Preparation, practice and positioning paid off for class winners at the 2016 Saint Lucia Digicel Mango Bowl Regatta, hosted by the St. Lucia Yacht Club. Over 150 sailors from St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Martinique competed in five classes: Racing, two cruising, one-design J/24 and Surprise.
“Five races on triangular courses set in Rodney Bay complemented by a long course to the north of the island over two days proved challenging,” says Jean-Michel Figuères, from Martinique, who sailed his Farr 40, Perseverare Diabolicum, to first in the racing class. “Preparation and consistency enabled us to win, while some of the other boats had problems.”
Meanwhile, and also from Martinique, it was Jean-Francois Terrien and his crew aboard La Morrigane, that won the six-boat Surprise class.
“This is the third year we’ve raced and last year we finished second, so we really wanted to win first this year,” says Terrien. “We practiced for a year and the boat was well prepared after a three-month refit. Tactically, the key was to have good positioning at the start and then try to get free from the others.”
Terrien and his crew aboard the 25ft 40-year-old Surprise had a bad start in the first race and were disqualified. This didn’t dampen their spirits as they came back strong to win four of a total of seven races sailed in the regatta.
In other classes, Franck Chevrier at the helm of his J/24, Jabal, won this one-design class; Jerry Bethel aboard his J/30, Jaystar, placed first in Cruising 1; and Bruce Robinson racing his Hunger 29.5, Mandy, topped Cruising 2.
“Next year, there is the thought of possibly including a longer, exciting windward/leeward leg down into Choc Bay for the cruising and racing classes,” says regatta director Lily Bergasse. Bergasse adds that regatta organizers welcome Digicel back as title sponsor for the next three years and plan to grow the regatta with a program of racing designed to entice sailors from throughout the region to attend
For full results, visit: http://stluciayachtclub.com/archives/results-of-the-2016-digicel-mango-bowl-regatta/
