Antigua
Sailing Week - Fleet Pounds Its Way Back South
Nelson's
Dockyard, Antigua, April 27, 2004 - After a day
of 25-knot winds and pounding seas you'd expect
the crew of the 200-boat fleet in Antigua to settle
back, sink a cool one and relax . Not so, another
22 protests were filed this afternoon but while
the jury sat, Nelson's Dockyard started to hop.
Strong
winds were forecast for the day but luckily the
squalls accompanied by 30-knot plus squalls did
not materialize. The 25-mile course brought the
fleet back to the south of the island for the
last two days of racing on Thursday and Friday
and the ubiquitous Layday to be held tomorrow
on Pigeon Beach.
Today
wasn't Mari Cha IV's day, with Hasso Plattner's
Morning Glory finishing only six seconds behind
her; the rest of the class followed quickly behind
and she was relegated to sixth in class on corrected
time. But there was little fast reaching opportunity
for the ocean crossing greyhound, with a long
fetch for most of the race and a beat to the finish;
she lost her mizzen halyard minutes from the finish.
If
Mari Cha had a bad day, Pyewacket had a worse
one. Leading with a nice margin towards the finish,
she missed the final buoy leading to the finish
line while Morning Glory didn't. Morning Glory
leads Big Boat I with four points.
Aspiration
won Big Boat II today and Aera racked up another
win in Racing III. Last year's class and overall
winner Lolita is tied for second in class with
Transpac 52 Rosebud and is fifth in fleet.
Probably
one of the most competitive classes top to bottom
is Racing IV and Trinidad boat Guardian Star is
on top of the pile after a win today. Carlo Falcone's
Caccia Alla Volpe is second and Legacy another
Trinidad boat is third. Guardian Star (ex-Hoooligan
) is a modified Beneteau First Class 10 predominantly
sailed by crew from the old Henderson 35 Crash
Test Dummies.
Mabuhay
II continues to lead Racer/Cruiser I, Jagga has
knocked Pipe Dream from the perch in Racer/Cruiser
II while Gefion continues to lead Performance
Cruiser I.
In
the battle of Caribbean marinas in Performance
Cruiser II, Bobby Velasquez of Bobby's Marina
in St Maarten has knocked Hugh Bailey of Antigua's
Catamaran Marina and his HuGo crew from first
place. Pavlova II still leads in Performance Cruiser
III.
Farr
56 Farrfly topped Cruising I again today where
there was a little upset for Oyster Catcher XXIV.
In a port/starboard incident in which both boats
were struggling with equipment, a bareboat rammed
Oyster Catcher's starboard quarter. While in the
scheme of things Oyster Catcher's damage was a
flesh wound even though the other boat had mounted
her, the bareboat suffered quite heavy damage
to the bow; she sailed on for another half an
hour until the chain plate gave way and the rig
came down.
Island
Flyer, Rosco, DSD Carnival and Durley Dene continue
to stamp their marks on Bareboat I, II, III and
VI respectively while Woodsia and Vague L'Ame
earned their first first places in Bareboat IV
and V. DSD Carnival leads the fleet tonight.
Tomorrow
sees a LayDay and beach fun and frolics at Pigeon
Beach.
Thursday,
the yachts are back on the ocean with Division
A racing windward/leeward courses and Division
B sailing the South Coast Race. Friday marks the
last official day of racing with the Ocean Race.
Saturday, the prize giving is preceded with the
Second Annual Bareboat Challenge Championship
Race.
The
Lord Nelson's Ball and prize giving wraps the
event on Saturday evening.
For
more information on Antigua Sailing Week visit:
www.sailingweek.com.
Stanford International Bank Limited is a diamond
sponsor of the event. Platinum sponsors are Air
Jamaica, Cable & Wireless, English Harbour
Rum and American Express. LIAT is a Silver sponsor
while Sticky Wicket Restaurant and Going Places
Travel are Copper sponsors.
