princesa Sofía increases hotel occupancy
Filling hotels around Playa de Palma in advance of the tourist season The 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar helped to generate an occupancy rate of close to 70% in the hotels of Playa de Palma during the month of March, according to data from the industry body, the Asociación Hoteleros Playa de Palma.
Posted today at 10:41 am
Sport and inclusion in sailing in Italy
Sea4All is a very intense program of continuous activities Sport and inclusion in sea with Sea4All teams at the Regatta "dei 2 Golfi" in Lignano Sabbiadoro From April 25th -28th in Lignano (Northern Adriatic Sea) will take place the 2 Gulfs Trophy offshore sailing with the participation of Càpita.
Posted today at 9:33 am
2nd Melges 15 Winter Series at CN Cascais
Diogo Pereira and Tomas Barreto sail comfortably to victory After 5 bullets and a 6th place on the six races that took place on the two first days, Diogo Pereira and Tomas Barreto sailed comfortably for a 2nd and a 5th on the two races that took place on the last day to secure victory.
Posted today at 6:21 am
Last Chance for 2024 Olympic Qualification
Starting this weekend at the Semaine Olympique Française The Last Chance Regatta, held during the 55th edition of Semaine Olympique Française (Franch Olympic Week) from 20-27 April in Hyères, France, is as it says – the last chance.
Posted today at 5:42 am
35th Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta Day 1
Easy start to an exciting week The 35th Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta got off to a slow start today with unusual calm southerly winds which prompted the race committee to shorten the Old Road course.
Posted today at 3:49 am