J/122 Wins Winter Circuit, J/11S Crushes Class
(English Harbour, Antigua)- The 52nd edition of Antigua Sailing Week will be remembered for a cocktail of superb sailing, thrilling racing and a great party atmosphere ashore. Teams from 21 different countries from all over the world chose Antigua Sailing Week as their destination. The trade winds blew for all six days of racing; mixed in with tropical heat and a rollercoaster ride of Caribbean swell, Antigua delivered world class sailing. Racing was incredibly close with the majority of the classes enjoying thrilling competition. New marks introduced provided the opportunity for longer coastal courses, allowing the boats to stretch their legs and take in the beautiful west and rugged east coasts of Antigua. The introduction of new top and bottom marks on the Windward Course allowed for better windward-leeward race tracks, testing the technical abilities of the international fleet.
In CSA Racing 4 Class, Pamala Baldwin’s Antiguan J/122 LIQUID continued their epic performance through the course of the winter season, closing their 2019 Caribbean Winter Series in 1st place and taking second place in Antigua; she also won the CSA Travellers’ Trophy! The Peruvian crew on the J/122 INKA TEAM, skippered by Diego Aguirre, closed the regatta strongly, posting a 2-4-3 in the last three races to finish in 4th place.
CSA Racing 5 Class featured close racing with races won or lost by seconds. But, it was Jonty and Vicki Layfield’s Antiguan J/11s SLEEPER that battled to a class win with six 1sts and two 2nds to win by a large margin. SLEEP not only won the Governor General’s Cup, but also awarded Best Caribbean and Best Antiguan Yacht!
“It’s been brilliant, with so much wind!” commented SLEEPER’s Vicki Layfield. “The team has sailed together for years and this week we have performed well. Young Shannoy Malone has been sailing with us for five years and he is only 11, but really contributes to how the boat sails.”
Jonty said; "We are very pleased as we had stiff competition from Sir Richard Mathew’s boat Holding Pattern that included some very good professional sailors, including Saskia Clark and Andy Green. The wind conditions all week were in the high teens and with the single rudder she really performs well. We also won ‘best Caribbean boat’ and the ‘Royal Southern Challenge Cup’, beating Scarlet Oyster, which is no mean feat. We were the best J/Boat beating two J/122s, a J/120, a J/145, and J/30. Also, we just missed out on winning the coveted Lord Nelson Trophy by a fraction of a point to Sojana, so this means that we were second overall out of 50 odd boats in Sailing Week."
Ben Jelic’s J/120 JAGUAR also closed nicely, posting a 3-3-2 in the final three races to snag the fourth spot, just two points shy of the podium!
Finally, in CSA Racing 6 Class, Tanner Jones on the J/30 BLUE PETER/ CARIBBEAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE also sailed well in the closing races to place 5th. For more Antigua Sailing Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
|