Tight margins define racing on day two of Antigua Sailing Week - Marina Resort Women's Race Day
by Rupert Holmes/Antigua Sailing Week 29 Apr 14:29 NZST
26 April - 2 May 2025
Swan 58 WaveWalker won both her races today - Antigua Sailing Week © Paul Wyeth / pwpictures.com
Varied conditions tested teams at Antigua Sailing Week today across a range of wind strengths, with the big boats enjoying adrenaline-pumping speeds of 20 knots in the stronger gusts.
In CSA Racing Class 2 Woody Cullen's Swan 58 WaveWalker won both her races, including a victory in the second race by a scant 36 seconds over Don Terwilliger's Beneteau First 47.7 Dauntless. Wayne Zittel X-Yachts XP50 DNR rounded out the podium in third.
"We sail with a great mix of friends and family, as well as professional crew," says Cullen's wife Carolyn. "They're amazing and the one thing that's unique about them is they all coach. This was my first race taking the lead on jib trim - that's thanks to the great crew and great coaching, with much of it from women." Women form one third of the crew, including Carolyn and daughter Emma. In addition, Suzanne Leech, a double world champion sailor, is on board as navigator this week.
"We have women from bow to stern," says Carolyn. "I think that helps our crew work, communication and consistency. It's really special. We work really hard to have safety first, fun and then win."
"I grew up sailing Optimist and 420 dinghies, then took a long hiatus from sailing, but I'm back on it now with WaveWalker," says Emma. "I'm always learning all the time - on every race - so many things from each of the crew members."
The big boats in CSA Racing 1 help to create a key part of the mix that makes Antigua Sailing Week an awe-inspiring experience for all. At the end of second windward leg of their first race today, Roy Disney's Volvo 70 Pyewacket reached the windward mark with an inside overlap on the leading boat in CSA Racing Class 3, Marc Emig's team from Marseille on the J/133 Credit Mutuel - Jivaro.
Jim Vos' RP37 Warthog and his crew of young Antiguan sailors went on to take line honours in this race. However, Credit Mutuel - Jivaro took victory on corrected time, just 35 seconds ahead of Steve Rigby's J/122 El Ocaso, while Richard Matthews' J/122 Oystercatcher on Liquid notched up his first podium finish.
Warthog took fourth place after time correction, pushing legendary Danish sailor, double Olympic gold medallist and five times Dragon class world champion Poul Høj Jensen, down to fifth place, almost four minutes behind the winner.
Warthog then blasted round the course on their second race of the day, taking line honours by almost six minutes, and retaining victory on corrected time ahead of Jivaro and Oystercatcher. El Ocaso slipped to fifth in this race, but still retains an overall lead three points ahead of Jivaro
The RS Elite fleet concluded their short three-day series of 12 races today. Geoffrey Pierini's Splice took a clear overall victory, counting nine wins and only one second place. Veteran Antiguan sailor and former Antigua Yacht Club admiral, Paul Deeth's De Boom took second overall, also with a clear margin.
However, the battle to complete the podium could not have been closer, with Lesley Martin's Zan and Richard Fear's Brown Skin Girl were tied on points at the start of their final day. A second place, plus a trio of thirds, was enough to lift Zan up to third overall, three points clear of Brown Skin Girl.
CSA Racing Class 4 is the most numerous at this year's Antigua Sailing Week and enjoyed tantalisingly close competition in their first race today. Katy Campbell's Salona 45 Panacea X won line honours, but Ryan Hope Ross' J/105 More Zessin' took victory on corrected time by a margin of only two seconds. Further down the fleet, Patrick Holloran's First 40.7 Caipirinha and Carlo Falcone's 47ft IOR racer Caccia Alla Volpe finished in a dead heat on corrected time, with each boat scoring 4.5 points.
More Zessin' also prevailed in the second race, with Caccia Alla Volpe second and David Crum Frers 46 Two Tonner Quintessence III third, a mere six seconds ahead of Panacea X.
Today was also the Marina Resort Women's Race Day at Antigua Sailing Week, which aims to celebrate, support and inspire women sailors and aspiring sailors. Lyssandra Barbieri's Grand Soleil 43 Blue Moon, which spends most its life as a cruising boat for her Second Star Sailing Sea School, is racing all week with a 12-strong women-only crew, some of which are new to big boat sailing and benefited from coaching from British professional sailor Louise Clayton ahead of the regatta.
"I had never raced before," says Aliya Brown, an Antiguan who has the pivotal role of mainsheet trimmer. "So this is my proper first ever training and race week and I'm really enjoying it," she adds. "I've got all these new skills, as well as others to improve on - I also get to focus on those to improve my sailing and can help other people too."
Barbieri highlights the importance of being able to provide opportunities for people who don't know someone with a boat and doesn't have huge amounts of money. "We're giving opportunities to people that don't have those options right now," she says. "I have a sailing school in Italy and I really wanted to open a school in the Caribbean as well. It's a great place to sail, the winds are consistent and there's a really great supportive sailing community. It's also really convenient for people from all over the world because there are direct flights."
Panacea X, which is currently lying third overall in CSA Racing Class 4, is also a sea school boat and is racing this week with five women on board, including owner Katy Campbell. She has taught more than 1,000 aspiring sailors to date and says: "I love the people aspect and trying to figure out how to make everyone work together as one team." This evening she was presented with the ASW Inspirational Woman Award and a Locman watch courtesy of Marina & Resort Ltd.
"Women's day at ASW is about celebrating all of the women on board this week, whether a seasoned skipper or a new trainee," says Alison Sly-Adams, president of Antigua Sailing Week. "There are 107 of you here and six female skippers. We see this as our opportunity to tell some of your stories and inspire other women to give sailing a try."
After today's sailing there was complimentary Prosecco courtesy of daily sponsor Marina & Resort Ltd, ahead of the daily prize-giving at the Antigua Yacht Club, followed by live music from Xxplosive.
Competition for all CSA classes continues on Reggae and Rum day tomorrow, ahead of lay day on Wednesday.
For more information about Antigua Sailing Week including racing, watching the action and the fun-packed shoreside entertainment, visit the official website: sailingweek.com.