26 April 2012
Yachting World Round Antigua Race starts Saturday 28 April
Blast Reach in Paradise
The Devil's Bridge, just one of the stunning vistas for the Yachting World Round
Antigua Race
Credit: Louay Habib/Antigua Sailing Week
With over 20 knots of warm trade winds forecast for this Saturday's Yachting World
Round Antigua Race, a blast around the windward side of the stunning tropical island
is a virtual certainty. 43 yachts will tackle the 55 nautical mile course and crews
from over 20 different nations are set for a Caribbean thrill of a lifetime. Besides
some truly awesome sailing conditions, crew will enjoy some spectacular views of
Antigua's mesmerizing coastline.
Peter Aschenbrenner's 63-foot trimaran, Paradox, completed the circumnavigation
in less than four hours back in January. Since then the ballistic multihull has
been ripping it up at several Caribbean sailing events and the crew and yacht are
fully tuned up for the Yachting World Round Antigua Race. Paradox will have America's
Cup and round the world legend Cam Lewis on board for Antigua Sailing Week and Paradox
is odds-on to take line honours in the Yachting World Round Antigua Race.
"Given the current forecast, I think that Paradox is capable of going around Antigua
in three hours, it is achievable but heavily dependent on sea state," commented
Cam Lewis. "The reach around the windward side will be a blast; Paradox just loves
trade wind conditions and should be able to really get up and go. Most of the course
is off the wind but the last few miles should be upwind, which will also be a factor
in the elapsed time."
Peter Harrison's Farr 115, Sojana will be hoping to secure line honours for the
monohulls and also has the potential to set a new record. Sojana completed the
race in 4 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds in 2009 at an average speed of just over
12 knots. Since then Sojana has been modified with a retractable bowsprit flying
an enormous 800 square metre spinnaker with 25% more sail area than before.
"Given the current weather forecast, Sojana is capable of surfing at up to 20 knots
on the windward side of Antigua - that's a lot of inertia for a yacht of well over
100 tons," explained Skipper Marc Fitzgerald. "On board we have an international
crew from Denmark, Antigua, France, Great Britain and New Zealand including: Poul
Hoj-Jensen, Karl James, Mo Gray, Luc Poupon, Jonny Malbon, Ian Budgen and Fraser
Campbell. Our primary goal is to take line honours but given the forecast we could
well break our own record for the course."
Sojana may well be in the reckoning for the overall win on corrected time, however
several other yachts may well be in the running including: German skipper Stefan
Lehnert helming his Tripp 53, Passion 4C and American Jan Rupert, skipper of Tripp
75, Blackbird.
The first warning signal to start the Yachting World Round Antigua Race will fire
at 0800 local time on Saturday 28 April. For full information about the race and
Antigua Sailing Week visit: www.sailingweek.com.
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