Lovely Seabreezes off SE Shore of Cuba!(Montego Bay, Jamaica)- For the start of this year’s 2015 Pineapple Cup/ Montego Bay Race, the fleet faced classic MoBay Race conditions. A stout northerly breeze expected to deliver a challenging Gulfstream crossing, before shifting eastward in the following days, go light, then pick up again as the fleet encountered the trade winds in the famous Windward Passage just off the eastern tip of Cuba.
The 811nm jaunt through the Bahamas, around Cuba, to Montego Bay, can be fast & furious or frustratingly slow going at times. This year, the fleet faced just about everything. Four J/Teams were participating this year, two J/120s (MISS JAMICA and TAMPA GIRL), Mark Jordan’s J/122 MISS MARIS and Chris Saxton’s J/145 VORTICES. Not soon after the start, TAMPA GIRL unfortunately retired, while the other three pressed on.
By
Saturday morning, 18 hours into the race, the majority of the fleet was
either just past or just approaching Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas.
As Sunday morning dawned, the fleet continued to make good progress as
well, with most past the eastern side of Cat Island on the eastern side
of Bahamas Bank. By late Sunday, the J/145 VORTICES was past the
southern end of Long Island and chasing them were the J/122 MISS MARIS
and Montego Bay YC favorite, the J/120 MISS JAMAICA not far behind.
Light wind was beginning to be a factor for this trio of boats overnight
as they entered the Windward Passage.By Monday morning, MISS JAMAICA, with the race’s youngest sailor Zoe Knowles aboard, rounded Cape Maisi on her way through the Windward Passage, and was on the last leg to Montego Bay. A number of boats ended up working the southern shore of Cuba hard on Monday, looking for land breeze and a bit of leverage over fleet. Some sailed right past the infamous Guantanamo Bay, the American military base on the ESE tip of Cuba. Many reported stunning tropical views which many of us have never seen, gorgeous landscapes with not a house or boat in sight along the coastline! The J/145 VORTICES was one of those boats that played the “Cuba card”, a strategy that ultimately played out well in the end since it gave them a better gybe angle on port tack going into the finish line off Montego Bay.
Tuesday
morning dawned with VORTICES finishing by 3:16am; enough for the
experienced Great Lakes crew from Detroit, Michigan to take 3rd in class
and 5th overall. It also found the J/122 MISS MARIS and the J/120 MISS
JAMAICA still out on the race-track with about a day of sailing to go.
Both boats were tracking around rhumbline to the Montego Bay finish
line off what is known locally as “Doctor’s Cave” buoy. Finally, the J/122 MISS MARIS finished just after 5:00pm on Wednesday, good enough to take 4th in class and 7th overall. This set the stage for undoubtedly the most anticipated arrival in Montego Bay, that of local favorites MISS JAMAICA. On Thursday at just after 1:00pm, the hometown gang aboard MISS JAMAICA crossed the finish line to close out the finishers in the 32nd Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race and arrive home at the docks to a jubilant celebration with family and friends at MoBay YC. Congratulations to Team Easy Skanking on the J/120 MISS JAMAICA and all competitors who completed the course and arrived to the warmest welcome in racing. A job well done by all. Enjoy Montego Bay! Here is the Montego Bay Race Facebook page. For more Pineapple Cup/ Montego Bay Race sailing information
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