Four days until the 33rd Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race
by Julianna Barbieri on 30 Jan 2017
2017 Pineapple Cup Fleet Julianna Barbieri
With four days to the start of the 33rd edition of the Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race, the Montego Bay Yacht Club is delighted to announce JetBlue as a Gold Level sponsor. The field of eleven including former Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race Sailors are arriving into South Florida to making final preparations in the 811-nautical mile race departing from Miami on February 3rd.
JetBlue Airways, a New York based carrier, is one of the country's largest airlines, offering 925 flights daily to over 100+ destinations. Among those destinations includes Jamaica and Cuba. JetBlue offers direct service between Jamaica and many locations in the US. JetBlue is also one of the first airlines to offer flights to Cuba from the US. Launching the service in 2016, the airline now offers nonstop routes from New York, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando to multiple Cuban destinations.
“JetBlue is proud to once again sponsor the Pineapple Cup. This year’s edition is particularly meaningful for us, given our continued commitment to Jamaica, and with our recent launch of service to four cities in Cuba,” said Giselle Cortes, director of international cities for JetBlue. “We congratulate the Pineapple Cup on its 33rd edition of the Montego Bay Race, and we share our excitement and best wishes for the inaugural Cuba Cup.”
The fleet for this Pineapple Cup includes Todd Stuart's White Rhino, a Swan 56, that is coming off a victory at Quantum Key West Race Week, where they won their division with straight bullets and David and Peter Askew's RP 74, Wizard, that just broke the 12-year-old course record for the Fort Lauderdale-Key West Race.
Another top contender is the TP52 Heartbreaker. Their strategist, Alex Clegg, talked about what he is looking forward to from this classic ocean race. “Offshore distance racing is one of my favourite aspects of yacht racing. This year’s Pineapple Cup is a race I haven't done in 10 years, but am extremely excited to get out there and compete. It's a beautiful course with generally very warm weather and water, and a mixed bag of conditions; a Gulf Stream crossing, some upwind, reaching, and hopefully a sleigh ride downwind the final portion of the race.”
A complete list of registered entrants can be found
here. The Biscayne Bay Yacht Club will host the Pineapple Cup Skippers Meeting and crew party on Thursday, February 2nd.
For more information, please visit
website.
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