Members and visitors enjoyed Caribbean-like conditions for the St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association’s 13th Antigua Sailing Day Regatta at Lackford Lake, north-west of Bury St Edmunds, on 28 June.
Started 13 years ago as a fun event to celebrate the prestigious Antigua Sailing Week, the regatta came to the attention of the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority through a Google news alert. The Tourism Authority were impressed with the initiative and kindly came onboard as the regatta’s sponsor. With their support, the event has become the highlight of SESCA’s social and sailing calendar.
A predominantly south-west wind led Principal Race Office Martin Davies to set a figure of eight course, with a committee boat start, and a windward mark laid just off the clubhouse. This provided some interesting racing for the competitors in gusty, shifty conditions and great spectating from the shore.
Following two morning races, the racers came ashore for a well-earned barbecue lunch, accompanied by the authentic calypso sounds from the Dallaway Steel Pan Band. A great selection of cakes and savouries, made by club volunteers, were consumed with relish.
The third and final race came down to a show down between Alan Wright in his Solo and Mike Steele in his ILCA 6/Laser Radial, who had both notched up race wins. Following a close battle on the first lap, Alan impressively got well away to take line honours and win by a comfortable margin on handicap, with Mike securing another second.
Elsewhere throughout the fleet, individual battles were taking place between some of the regular sailors and others who had never competed in a race before.
In the overall standings, Alan Wright finished first; Mike Steele second with Razvan Adam, sailing the first of the full rigged ILCAs/Lasers third.
A wide array of prizes, generously provided by the Tourism Authority, were presented by Eric Lindsay, Marketing Support Officer for the Authority.
Antigua Sailing Week 2027 will be held from April 21-25.
