Looking back at history

40 years of racing soon to be celebrated at Standfords Antigua Race Week

Antigua Sailing Week has long attracted the big names – of individuals and yachts – to a week of racing in Caribbean. This year’s event which starts on the 29 April will be no exception. Now title sponsored by private bank Stanfords the week is looking draw on this history with another strong attendance.

On the eve of the 40th Anniversary of the classic Caribbean festival of sail – this year’s event is right around the corner, it’s an appropriate time to look back on one of yachting’s best-known and most highly anticipated events.

It was just over 40 years ago that yacht broker Desmond Nicholson and Antiguan hotelier Howard Hulford came up with the idea of a spring regatta that would extend the tourist and sailing seasons for charterers and yachtsmen alike. They joined forces with associates Ed Sheerin and Peter Deeth, and in June of 1968, a small fleet of 17 boats – Lord Jim, Escapade, Royono, Veleda, Eilean, Thamilla, Enzian, Jibaro, Iolaire, and eight others set out from English Harbour to set sail in a three-day event that marked the beginning of Antigua Sailing Week.

The overall winner that year, and the next, was the Puerto Rican crew aboard Dr. Caesar Barrios’ Westphal 38, Enzian. Dr. Barrios was returning home after a cruise to Grenada and happened upon the racing quite by accident. “He was passing through Antigua and was dragged into the event,” recalled Antiguan sailing legend Jol Byerly.

“It was probably the best thing that could have happened as word of this friendly little regatta spread through the northern islands,” said Jol. “In fact, the first three years were won by Puerto Rican boats, as Enzian’s success was followed by Dick Doran in Laughing Sally, a Cal 40. Then Bob Thompson of the U.S. Virgin Islands took the overall position in the Rancher 41, I’ll Do. So the first four years were won by the very sportsmen-like gentlemen from the islands to the north.” At that point, it must be noted, Jol had seen enough. He went on to win the 1972 regatta on his 40-footer, Matchless, and the 1973 event aboard the Scampi 30, Sundance.

By 1974, the fleet had grown to 52 entries in four divisions. Among those was television’s famous “Galloping Gourmet,” Graham Kerr, sailing the Ocean 71, Treena. But the boat that grabbed the headlines was the Swan 44, Supercilious, owned by another Englishman, Tony Lawson. With Don “Squeaky” Street at the helm and with an all-star crew including Peter Bowker and Peter Vandersloot, “Super C” put on a sailing clinic in the heavy-air conditions and easily outdistanced her competitors.

In 1975, yet another talented Puerto Rican sailed into the winner’s circle. Tom Hill’s little Cal 30, Titan, was the top vessel in the 60-boat fleet that year. But it was only the first of four Sailing Weeks in which Hill would take top honors, earning first place in 1987 and 1990 on his 43-foot Titan 4, and again in 2005 on his powerful Reichel/Pugh-designed 75-footer, Titan XII.

Like Berrios, Byerly and Hill, there have been several other sailors who’ve managed to overcome the odds and win the week’s overall prize on multiple occasions. Virgin Islands superstar Peter Holmberg’s managed it three times, in 1985, 1986 and 1992. So too has John Thomson and Infinity, doing the deed in 1988, 1989 and 1996. The other three-time winner is software mogul and current America’s Cup campaigner Larry Ellison, whose Sayonara won back-to-back events in 1997 and 1998, then again in 2000. Two-time Sailing Week champions include John Foster on the J/24 Antidote (1980 and 1981); Jim Kilroy, skipper of the famed maxi Kialoa (1982 and 1983); and Dr. Hasso Plattner on two different yachts called Morning Glory (2001 and 2004).

Of course, it’s not just the winners who make Stanford Antiguan Sailing Week one of the top regattas, year in and year out, on the sailing calendar. It’s the quality of boats and sailors throughout the fleet. This year’s entry list, for the regatta’s 40th running, is nearing 200 boats, adding to the roster of the hundreds of yachts and thousands of sailors who’ve competed in Antigua over the years.

For more information, registration forms, an updated entry list and more, visit the Stanford Antigua Sailing Week website at http://www.sailingweek.com

Racing classes entries so far:

CACCIA ALEVOLPE	CARLO FALCONE	RACING	VALICELLI 44	Antigua And Barbuda
BASIC LOGIC	WERNER DEURING	RACING	JEANNEAU ONE DESIGN 35A	Austria
MAD IV	CLIVE R LLEWELLYN	RACING	GRAND SOLEIL 50	France
SIROCCO	JEAN LOUIS TOUZE	RACING	FIRST 40.7	France
LYNX OPTIQUE	MARZIOU/TRISKELL	RACING	DUFOUR 45	Guadeloupe
CAP CREOLE	CLAUDE ROTH	RACING	JEANEAU SUN FIZZ	Guadeloupe
PAULISTA	PHILIPPE CHAMPION	RACING	J120	Guadeloupe
INDIO	ANDREA RECORDATI	RACING	WALLY 80	Italy
CUORDILEONE	LEONARDO FERRAGAMO	RACING	SWAN 601	Italy
FLOTMATNIK	JACK ARTHAUD	RACING	B28	Martinique
MADININA WEAR	RICHARD CAMPAS	RACING	GIBSEA 414	Martinique
EXIT	GERARD KUHNE	RACING	BENETEAU FIRST 53	Netherlands
LAZY DOG	SERGIO SAGRAMOSO	RACING	BENETEAU FIRST 40.7	Puerto Rico
MURKA	MIKHAIL MOURATOV	RACING	SWAN 48	Russian Federation
SEA DEVIL	BEN JELIC	RACING	KIWI35	Saint Lucia
AFTER YOU	JEAN JACQUES PROVOYEUR	RACING	LAVRANOS	South Africa
STORM	LES CROUCH	RACING	REICHEL PUGH 44	Trinidad And Tobago
DISCO INFERNO 2	MATT & LIZ ABISS	RACING	BENETEAU 1ST 47.7	United Kingdom
SPIRIT OF VENUS	NEVILLE DEVONPORT	RACING	FIRST 40	United Kingdom
ADVENTURE	DARREN GALE/MOD	RACING	CHALLENGE 67	United Kingdom
SPIRIT OF JETHOU	SIR PETER OGDEN	RACING	SWAN 60	United Kingdom
INTEMPERANCE	PAUL & VALERIE SHILLING	RACING	SIGMA 400	United Kingdom
FIRST AWAY	PAT HOLLORAN	RACING	BENETEAU 40.7	United Kingdom
SPIRIT OF ATHENA	ARTHUR COWDREY	RACING	BENETEAU 40.7	United Kingdom
ABN AMRO ONE	TOM TOUBER	RACING	VOLVO OCEAN 70	United Kingdom
UNIVERSAL MARINA	AVIA WILLMENT	RACING	ROGERS 46	United Kingdom
DUCKWALL POOLEY	KEVIN AITKEN	RACING	BENETEAU FIRST 42s7	United Kingdom
HENLEY	JOHN WINDOW	RACING	BENETEAU 40.7	United Kingdom
PINDAR ALPHAGRAPHICS	ANDREW PINDAR	RACING	VO 60	United Kingdom
EHO1	ANDY MIDDLETON	RACING	BENETEAU 47.7	United Kingdom
LARGHETTO	G M OLDROYD	RACING	OPIUM 39	United Kingdom
DARK & STEAMY	NICK & ANNIE HAIGH	RACING	DK 46	United Kingdom
ARTEMIS OCEAN RACING	JOHNNY MALBON	RACING	OPEN 60	United Kingdom
NIGHT OWL	ED HALL	RACING	PRIMA 38	United Kingdom
LANCELOT	PAUL COWARD	RACING	BENETEAU 40.7	United Kingdom
AZZURO	JAMES CROCKATT	RACING	BENETEAU FIRST 40.	United Kingdom
NIMROD	SIMON LAMBERT	RACING	MASRTEN 80	United Kingdom
VERITAS	CORY HANSON	RACING	HUNTER 49	United States
MONEYPENNY	JIM SWARTZ	RACING	SWAN 601	United States
HIP HOP	RONALD BROWN	RACING	ARCHAMBAULT 40	United States
EL OCASO	RICK WESTLUND	RACING	J 120	United States
MALACHITE	STAN PHILLIPS	RACING	ARCHAMBAULT 40	United States
ELANDRA	CALVIN H REED	RACING	BENETEAU FIRST 40.7	United States
TITAN 12	TOM HILL	RACING	CUSTOM RP 75	United States
ACT ONE	C MILLIGAN	RACING	NAUTOR SWAN 45	United States
CHIPPEWA	DAVE WEST	RACING	MELGES 32	United States
RENEGADE	RIVET GAETAN	RACING BIG BOAT	ANDREW'S 70 TURBO	Antigua And Barbuda