We are the Rabbit.. and are marked.. and everyone knows it and is gunning for us… Even tail enders in the class take a whack at us… like “soldier crabs in a bucket”. That reference is to an old Caribbean saying about how the crabs all scramble to get out and if one crab starts…
Highlights from Antigua Sailing Week – www.sailingweek.com
Yesterday (Wednesday) at Antigua Sailing Week was Lay Day – the last of which I attended in 1995 and saw the “biscuit eating/ wet T Shirt/ drink all you can” contests version… fast forward to 2014 and the Nonsuch Bay RS Elite Challenge which I was invited to participate in. Spoiler alert- we lost- “I…
It takes a night and some thought to make sense of all of the action of the day before when racing with 100 other boats that start in a 2 mile area. Lots to think about and keep track of. We lost track yesterday and scared the crap out of several people… least of which…
Ahh yes.. Caribbean sailing.. 12- 15 knots of breeze with sunny skies and a few clouds to offset the incredible blue of the seas.. over 100 boats of all sizes ranging from the 100′ ICAP Leopard down to the Melges 24′ on 2 starting lines. So much to see and watch that paying attention to…
We arrived late on Friday the 25th from St. Thomas via LIAT and the quick trip to a bed was in order.. up early Saturday for the Round Antigua race and off we went in a light SE breeze counter clockwise like the old days. Have to explain that to certain crew members from the digital age as “clockwise”…
You don’t need to BYOB (bring your own boat) or hope for an invite to crew in order to get a front row seat racing in the Caribbean’s biggest and most exciting regattas. There are several great opportunities to charter. These include everything from renting an entire boat to signing on for a crew slot….
Art competitions, beach clean-ups and behind-the-scene tours are a few of the ways Caribbean regatta organizers are reaching out and teaching island school children about the sport of competitive sailing. The benefit? A better understanding by the students of how international sailing events affect their community as well as an opportunity for the students to…
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. A desire to grow up and achieve great things on the world stage and actually doing it isn’t an impossible dream. This was the story told by three members of America’s Cup winning Oracle Team USA who spoke at the St. Thomas Yacht Club Sunday night about their beginnings in…
Worldwide trends are now seeing major boating and sailboat racing events increasingly organized by professional, profit-driven organizations rather than volunteer nonprofits. In the Caribbean of the 1980s, everything was run by volunteers: Antigua Sailing Week, Nicholson’s Boat Show, BVI Spring Regatta, Tobago Race Week, Bonaire Regatta, and the St Thomas Rolex Regatta, to name a…
Crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge, one glance westward reveals a Bay littered with white and multi-colored sails. Day sailors, cruisers, kids single-handing and the towering, 131-foot sail wings of the America’s Cup boats. Vying for the 34th America’s Cup, first awarded to America in 1851, today’s boats are anything but classic. Each carbon-fiber yacht measures…
In recent years many new sailing regattas have been held in the Caribbean but the yardstick to which they are all compared is still Antigua Sailing Week, the longest running regatta in the region. Three years ago, a regatta organising committee was set up to manage the event and if the number of smiling competitors…
RS Elites come to Antigua Sailing Week Antigua Sailing Week’s Lay Day will have a fresh and thrilling racing event, The Nonsuch Bay RS Elite Challenge. This invitational event will feature a fleet of RS Elites and will offer high-quality one-design racing for accomplished skippers and their teams. First prize will be a week’s stay…
Book Charters NOW for Antigua Sailing Week It’s the Granddaddy of all the Caribbean sailing regattas and the 46th edition of Antigua Sailing Week looks like it’s going to be a cracker. Big breeze, warm seas and some of the best parties on the Caribbean regatta circuit make Antigua Sailing Week, the ‘must do’…
I’m not sure why, but I seem to attract such a plethora of Wonderful Waterfront Wackos and Colorful Caribbean Characters. Take the infamous Pirate Queen as an example: I was minding my own business at Le Select bar on St. Barts when she fell out of the sky. Well, that’s not exactly true. She fell…
Antigua Sailing Week is the Caribbean’s longest running and most prestigious sailing regatta and the 46th edition was an absolute cracker. It is the final curtain call of the Caribbean racing season and sailors come to Antigua Sailing Week from all over the world to experience Caribbean racing at its best. Shore side was just…
Budget Marine’s Annual Customer Party – A Rocking Success Sint Maarten –Budget Marine treated their customers to a Rock Star Party for their Annual Customer Appreciation night in February. Guests were encouraged to turn up dressed like rock stars and many spared no effort to do just that, the crew of the Mega Yacht Paraffin…
In English Harbour lines are checked, sails are inspected, and crews work themselves into a state of bloodlust. They will soon go forth to do battle, reining in their steeds at the start line.
The crew of Club Swan 42 Arethusa came away from the 2011 Antigua Sailing Week as the champions of the Swan Caribbean Challenge following their impressive win in Class 3.
18-knot easterly seemed almost benign compared to the rush of trade winds that have been blasting through Antigua Sailing Week. There was some intense action on Day 6.