Round Barbados Race Series 2013 – Massive start for busy sailing year
by Round Barbados on 17 Jan 2013
Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race 2013 Peter Marshall
The Round Barbados Race Series 2013 will kick off its 77th anniversary with the staging of Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race on Errol Barrow Day, Monday, January 21. Competing crews are expected to come all out as they try to steer their boats to victory in the opening salvo of what would be a very busy sailing calendar in the island.
The island’s 2013 international sailing calendar will get off to a massive start when the 77th anniversary of the Round Barbados Race Series is celebrated this weekend. With the feature race, the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race, scheduled for Errol Barrow Day, on Monday, January 21, crews of the participating vessels will be putting all on the line as they vie to win their captain’s weight in rum.
The event started in 1936 with five trading schooners racing for bragging rights to be the fastest vessel in local waters, which brought with it the ability to attract more business. Since being resurrected in 2011, the series has evolved to include another feature which has been dubbed the Two Restaurants Race. This year’s race will proceed as usual with vessels going from Cruising Club to marks off Beach House on the West Coast and Tapas on the South on Saturday morning from 11 a.m. New to the programme this year is the Antigua Open Race, which has a main function of linking the Round Island Race to the Super Yacht Challenge in Antigua. Wednesday’s 300-mile journey is hoped to bring some of the world’s largest yachts to Barbados in the coming years.
With the absolute record holders from last year, Idea and Silver Bullet, back again to defend their respective titles, several teams will be coming out to challenge some of the six records set last year. With names such as Fancy Sailor, Jump Up, Jabulani and Dragon Magic in the mix, additional international entries in The Blue Peter and Valteam, who competed in the recently-concluded Panerai Classic Transat, have decided to take on the Round Barbados Race Series 2013
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