The 36th annual Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta gets underway today from historic Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour as events kick off at 10am with registration for the Single-handed Race and the traditional Concourse d’Elegance boat show.
There will be racing from Thursday to Sunday starting at 10am.
In addition, there will be a Parade of Sails on Sunday around English Harbour starting at 1pm. Both events can be viewed from the Dockyard, The Slipway, Shirley Heights, Fort Berkeley and Fort Charlotte.
On Monday, the Admirals Inn in Nelson’s Dockyard will host an English Tea and Gig racing (small sailing craft).
The public is welcomed to visit the Dockyard during the festival as these beautiful vessels disembark and embark from the day’s races, all flags flying and all crews standing.
Geoffrey Pidduck’s “High Tide”, Sandy Maier’s “Cricket”, Huey Wong’s “Huey Too”, Robbie Ferron’s “Bunglebird”, Jerry ‘Chippy’ Bardoe’s “Encore”, Don West’s “Freya of Midgard” skippered by Karl James, Aidan McCauley’s “Navasana” Billy Gernerett’s “New Moon”, Regatta Chairman Paul Deeth’s “Petrana”. And racing in its first Classics, Olympian Franklyn Braithwaite’s Peterson 42 sloop “Lady B”.
Braithwaite the sail-maker is looking forward to sailing in this year’s Classic Regatta and is happy that his 42-year-old Lady B, (a one-time ASW Champion), now qualifies as a classic. For the first time, Lady B, will sail alongside other great championship craft from past eras, such as the 1932 ketch “Ticonderoga”, the world’s fastest boat in her time.
Noting that the pace of innovation that will make today’s state-of-the-art boat tomorrow’s classic is ever increasing, Braithwaite comments: “Just yesterday, I was looking at some photos of current racing boats and thinking ‘What is sailing going to be like 10 years from now’?”
The principles and ethos of the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta are that winning is secondary to seamanship, mate ship and fun. Protests are highly discouraged.
