ANTIGUA
SAILING WEEK
APRIL 31TH TO MAY 5TH 2000
Well, Antigua Sailing Week 2000 presented us with just about every wind condition short of a gail...... starting with 25-30 knots on race 1 and ending with the doldrums on race 5. Two of last year's crew joined me again, Colin Jones and my boat-partner Doug Luery. Regular crew member John Firth was only able to make the first two races so once again I made the crew up to 6 member via the internet.
I became very despondent 24 hours before Race 1 when one of the
newcomers, our foredeck man, was unexpectedly offered a ride to
Trinidad and vanished without a word. 
Despite his constant struggle with genetic arthritis,
Colin gallantly stepped up to the foredeck to fill the void.
The wind had been strong for about a week and I was apprehensive as the crew assembled for the first time on the morning of Race 1. Without a doubt it proved to be the most exciting.. as our little trapper 500 surfed at over 10 knots down wind carrying 3 sails. Although we were in the first three (corrected time) at the end of the run, the final 6 miles... a close fetch and beat, unfortunately proved too much for us and was distinctly an advantage for the bigger boats in our class of 20 boats.... we finally crossed the line 6th.
Race 2 The second day winds were down. In fact, the start was almost becalmed. My best laid plans still found us covered at the start and unable to drive in the shadow of bigger boats but after a short tack we were in clear air and chasing the leaders. After the initial 5-6 mile beat we were within 600 yards of the leaders and knew we were doing really well. On the long downwind leg we held our own in light to moderate wind until, just short of the downwind buoy, we sailed into a lull in choppy seas and struggled to get PUMKIN back into the groove. Once clear of the lull, caused by a long cloud stretching out across the course, we rounded the buoy only to sail straight back into it. When we crossed the line I thought that we had probably lost 4 places or so to the experience but at the score board we discovered that we had placed 3rd. After the second place boat POCHO was penalized for not sailing the proper coarse, we went up to 2nd..... and were elated by our best ever Sailing Week placing.
Photo courtesy of Roddy Graham
Race
3 was mainly to windward in moderate wind. It was almost
eventless and although we felt we had sailed well, so did out
competitors and we finished fifth.
At the start of Race 4 we were standing in 3rd place in Cruising Class II..... 3 points short of second to fellow Jolly Harbour regular ORCA (a Swan 38!) and one point ahead of ASTERIAN STAR (a 42 foot Beneteau). Class leader was my friend and "Antigua Team" member BUDGET NAUTIQUE a Kelt 30 that was VERY fast and was destined to secure 5 firsts and "Best Caribbean Yacht". Wind was light to moderate and I was confident that with a long downwind stretch we would do well. We did, placing 3rd in our class and 4th in the cruising and bareboat fleets (151 boats). However, where I was hoping to claw back 2 points on ORKA I only got 1. POCHO, (a 37 foot C & C with mylar sails), who now had 3 x 2nds and a tenth was now level with me and I knew that unless something odd happened he would overhaul me on the last race so I had to beat ORKA by 2 places to stay in the first 3.
It doesn't sound very "cool" to say it but this was all very exciting for me as I had never been close to a top 3 final placing before. With 262 competing boats even an average placing is the mark of a good sailor and to be a class leader was uplifting.
Race 5 started in light wind. We got off well and were just behind ORKA after a short windward leg. Two downwind legs made me confident that we could beat ORKA in such light air but as we progressed we were covered by a large white squall that dropped the breeze to about half a knot. At that speed we were suddenly a lot of time behind ORKA and fluky puffs turned the day into a crap shoot. When we finally turned the buoy and started a slow steady beat back to the finish line we were relieved but we had progressed less than a mile when the wind vanished completely and didn't return for over 3 hours! We tried putting down an anchor to stop drifting but must have been just off the shelf off Cades Reef in 300 feet of water. As far as the eye could see were stalled yachts. Frustrated, we watched helplessly as the wind filled from the South East, (we were in the North West), and boats a mile off to our starboard got the breeze and sailed away. Then boats half a mile in front did the same thing but it never got to us and as the sun began to set we resigned ourselves to a disastrous DNF.
Checking the score board we had dived to 6th in class.
Worst of all our team had been way ahead of 7 other national teams
but now we had dropped to a draw for first place and the tie breaker
was against us :-( . We felt fate had cheated us.... then I
noticed... they had never moved us up to 2nd on day 2 and still had
us marked at 3 points.... and crew member Russell pointed out that
one point would move us up to joint 4th. After protesting the score
sheet we were declared clear winners of the B division international
team trophy. (It always pays to check the numbers, even when they are
done by computer).
Maybe next year....... !
Once again it's a hearty "thank you" to the Sailing week committee and the Antigua Hotels Association for providing such a great event, To Tropical Studios for SailingWeek.com (great pix and LOTS of info) and...... of course, a special THANK YOU to my crew......
<-- partner Doug
<-- Colin
<-- John
<-- Barry
<-- Ray
plus Russel & Ken.
SailingWeek.com have some great photos from each day's racing with comments about conditions and competitors. Here are the photos for race 1.
