2019 Antigua Bermuda Race - Day 6
by Louay Habib 14 May 2019 02:05 NZST
13 May 2019
Pata Negra - 2019 Antigua Bermuda Race, Day 6 © Tobias Stoerkle /
www.sailing-photography.com
Six yachts are expected to finish the 2019 Antigua Bermuda Race today, Monday 13 May. Afansay Isaev's Grand Mistral 80 Maxi Weddell (RUS) is expected to finish around midday taking second place in Line Honours, but Weddell will be outside the IRC corrected time set by SHK Scallywag.
Three yachts are in a thrilling battle to win the Warrior Trophy for the best elapsed time after IRC Correction. Pata Negra (GBR) skippered by Andy Liss, Peter Grueterich's Xpatriate (USA) and Kevin McLaughlin's Rye (USA) are all in contention with 114 miles or less to go.
At 0900 AST, Pata Negra was 83 miles from the finish and leading under IRC. Xpatriate has been really catching Pata Negra over the last 24 hours, cutting an eight hour lead down to just over one hour. Xpatriate was 114 miles from the finish and second in IRC. Rye was 93 miles from the St David's Lighthouse and estimated to be just over two hours behind Pata Negra after IRC time correction.
"We are a crew that has been sailing together on various boats for many years," commented Peter Grueterich, skipper of Xpatriate. "We know each other very well and get along great. We trust each other and have great respect for one another. When we finally got the seaweed off the rudder, the boat sails pretty fast! Xpatriate is not in its lightest form as we are bringing lots of cruising stuff with us to our home port in Riverside, Connecticut, but we picked a good course on the left side of the rhumb line and stuck with it. We also have a good set of complementary skills across all watches which makes it so much easier. We are really looking forward to Bermuda. To enjoy rum, ice cold beers and a great dinner at my favourite pub, and of course stick our feet in the pink sands!!"
The 10 yachts still racing on the sixth day of the Antigua Bermuda Race are experiencing super downwind conditions with warm air and ocean and bright sunshine. Atlantic Rollers will be providing a sleigh ride towards Bermuda. However, there are still some holes in the breeze and with the overall win hanging in the balance, avoiding the light patches will be crucial to the competing teams.
All yachts are fitted with YB Trackers. Follow the front runners, an individual boat or the whole fleet via the website at: yb.tl/a2b2019
www.antiguabermuda.com