50th Antigua Charter Yacht Show gets underway

by AntiguaNice/Sail-World Cruising on 4 Dec 2011 There's no place in the world that drooling over your next charter boat will be more possible than at the 50th Antigua Charter Yacht Show (ACYS), starting today (4th December). The show is taking place in English and Falmouth Harbours and will continue through the 10th of December.

The 50th Anniversary of the ACYS is being held on conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the restoration of Nelson’s Dockyard on Antigua, so it is anticipated that this year’s show will be a huge joint celebration with the Dockyard. Very fittingly, a large portion of the Show’s fleet will be moored in the Dockyard as it has been in past years.

Over 100 yachts are registered. In addition, there will be some 300 brokers in attendance representing over 150 brokerages from across the globe include such distant places as Russia, Greece, New Zealand and Luxembourg. One hundred thirty-four companies will be represented as non-exhibiting vendors and over 40 members of the press will be in attendance.

There is a large range of types and sizes of yachts currently on the entry list. They include the largest motor yacht and largest yacht overall, Air, measuring in at 266 feet. At the other end of the scale, the smallest motor yacht currently registered is African Queen at 80 feet in length. Sailing yachts range from Imagination, only 46 feet, at the small end of the scale to Rosehearty at the large end of the scale, measuring 185 feet overall. There are also a large number of sailing catamarans registered including everything from Hemisphere at 145 feet to Nemo at only 47 feet.

The number of yachts would have been even greater, but once again bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean has contributed to a number of yachts having to revoke their registration because they will be unable to make it to Antigua in time.

Aside from viewing the yachts, the show’s agenda is packed full with the ACYS Welcome Dinner party to be held on the evening of Monday, December 5, wine tastings, evening yacht hops, crew parties, and informative hours to be held daily throughout the week, covering topics from snorkelling in Guadeloupe to yacht provisioning in Antigua, discovering Croatia and Grenada and Going Green to Save the Blue.

The famous Chef’s Competition will be held again for the 12th time and this year’s theme is Antigua Charter Yacht Show’s 50th Anniversary Caribbean Celebration Banquet. The competition’s sponsors include Piper Heidsieck Champagne, Boat International Media, Showboats, Dockwalk, Piper Heidsieck/Best Cellars and LIAT, the Caribbean Airline.

The competition will feature three categories based on yacht size and a winner and runner-up will be selected from each category by a team of five judges. New this year will be the addition of a Steward/Stewardess Table Setting Challenge with separate judges who will decide on the most innovative and creative 50th Anniversary table setting, featuring in it the number 50. The overall competition promises to be more exciting than ever and should provide the judges with some wonderful tastings to add to their week’s overall positive experience!

Already there's hardly a space to be found on any of the show’s host docks in English and Falmouth Harbours including Nelson’s Dockyard Marina, Antigua Slipway, Falmouth Harbour Marina and Antigua Yacht Club Marina.

There’s no doubt that the 50th anniversary celebration of the Antigua Charter Yacht Show is shaping up to be a memorable one.