An interview with Jaime Torres on the inaugural Antigua Racing Cup
by David Schmidt 7 Apr 08:00 PDT
April 9-12, 2026
The inaugural Antigua Racing Cup will take place between 9-12 April 2026 © Paul Wyeth / pwpictures.com
Any new regatta is cause for celebration, but when that regatta takes place in mid-April on the waters off of Antigua, it tends to catch our attention at Sail-World. For more than half a century, Antigua Sailing Week (ASW) provided great racing, but, in recent years, the event has been equally attended by cruisers and serious racing teams. Couple this evolution this with the arrival of other big (and newer) Caribbean events that draw raceboats to the region, including the RORC's Caribbean 600, and ASW's organizers sensed that it was time to tack on a wind shift.
The resulting inaugural Antigua Racing Cup is set to unfurl from April 9-12, and is aimed at attracting top-shelf international and Caribbean-based teams. It's being organized by Caribbean Sailing Events, Inc. (a non-profit) and is open to monohulls holding either a valid Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA), or, optionally, a 2026 IRC rating if they want to be dual-scored, as well as multihulls holding a CSA rating.
Antigua Racing Cup's mid-April scheduling is designed to play nicely with other Antigua-based events, and other regattas on the Caribbean circuit. ASW, which is also organized by Caribbean Sailing Events, Inc., will take place from April 22-26, while the famous Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, which is organized and hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club, rounds out the island's trifecta and will take place from April 15-20.
If this sounds like a regatta calendar that involves serious racing, classics, and cruiser-racers, you're on the right tack.
The Antigua Racing Cup's race village and post-sailing celebrations will be based out of Nelson's Dockyard (a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a cool place to breathe-in maritime history), and the regatta will take advantage of the island's featured southern coastline to host its racecourses.
I checked in with Jaime Torres, who serves as race manager for the Antigua Racing Cup and ASW, and as the CSA's VP, to learn more about this newly minted Caribbean regatta.
It's always exciting when a new regatta is created. Can you please tell us about the impetus and inspiration that lead to the creation of the Antigua Racing Cup? Also, how long has this been in the works?
For the last three or four years we've noticed the slow but steady drops in registrations in regattas all over the world. But we also knew the main issue for Antigua Sailing Week was the timing. Being the last event of the Caribbean season made it difficult for the more serious teams (e.g., those that also competed in other parts of the world) to do our event and make it on time to the races in the U.S. or Europe. That's what prompted the change of dates to an earlier slot on the calendar.
It's important to note that both ASW was created, and is still owned by, the Antigua-Barbuda Hotel and Tourism Association. Their intent was to extend the charter boat season and that is why it was originally held in June, slowly shifting over the years to the end of April..
Given the scale of the change of ASW and creating a the new Antigua Racing Cup, it took a lot of work to get all stakeholders lined up; we then had the choice to launch the new format in 2027 or just go for it in 2026. In conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and the event owners, we chose the latter and, although the 2026 editions will both be smaller, the transition is the right thing to do, the fleet responded positively, and we are setting our sails out to hit the startline at speed for 2027.
How do you think the introduction of the Antigua Racing Cup will affect other regattas, for example Antigua Sailing Week or other major Caribbean events?
The Caribbean calendar is already chock-full with great regattas. But our organizing committee works closely with the Caribbean Sailing Association to make sure our proposed dates now and in the future do not cannibalize competitors from other events.
Our most important target entrants are 35-65-foot raceboats that are already in the region, and in particular we wish to attract the many serious race teams that are already on the island for the Caribbean 600. Most of those teams only compete in the Caribbean 600 and the associated Nelson Series just before.
By our estimation, if we produced an event in Antigua that was designed to cater to the competitive needs and timing requirements of those programs, we should be able to add value to the overhead of bringing those boats to the Caribbean. We are thrilled that on our first year we managed to inspire a few of those teams to compete in the Antigua Racing Cup.
Antigua Sailing Week follows two weeks later and is now a more relaxed cruise-in-company event where the live-aboard participants just cruise or easy-race to different gorgeous destinations around Antigua over the course of four days. It's vastly different event in terms of format and who it intends to appeal to, so few teams would choose to do both. The racing at ASW, for those that wish to engage it, is uncomplicated, using simple courses and handicapped with the CSA's Simplified Rating Rule.
What kinds of boats, owners, and sailors are you and the other event organizers hoping to attract? For example, do you envision big bareboat fleets, or are you aiming this more at serious/high-end teams that regularly race together in regattas and ocean races?
Caribbean events bring in the full range of racers and boats, from the high-level pros on the fastest racing machines in the planet, to the most laid-back cruising crew. They all find their place in our warm and windy islands.
Antigua Racing Cup's market are serious race teams, hardcore racer-cruisers, and race-charter boats. This event does not offer racing offered for bareboats or non-spinnaker classes. Those cruising classes can now have an even better time at ASW with cruising itineraries and courses that are more suitable for the beer-in-hand type sailing.
What kinds of courses do you think Antigua Racing Cup will feature? Are we talking about windward-leewards, or do you expect longer coastal courses that use islands as natural turning marks?
While Antigua does not enjoy the favor of having too many natural rocks or islands that can serve as turning marks, we have a seriously impressive coastline that enjoys very strong and steady tradewinds, and some of the largest waves in the Caribbean.
At the Antigua Racing Cup, we will put those conditions to great use by setting an interesting mix of windward-leewards, coastal, and longish courses with different true wind angle legs to maximize the fun factor for light, powerful boats.
With over 25 pre-published courses to pick from, plus the possibility of virtual marks to make sure we can capitalize on any possible wind direction, our RC team is ready to deliver high-quality racing specific to every class and every condition.
What kinds of racing conditions can sailors expect to encounter off of Antigua in mid-April?
Windy and wavey. Steady winds in the 15-20 knot range, with the occasional cooling shower, and big waves—Caribbean conditions at their best.
Are any classes/divisions shaping up to be especially competitive?
Oh yeah. Check out the class splits. Racing in CSA 2/3/4 will be intense. The depth of experience of just about every team is impressive, and everybody wants to win the first edition!
Are there any teams that you're already eying for podium finishes?
In CSA 1, my money is on Prevail, an extremely strong pro team that's sailing a wickedly fast, well-prepared Tripp 65.
CSA 2 has so many good boats and every team there is capable of delivering a podium finish. Rikki is fresh of an IRC 1 win at the Caribbean 600, and Belladonna and Bella J finished 1-2 in IRC 2 at the Caribbean 600, and Apollo has done well all over the region all season. Warthog, Antigua's strongest team, can never ever be ruled out of a class win.
CSA 3 is also packed with talent, but my money is Panacea X to continue its winning ways.
In CSA 4 we have a few newcomers on very competitive boats, so I dare not make any predictions on this interesting class.
Does the regatta plan to use any modern racecourse management tools such as MarkSetBots or GPS-based automated starting-line technology, or will the RC handle this all old-school style?
Out top RC team has had years of success with old-school methods, but we are definitely prepping for a more tech-based future. I am a one-design racer that strongly believes that Vakaros RaceSense is the way to go, and I can't wait to see this technology deployed to the benefit of handicap racing in the near future.
We have already implemented a big change by going with Nautical Cloud Race Management software. This state-of-art program facilitates faster posting of racing scores, better competitor communication, and more reliable dual scoring (we are running the event under boat CSA and IRC rating rules). But the future holds robotic marks, GPS-based automated start management, and direct-to-web results posting.
What kinds of shoreside activities and post-racing celebrations can attending teams look forward to, once the finishing guns have fallen silent each night (and at the end of the event)?
All Caribbean events are famous for their shore-side activities. We will answer the party call with hosting the event on the historic Nelson's Dockyard with food and drink vendors right there and nearby, and a music-powered daily prize-giving bash that will challenge even the hardiest party crews.
Is there anything else about the Antigua Racing Cup that you'd like to tell us about or add for the record?
We are thrilled with the support we have received from our sponsors, friends, and participants on the challenging changes we have implemented. It took some serious soul searching, lots of research, massive time and effort to evolve ASW—the event that started international yacht racing in the Caribbean and has over 50 years of history— and move forward to the Antigua Racing Cup spin-off and the re-imagination of ASW.
But here we are, stoked on what is happening now and hopeful for a future of continued fun and competition in beautiful Antigua.