Racing action at Antigua Sailing Week got underway with the stand-alone Peters & May Round Antigua Race. Sunshine was in abundance, but with light conditions expected all day, Antigua Sailing Week Race Manager Jaime Torres chose a shortened course. Testing the teams at every point of sail, two race tracks were set of around 25 and 15 miles, providing smooth racing and gorgeous vistas of Antigua.
Starting off the Pillars of Hercules outside Nelson's Dockyard, the fleet played the stunning shoreline on the south side of Antigua, beating past Willoughby Bay and Half Moon Bay. At Green Island, the raceboats cracked sheets to reach up the windward side of Antigua. CSA 1, CSA 2, and the Multihull classes raced past Devil's Bridge to a virtual mark. CSA 3 had a different virtual mark providing a shorter course. The fleet gybed south on a reciprocal course to pass Green Island for the second time. A broad reach to Cat and a tactical beat to the finish gave a spicy flavour to the finish outside Antigua's Nelson's Dockyard.
The overall winner after CSA time correction for the Peters & May Trophy was Geoff Manchester's J/133 Vamoose (USA). The home port for Vamoose is Newport, Rhode Island, and the boat has been in Antigua since February.
"We are here 'moosing' around," joked Geoff Manchester, skipper of Vamoose. "We got a good start, and upwind is our thing, plus the boat is very good in light air. After getting the gain we didn't give it back, so we had a fantastic day. The boat has stayed here since February and we have met some friends and put a good crew together. Antigua is a beautiful place that has become our home for the winter."
Winner of CSA 1 and runner-up overall was John Evans & Trey Sheehan's TP52 Hooligan Racing (USA). First 53 Yagiza (FRA) sailed by Hilary Culkin was runner-up, and third was Daniel Gribble & Dean Ziehl's Tripp 65 Prevail (USA). Winner of CSA 2 was Vamoose, runner-up was Jean Michel Figueres Farr 40 Maisons Satec Punch Croisieres (FRA), and third was Raymond Rhinelander's J/133 Bella J (CAN). In CSA 3, First 47.7, Unbound (ANT) skippered by Ryan Donaldson was the winner. Jonathan Hutchison's Oyster 675 Seabird (GBR) was second and Chloe Need's Salona 44 Moonflower 3 (GBR) was third. Guy Chester's Crowther 46 trimaran Oceans Tribute (AUS) was the winner of the multihull class.
The international cast of sailors received a warm welcome at the Antigua Yacht Club with a steelpan recital from Original Steel Orchestra. Peters & May got a massive thumbs up from the crowd for buying the first round of English Harbour Rum Punch! The 54th Antigua Sailing Week Welcome Party was very well attended with DJ WHO spinning the tunes.
"Peters & May has been a proud sponsor of Antigua Sailing Week since 2016," commented Peters & May Global Director of Operations for Racing, Craig Stanbury. "Peters & May offers all competitors yacht shipping discount with a further discount for a round-trip transatlantic shipment. The whole team at Peters & May wish all of the sailors a memorable week of racing in paradise."
During the Peters & May Round Antigua Race, cyclists from the Little Rascals Cycle Club took on the challenge of the Chase the Race – Beat the Boats Around Antigua Bike Race. The 60-mile road race started and finished at Nelson's Dockyard and the quickest finisher was Emmanuel Gayral, an elite rider who won the race for the second time in 3 hours, 2 mins 43 secs.