Tuesday 1 May 2012
DAY 3: Antigua Sailing Week - Rolling in the Deep
Louay Habib
Stefan Lenhert's Tripp 56, Passion 4C Credit: Tim Wright/Photoaction.com
After two days of big breeze, day three of Antigua Sailing Week saw similar conditions
for the competitors. However the Ocean mark laid for today's big boats was a new
addition. It took over 300 feet of line to lay the mark four miles off the leeward
coast of Antigua. The sizeable yachts in CSA 1 were an awesome sight today, smashing
through the start line to windward through the Caribbean surf and after coming off
the wind at the Ocean mark, the yachts speared off downwind, bow up, accelerating
off big waves to surf at speeds of 20 knots plus.
Check out the wicked Antigua Sailing Week video for the day, which displays some
amazing racing in the big boat class.
In CSA 1A, Geoff Hill's Santa Cruz 72, Antipodes scored its first win of the regatta.
Geoff Hill has been to Antigua Sailing Week many times before but, surprisingly,
this is the first visit to the Caribbean's longest running regatta for the true
Australian sailing legend. At 85 years of age, Syd Fischer is probably the oldest
competitor at Antigua Sailing Week. Syd shares a record of five America's Cup challenges
and has won just about every classic yacht race going, including the Fastnet and
the Sydney Hobart Race, which Fischer has competed in on 40 occasions.
'It's a long flight to get here from Australia but I have to say it has been worth
it, great conditions similar to Hawaii when I used to compete there in the Kenwood
Cup. This is my first visit to Antigua but I have enjoyed the sailing so far and
it was great to get a win today. We have only had the boat for a very short time
and it always takes a bit to get a new yacht up to speed.'
Antipodes beat Peter Harrison's Sojana in today's race by less than a minute. However
Sojana has a virtually unassailable lead in the division. Jan Rupert's Tripp 75,
Blackbird is in third.
In CSA 1B, Stefan Lenhert's Tripp 56, Passion 4C had an outstanding protest dismissed
last night and came out for today's race meaning business to take the race by over
two minutes on corrected time from Peruvian NM92, Locura skippered by Hector Velarde.
The result means that Passion 4C now leads the division. However, the win for Passion
4C was not as straight forward as it might seem. Approaching the bottom mark for
the first time, Passion 4C's genoa halyard parted company from the sail, sending
it into the water. The crew quickly gathered the sail whist still flying their
spinnaker and perfected a last minute manoeuvre to avoid losing any time. Slick
crew work definitely won Passion 4C's race today. Locura is second overall but Richards
Matthews' Oyster 82, Zig Zag could only manage a third today, knocking it off the
podium position.
In CSA 2, Dragon Fly Plus is the new leader after winning today's race. The Swan
53's boat captain is Frank Brown from Florida and he explains the unique set up
of the elegant 2007 edition from Nautor Swan. "Dragon Fly has a dagger board rather
than a keel, which we can raise downwind to reduce drag. To accomplish this, the
yacht has significant internal ballast, so today's deep water race was ideal for
us as we go just fine in a sea state upwind. Ulrich Rohde is a close friend of the
yacht's owner and we have crew from Austria, Canada and America on board. Antigua
Sailing Week is a new experience for many of the crew and I have to say we are enjoying
ourselves on and off the water!"
Chris Brand's Swan 53, Merel Four was fourth today and reindexs in third position
overall. However Christian Reynolds' Swan 51, Northern Child scored a third today
and is tied with the same number of points.
In CSA 3, Richard Wesslund's J/120 El Ocaso was unstoppable today, taking its fourth
straight bullet of the regatta by some distance. Don Payan's Farr 40, Rigel got
a great start but could not hold off El Ocaso and on corrected time also lost out
to Mario Martinez's First 40, Smile and Wave.
In CSA 4, American Calvin Reed's First 40.7 Elandra steered by John Linton kept
up its winning ways by taking the fourth race of the series by two minutes after
time correction. Sir Hugh Bailey's First 456, Hugo B could only manage a fourth
place today but the Antiguan local yacht is still second overall.
In CSA 5, Stephen Carson's Dehler 34, Hightide put in an impressive performance
today, winning both races to put pressure on class leader Geoffrey Pidduck's Six
Meter, Biwi Magic. Hightide's Stephen Carson spoke dockside after racing today.
"I can't really pin down one area that brought us success today but we started
well and the crew work was excellent and if you don't make mistakes you often end
up winning. But Biwi Magic was very quick today and it was very close, especially
in the last race of the day, which we only won by half a minute."
In CSA 6, David Chatterton's Jeanneau 49, Resting Goose was once again the victor,
scoring their third and fourth wins of the regatta. Last year's class winner, Seal,
owned and steered by Vincent White had its best day so far scoring two third place
finishes to lift them to second overall. Phil Munday's Great Escape of Southampton
is third in class. However, Eduardo Lentz's Voilactus and Alex Johnstone's Blue
Water Sailing Grenada are also very much in contention.
In the Bareboat Class a tremendous battle has developed in Bareboat 3 between three
boats chartered by KH+P. Horst Schultze's Sea You Later is the current leader but
Alexander Pfeiffer's L'Oiseau des Iles won the last race of the day and is just
a single point off the lead. Andreas Kadelbach's Cayenne is just two points behind
the class leader.
Tonight, Ky-Mani Marley will play to a full house in the historic setting of Nelson's
Dockyard in English Harbour. Thousands of fans of the reggae artist are expected
to pack out the Antigua Sailing Week venue for the live concert performed by Bob
Marley's son. Tomorrow is Lay Day on Pigeon Beach beginning at 2:30 pm, so it could
well be a late night for many of the competitors at Antigua Sailing Week.
Credit: Ted Martin/Photofantasy.zenfolio.com
CORRECTION: Race Report Day 2
CSA 4 - Elandra is owned by American Calvin Reed and helmed by John Linton.
KEEP UP WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK
DAILY VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
Video highlights from the day's action on and off the water can be viewed on the
official Antigua Sailing Week website: http://www.youtube.com/user/AntiguaSWVideo
IMAGE GALLERY:
2012 Photo Galleries can be viewed at:
http://www.sailingweek.com/v3/photogalleries.php?gallery=122#content
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