(George Town, Cayman Islands, Caribbean)- This year’s Race Cayman
sailing regatta was another huge success. The annual event, now in its
5th year, featured three different categories of sailboats. The winds
rarely disappoint in March and this year was no exception with strong
winds and big waves on the Friday and Saturday. Sunday saw lighter
conditions and the sun shining on the blue waters of North Sound
producing the perfect conditions that attract our overseas sailors, many
of whom return every year to take part in this event.The J/22 International Invitational regatta, which has been run every year since 2006, attracted competitors from Germany, USA, Uruguay, South Africa, UK and the Bahamas who raced against the top three qualifying teams from Cayman. The racing was at times extremely tight and it was clear that the returning overseas teams had learned local knowledge from previous years.
The
German team, skippered by Peter Karrie had clearly come to compete with
their rival Mike Farrington whom they have met twice at the J/22 world
championships and who has won Race Cayman for the past four years.
Another returning skipper was Marc Fischer from the USA who drew the top
boat in the draw and brought a strong team with him. After two days of
racing, the final day dawned with Mike Farrington again commanding a
good lead and Tomeaka McTaggart, another local sailor holding on to
second place. The race for third place though was wide open with
Germany, USA and South Africa all in with a good chance. It proved to be
the Germans who took control sailing brilliantly to take two second
places and claim third spot, one point ahead of the South African team.Throughout the event, competitors were treated to some great social events, a hallmark feature of Race Cayman. Heineken and Jacques Scott were major sponsors putting on a sailing fiesta happy hour on Friday. The prize giving on Sunday was at George Town Yacht Club, a great venue for such an event.
As always there were many people involved in making the event a success, far too many to mention but special mention was afforded to Peta Adams who once again ran Race Committee alongside International judge Gilmour Manuel to a very high standard. For more J/22 Race Cayman sailing information
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