(Barbados)- Or, what you need to know to have lots of fun and great
sailing in the Mt Gay Rum Barbados Series. Hats off to the local J/24
fleet on the island. They know how to do it and get people aboard as
crew. Since its relaunch five years ago the Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series has developed into an event that offers golden opportunities for teams looking for top class but seriously fun racing. There can be few sailing venues to beat Barbados... host to the ultimate Mount Gay Rum Red Hat Crew Party.
Barbados, the home of Mount Gay Rum, and affectionately dubbed as the seafarers' Mecca, continues to attract those who enjoy a fun element along with great sailing. The Mount Gay series, which incorporates three days of coastal racing, the headline event —the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race — and a final 300-mile ocean race to Antigua to tie up with the Superyacht Challenge, is organized by Barbados Cruising Club in association with Barbados Tourism Marketing and Mount Gay. Next year the event, which runs from 16 to 24 January 2016, celebrates its 80th anniversary, which means there'll be even more of an excuse for a week of hot sailing and rum-fuelled partying.
By the nature of its date, which always falls in mid-January, this annual regatta marks the opening of each Caribbean race season. It not only serves as a warm-up for teams competing on the Caribbean circuit, but also acts as the perfect post-Christmas winter escape for crews from the Northern Hemisphere.
The Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race, which traditionally takes place on a public holiday (21 January) to celebrate Errol Barrow Day (birthday of the first Prime Minister of Barbados and 'father' of independence... and also keen member of the Barbados Cruising Club), is one of the key attractions of the annual series. While big boat racing teams from around the world are beginning to recognize the event as a strong component of the Caribbean race circuit there are also more and more charter and blue water cruising yachts taking part. Overseas competitors, who made up a large part of the 49-strong fleet in 2015, represented 11 countries including a strong contingent from the UK, plus teams from Canada, New Zealand, the USA, Lithuania, Slovakia, France, Poland, Germany, Argentina, plus of course many neighboring islands.
Event manager Alene Krimholtz commented, “We are delighted that this event has re-established itself not only as a major island attraction, but also as a key regatta on the Caribbean circuit. One of the main incentives, other than the warm Caribbean waters, miles of gold sandy beaches and generally constant 12-18kt east to east-north-east trade winds... is the opportunity to break records in the 60-mile Round Barbados Race. We hope the 2016 event, which celebrates 80 years for the series, will encourage even more teams to join the fun.”
The impressive standard of sailing in the local J/24 fleet will hopefully attract bigger numbers in the future, particularly with the opportunity for visitors to charter local boats. Although most of the eight-race, closely fought J/24 Coastal Series takes place in the beautiful setting of Carlisle Bay on windward-leeward courses, for the first time in 2015 the J/24s were granted fleet status in the Round Barbados Race.
Robert Povey, overall winning skipper of the J/24 Coastal Series sailing Hawkeye, commented, “I think Barbados as a sailing venue is one of, if not the, most incredible places to go sailing in the world. I am hoping that next year we'll be able to encourage more international J/24 teams to participate, particularly from the USA and of course Europe.”
Peter Gilkes, yachting consultant to Barbados Tourism Marketing, who has been involved in the organization of the event for many years, believes the future looks bright, “Our event has grown with each passing year and this has not gone unnoticed by those who are charged with making key decisions within the tourism arena. As the event continues to grow our product can only get better with each passing year." For more Mt Gay Rum Barbados Series sailing information
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