English Harbour Rum Race Day 1 + VIDEO 96 degrees in the shade

Hundreds of spectators watched the start of racing for Antigua Sailing Week from the Shirley Heights Breakfast Party and from the Half Moon Bay spectator boats, but none of them got as good a view as the curious whale that lined up in the pre-start area with the racing fleet. Warm air, 14 knots of breeze and a moderate sea state provided glorious conditions for the first day of racing sponsored by English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum. Three of the seven classes racing under the CSA Rule were just as hot as the weather, with seconds deciding the winners.

Jonty Layfield racing Antiguan J/11s, Sleeper corrected out to win Race 1 in CSA 4 by just 11 seconds from Jim Hightower’s Texan King 40, Hot Ticket. Ian Hope Ross, Commodore of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club steered his Melges 32, Kick ’em Jenny 2 to third. In Race 2, Mark Chapman’s Ker 37, Dingo had an outstanding race. The Trini team smashed it to win by a big margin. Richard Archer’s Antiguan Melges 24, Regardless scored a third in the final race, just four seconds behind Hot Ticket. Although Hot Ticket won neither of today’s races, Jim Hightower’s team leads the class by a single point from both Dingo and Sleeper.

“It looks like it is going to be really tight in our class. We wanted to be in a different class but now we are leading after two races, we have blown that argument! We would rather race other displacement boats but we went very well in the lighter winds today. When the light displacement boats get up and plane, we will have real problems,” explained Jim Hightower, Hot Ticket.

In CSA 5, British yachts filled the podium for the first race of the day. Chris Body’s team racing J/122, El Ocaso corrected out to win CSA 4 by just 36 seconds from Sir Richard Matthews’ Grand Soleil 43, Team Oystercatcher – Quokka. Jeremy Thorp’s First 40, Arthur was third. El Ocaso won the second race of the day by a healthy margin. Pamala Baldwin’s J/122, Liquid from Antigua Yacht Club broke through the British dominance with a second in the last race by just 13 seconds from Team Oystercatcher – Quokka. El Ocaso’s perfect score has the team leading the class, three points ahead of Team Oystercatcher – Quokka, with Liquid ending the day in third place.

“The highlight today was three minutes to the first start, a huge whale longer than the boat, pops up just ten feet from the boat. As we were heading for the start, we didn’t have a camera on deck but it must have been at least 50ft. You don’t see that in the Solent,” said Chris Body of El Ocaso. “It must have been an omen because we went on to win both races. We had to pull all the stops out today and I have to say it was a memorable day, especially as we were sailing with four family members.”