Antigua Sailing Week starts

Caribbeanracing.com's Alaistair Abrehart analyses the form PLUS full entry list

The grand finale for the Caribbean regatta season raises it curtain tomorrow morning when just under 200 boats go galloping off from the southern end of Antigua to Dickenson Bay for the 36th Antigua Sailing Week (ASW). Total entries at the close of the skippers' briefing was approximately 195 yachts from 29 countries including the event's first ever entry from Botswana ­ a final count will not be made until first starting gun tomorrow morning but the fleet includes a record 23 yachts over 60 feet. The 2002 event saw 215 yachts frolicking around the Antiguan coastline.

With sand between their toes and rum drinks in their hands over 1000 people kicked off ASW 2003 as they reveled on Pigeon Beach at the Cavalier Rum Beach Party on Thursday night.

The 14 classes will be led around Antigua lead by the big boats in division A. Arien van Vemde's Judel-Vrolijk 66 Sotto Voce looks set to be leading division A round the courses and with its performances in St Maarten's Heineken Regatta and the BVI Spring Regatta is in pole position to take Antigua's silverware as well as the fourth Caribbean Big Boat Series. Vemde who competed in ASW on his Swan 60 Sotto Voce in 1999 and 2001 and was third and second to Yes! and Sagamore respectively and will
have his eyes on the prize this year.

The prime candidates to give Sotto Voce a run for her money will be Clay Deutsch's Swan 68 Chippewa and the 80ft Swan Favonius owned by technology entrepreneur Roel Pieper who made a pretty penny when Tandem computers ­ where he was a top-level executive ­ was sold to Compaq Computers in 1997.

According to Marnix Lippens, navigator on Sotto Voce: "On handicap Chippewa definitely because they got two races off us in the BVI and they are really good. Equation is fast on the water and sometimes make a few mistakes which helps us but tomorrow with a lot of downwind they will be really fast and hard to beat." Jens Christensen is calling the shots on the boat.

Last year's fleet and class dominator Pyewacket is gearing up in the USA for the Transpac while the much-anticipated Titan XII, Tom Hill's new 75-foot Reichel-Pugh was launched on April 11 but "missed the window" for attending ASW with some rudder wrinkles. Jim Dolan's Sagamore is also not here to defend its crown.

Racing II will see five Swan 56s ­ Lolita, Blue, Vellamo 2, Amerigo and Allianza - batlling it out with Richard Matthews' Corby 50 Flirt thrown in to the mix with Harold Cudmore as tactician. Flirt was modified after a less than illustrious first season in the UK and is still trying to find its form. However, it did win its class in the Rolex International Regatta with light winds and Andy Green from the GBR Challenge onboard. "The modifications are partly successful but I think they¹ve come in with a bulb that is too light against design and that needs to be modified before that boat can be really tricked out," said Cudmore. "It's still not worked out. It's got to be modified one more time, that's one of the dilemmas with one-off boats - you can get it wrong. She wasn¹t fast last year but she'll be better this year," he concluded referring to the UK race season.

Meanwhile Frank Savage and his Lolita crew will be looking to beat Blue which knocked them from second to third in last year's Swan Cup on a tie-break. Vellamo 2 topped spinnaker 4 at St Maarten¹s Heineken Regatta.

Local Antiguan boat Lost Horizon II, fresh from Cape Air CORT (Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle) victory, is defending its crown in racing III. However, another Antiguan boat Caccia Alla Volpe is joining this class this year and has had a very strong season. Class winner in St Croix (beating Lost Horizon II), and third placer in St Maarten's Heineken Regatta with seconds in the BVI and St Thomas' Rolex International Regatta she will be tough competition for Jamie Dobbs and crew, particularly as those boats
that beat her are not in Caccia's class in Antigua. IMX 40s Near Miss and L'Ange De Milon are also in this class together with Dougie Myers' Legacy. Four JOD 35s will also be 'one-design racing' as well as chasing class prize.

Wally yacht Gibian, a 100-foot powerhouse, is scratch boat for racer/cruiser I. Fast.net, a Nautor 70, will be nipping at her heels together with Javelin, a Vaton 75, and last year's second placer in the class Bermudian Farr 72 Starr Trail which had a unfortunate DNF on the final race last year.

The three Formula I sailing 65-foot Farr Spirits - Juno, Minerva and Isis ­ with Dixon 65 Liara, Swan 62 Constanter and Pocket Maxi Helsal 2, a veteran of 15 Sydney/Hobart races, round out the class.

Racer/cruiser II sees seven Swans take a majority share in the 12-boat class. With last year's winner Timbalero 2 not returning Jus Do It 2, a Beneteau 48 second to Timabalero last year, will be vying for podium honours along with UK Swan Celerity.

The top three places from last year are wide open in racer/cruiser III and King's Legend and Kimosabi will be battling it out for the number one slot left by last year's winner OysterCatcher XXIV; owner Richard Matthews is racing Flirt instead. They¹ll be up against Eddie Warden-Owen and David MacLean onboard Swan 59 Tazani. Both have sailed together on board the Corel 45 Babalaas.

80 bareboats will be vying for bragging rights with the top three boats from each class competing in the new Bareboat Championship Challenge on Saturday. The man to beat will be Jan Soderberg the undisputed bareboat king on the Caribbean race courses and five-times overall bareboat winner at ASW.

With winds forecast east southeasterly at 10-18 knots over land and 15-22 knots over open waters with occasional higher gusts, the fleet heads off tomorrow to Dickenson Bay. Both fleets will sail around the west coast with division A covering approximately 34 miles and division B 20 miles.

When they arrive, they'll be met by the 2nd Annual Great Dickenson Bay Beach Bash which has expanded its activities this year and started today with a weekend of music, Antiguan food and rum, celebrity cricket, yacht racing, fireworks and more.

"In this, my second year at the helm of the Antigua Sailing Week Committee, we have focused on how to maintain Antigua Sailing Week as a premiere regatta. In this regard, we have added a course for the competitors in the Race Division, and a new Championship Challenge for the Bareboat Classes.

The Great Dickenson Bay Beach Bash, which was a huge success, will also have an expanded program this year. We have made an extensive effort of recreating the party atmosphere synonymous with the Antigua Sailing Weeks of years gone by," said Kraig Moore, regatta chairman.

Antigua Sailing Week has created a completely new sponsorship platform going in to the next three years designed specifically to enhance the growth and marketing potential of the event. A new level of sponsorship, diamond level, was created and the first ever diamond level sponsor is Stanford International Bank Limited which is very involved on an international level. New platinum sponsors Air Jamaica and Heineken join
Cable & Wireless, English Harbour Rum, Rolex and American Express. LIAT is
a new silver sponsor while Sticky Wicket Restaurant and Going Places Travel are copper sponsors. All these sponsors are involved in a three-year strategic marketing plan.

Entry list

	Yacht	Skipper	Country	Type	LOA
1	LEGACY	D. Meyer	Trinidad	Soverel	43
2	KINGS LEGEND	Gijs Van Liebergen	Netherlands	Swan	65
3	ELEANOR	Dr. Leonard Davidson	USA	Gulf Star M. Sailer	57
4	JIGSAW	Ian Galbraith	UK	Moody Stuart	42.2
5	L'ANGE DE MILON	Jacques Pelletier	France	IMX	40
6	MANGUSTA	Giancarlo Canavesio	UK	Grand Soleil	46.3
7	TY-GWEN III	C De La Bouvrie	France	1st - Q B Reg	40.7
8	GRAFIN B	Richard Von Buedingen	USA	Bowman	57
9	LOLITA	Frank Savage	USA	Swan	56
10	REMORA	Christian Haslar	France	SunOddesy/Jeanneau	52
11	GIKSI BLUE	Franco Nanni	Italy	Gieffe	51
12	PETER VON DANZIG	Goetz Greve	Germany	Nissen	55
13	NATURAL MAGIC	David Cook	UK	Beneteau 1st	42
14	BOTO	Al. Ribeiroda Silva	Brazil	Beneteau	40
15	HINZITE	Charles Hinz	USA	Frers	45
16	TAZANI	David McLean	UK	Swan	59
17	L'ESCAPE	Sigbjorn Mansaker	Norway	Sweden	45
18	CREDIT MODERNE	Figueres	Martin	B28	28
19	BLUE	Dyke Busch Juhannsen	Germany	Swan	56
20	LYNX OPTIQUE	Triskell	Guadeloupe	Dufour	45
21	JAVELIN	Tony Maidment	USA	Vaton	73
22	CHIPPEWA	Clay Deutsch	USA	Swan	68
23	NORTHERN CHILD	Peter Rogers	UK	Swan	51
24	TAC TIC TOC	Pascal	France	Oceanis	400
25	CONSTANTER	Willem Mesdag	USA	Swan	62
26	TAROK VI	Erik Berth	Denmark	Swan	46
27	SUNBEAT III	Steve Kuhl	UK	Jeanneau	43
28	JOSBARROLA	John Marshall	UK	Oyster	45
29	FAVONIUS	Roel Piper	Netherlands	Swan	80
30	ALIANZA	B & R Cleveland	USA	Swan	56
31	MERTZI LOUISE	John Spencer	New Zealand	B Clark	72
32	XTRA FUN	Horst Figge-Jaeke	Germany	X-362	36
33	AMERIGO	Dennis Pegden	BVI	Swan	56
34	SANDETTIE	J Krjgsman	Netherlands	Swan	40
35	ODIN	Kristian Torkildsen	Netherlands	X Yacht	45
36	MARTINEZ IMPUNITO	Eresto Moresino	Italy	Finot	51
37	SPEEDY GECKO	Gilberto Sandretto	Italy	Reichel Pugh	57
38	TOP BID	Peter R Mills	BVI	Amel Super Maramu	53
39	HELSAL 2	Doug Shields	Australia	Adams	66
40	WHERE NEXT	Piotr Laskowski	UK	X-412	41
41	1ST AWAY	S Wells	UK	Beneteau First	40.7
42	WHIPPA SNAPPA	Richard Puddifoot	UK	Sigma 33	33
43	SPIRIT OF DIANA	Ross Daniel	UK	Farr	65
44	SPIRIT OF MINERVA	Dec Caffari	UK	Farr	65
45	EQUATION	Bill Alcott	USA	Andrews	68
46	STARR TRAIL	Robert Mulderig	Bermuda	Bruce Farr	72
47	SOTTO VOCE	Arien Van Vemde	Belgium	J/V 66	66
48	ILLYKIA	Sir David Cooksey	UK	Oyster	53
49	HARK	Susan Kavanagh	Ireland	Beneteau First	53
50	SEABISCUIT	Pat Nolan	BVI	Moorings	44.5
51	HUEY	Bernie Evan Wong	Antigua	Melges	24
52	HUGO	Hugh Bailey	Antigua	Beneteau	43
53	PAVLOVA II	Richard H Burbridge	UK	Swan	43
54	NEAR MISS 3	Jean Marie Vidal	France	IMX	40
55	WORLD OF TUI HAMBURG	Heiko Finn Preuss	Germany	X	61.2
56	HANSA	Florian Hiersemann	Germany	X	61.2
57	CHARISMA	Constantin Claviez	Antigua	Swan	44
58	RUNAWAY BUNNY	Robert E. Patterson	USA	Beneteau	50
59	FLIRT	R Mathew / J Alvarez	UK	Corby One Off	50
60	FLORYS	Luc Coquelin	Guadeloupe	Open	50
61	CACCIA ALLA VOLPE	Carlo Falcone	Antiuga	Valicelli	44
62	VILELA 2	Richard Campmas	France	Gib Sea	41.4
63	GEMINI	Andrew Piotrowski	Poland	1 Tonner	40
64	LOCHAY MAIDEN	W G R Thompson	UK	Hylas	46
65	GRAIN DE SOLEIL	Nicholas Svilarich	France	Swan	44.1
66	TITAN 12	Tom Hill	Puerto Rico	Reichel Pugh	75
67	TALISMAN	Tim Joliffe	USA	Prima	38
68	LADY B	Jack Madden	USA	SWAN	53
69	DISCO INFERNO II	Matt Abiss	UK	Beneteau First	47
70	HINANO	Phillip Swatman	UK	Swan	48
71	IRISH INTUITION	John McDowell	Ireland	Reflex	38
72	AFFINITY	J Desmond/D Hyde	USA	Swan	48
73	GIRLSFORSAIL.COM 2	Anne O'Sullivan	UK	Swan	36
74	KALIKOBASS	Mike Tuckey	UK	Frers	76
75	SKITTER SCAMP	Brian & Margaret Aldous	Canada	Beneteau	36
76	XL	Martin Zeyer	Germany	Jeaneay Sun Odyssey	40
77	LOST HORIZON II	James Dobbs	Antigua	Olson	30
78	BLUE PETER	Lawrie May	Antigua	J - Modified	30
79	STREAKER	Sandy Mair	Antigua	Soverel	30
80	JUS' DO IT 2	Ian Darby	UK	Beneteau First	42
81	GODSPEED	John Nugent	USA	Swan	51
82	SCARAMOUCHE III	Claude Pasquin	Canada	Beneteau First	42
83	WHITE LADY	Claude Picard	Guadeloupe	Beneteau First	42
84	ZELKOVA	Brodbeck	Suisse	Gib Sea	51
85	MAIDEN	Terry Neilson	UK	One Off	57
86	FABI	Roschach	Suisse	Beneteau	50
87	IPOMEA	Uwe Baum	Germany	Oceanis	41
88	ARIA	Sibylle Merk	Germany	Oceanis	41
89	GLADIOLUS	Hans Joachim Petersohn	Germany	Oceanis	41
90	GUDULE	Hans-Joachim Richter	Germany	Beneteau	46
91	CHARLIFLO	Alexander Pfeiffer	Germany	Centurion	48
92	TITOUAN	Thedy Schmid	Germany	Beneteau	50
93	SERENA	Toralf Kohler	Germany	Beneteau	50
94	EMERAUDE	Bjorn Chinow	Germany	Beneteau	50
95	DILL	Rolf Zumsteg	Germany	Dufour	50
96	ORIENT	Peter Cove	UK	Oceanis	43
97	LADY BE GOOD	Douglas Lamb	UK	Sun Odyssey	42
98	NOTOS	Robby Nitsche	Germany	GibSea	43
99	MYG	Peter Cove	UK	Oceanis	47
100	GIRLSFORSAIL.COM	Ann O' Sullivan	Germany	Jeanneau	42
101	AGENA STAR	Sandra Newton	UK	Gib Sea	47
102	AMITIE	Penny Bloxham	UK	Beneteau	50
103	AIGUE MARINE	R Dollar	UK	Beneteau	50
104	CHANSS	Mike Mickey	USA	Jeanneau	45
105	DIAMANT	Keith Harding	UK	Jeanneau	45
106	PHOEBE	A Toone	Australia	Sun Odyssey	44
107	EVELYNE	R Nevitt	UK	Sun Odyssey	45
108	BREEZE BOASTER	Bjorn Chinow	Germany	Dufour	50
109	ASODADE	I Thorne	UK	Jeanneau	52
110	HAVIKA III	Mr. Galli	Italy	Jeanneau	43
111	MARAMORA	Peter Cove	UK	Oceanis	47
112	LIS	Webb	UK	Beneteau	49
113	LUZULA	Soons	Holland	Gib Sea	42
114	LIARA	Ross Appelby	UK	Dixon	65
115	MONTEBELLO	Segalowicz-Homo	Guadeloupe	Beneteau	34
116	PILLOW	Rorscach	Suisse	Beneteau	49
117	BILIMBI	Forsmaier	Austria	Gib Sea	42
118	PREVENCHE	Borchers	Germany	Beneteau	49
119	TI MALES	Schmid	Germany	Gib Sea	42
120	ANTHENA	VanStolk	Holland	Dufour	42
121	ALGARVIO	Birr	UK	Beneteau	49
122	FINALLY	Vanderwerf	USA	Beneteau	49
123	MARIONETTE	Martin Johnbson	USA	Beneteau	44
124	LOFOTEN 1	Soderberg	USA	Beneteau	44
125	VELLAMO 2	Graham Smith	USA	Swan	56
126	ASCE EQUIPMENT	Jack Arthaud	France	Quillard B28	28
127	SGANARELLE	A Brady/R Anderson	UK	Oceanis	35
128	WATERMELON	Robert Snow	Australia	Beneteau	50
129	NANSEA	Gelin	Sweden	Sun Odyssey	45
130	TCHAIKOWSKY	Michelle Henderson	UK	Sun Odyssey	37
131	JULIA TOO	Patrick Halloran	UK	Sun Odyssey	40
132	TAZ	Curt Gelin	Sweden		40
133	FABY 2	Brownfield	UK	Sun Odyssey	42
134	LA BOHEME	Steven Gear-Evans	UK	Oceanis	47
135	SUNBEAM	Samuel Rayner	UK	Beneteau	50
136	JULIANA	Richard Berns	UK	Oceanis	47
137	CORAIL	Joaquin Prager	Germany	Dufour	51
138	PIRAN	Luis Tabuenca	Spain	Beneteau	38
139	TENEGGER	Stolberg	Germany	Dufour	51
140	CASANOVA	Richard Harris-Jones	UK	Jeanneau	45
141	ROSCO	Joaquin Prager	ESP	Dufour	50
142	ENOS	Luis Tabuenca	Germany	Dufour	50
143	SIERRA ROE	Stolberg	Gerrnany	Oceanis	41
144	CAPTAIN CARLO	Richard Haris Hones	UK	Sun Odyssey	45
145	THABANA	Soldberg	Germany	Gib Sea	51
146	COUTEAU	Derek Holding	UK	Beneteau	50
147	ST. VINCENT	Leonard Maraschi	Italy	Oceanis	38
148	OPUS	Curt Gelin	Germany	Sun Odyssey	37
149	AUGUSTINE	Tony Sayer	Antigua	Beneteau	41
150	ENCORE	Giorgio Sorrentino	Italy	Contention	33
151	CAP CREOLE	Claude Roth	Guadeloupe	Jeanneau	38
152	ANNIE T	Janice Janice	USA	Jeanneau	51
153	CELERITY	Stuart Ribinson	UK	Swan	48
154	VAGUE L'AME	Charon Pronier	France	Jeanneau	40
155	MULATA	Gavin Spier	UK	Jeanneau	42
156	L'ESPERANCE	Robbie Ferron	St. Maarten	Beneteau	45
157	SYNERGY	Carl Vaughan III	St. Maarten	Frers	49
158	VERMEIL	Marc Allain Des Beauvais	France	Beneteau	52
159	ZUKUNFT IV	Rolf Schomburg	Germany	Baltic	51
160	MATOKAOMA	Joseph Fourage	UK	Jongert	86
161	CLAIR DU VENT	Yannick Rebuffat	Guadeloupe	Giro	34
162	EXCALIBUR	Pedro Camargo	Brazil	CBN	70
163	SHANELLE	Dr. Adrian Davis	UK	Montevideo	43
164	POLYBAT 44	Jimmy Dreux	Guadeloupe	JOD 35	35
165	ARAWA	Douglas R. De Cluitt	USA	Columbia	50
166	PALOURDE	Nick Rose	UK	Jeanneau	43
167	BLUE BAYOU	Peter Dove	UK	Jeanneau	42
168	CHARLEY BROWN	Nicolas Corbic	France	Beneteau	41
169	SISLEY	Nick Doherty	Ireland	Oceanis	40
170	GAMBAS	Bernard Juton	France	Beneteau	50
171	LADY CLAIR	Caleb Landerson	Antigua	Dufour	30
172	LADY CADES	James Hood	Antigua	Dufour	30
173	JUNICLARA	Martin Sager	Suisse	Beneteau	50
174	COURS TOUJOURS 3	Christophe Bendre	Guadeloupe	Beneteau	35
175	TAZA MAS	James Harrison	USA	Custom	93
176	SKY	Jim Reiher	USA	Swan	53
178	KENTA	Filippo & Marco Alvera	Italy	Swan	65
178	IGOODIA	Milt Baehr	USA	Jeanneau	50
179	BANK VON BREMEN	Felix Redeker	Germany	Jodel Vrolijk	51
180	BLUE OCEAN	Ralf Schneider	Germany	Beneteau	46
181	GIBIAN	Armando Grandi	UK	Wally Yachts	100
182	KIMOSABI	Dr. J de Abreu	Portugal	CNB	64
183	DOMRE	Eurl Dominique	France	First 42	42
184	NISIDA	Dario Boiocchi	Italy	GY 51	52
185	SHAITAN OF VIENNA	Roman A Bresky	BVI	Nautor	65
186	INVESTEC	Simon Farrington	UK	Fast 42	42
187	YOCAHU	Jeffrey Rose	UK	Swan	48
188	JACANA	David Lindsay	UK	J Boat	46
189	FAST.NET	Heissig Philipp	Martinique	Dufour	59
190	MALANGA	Wulf Hens	Martinique	Dufour	50
191	RHEA	Phillip Heissig	Germany	Dufour	50
192	PUMKIN	Nick Maley	Antigua	C7C Trapper 500	27
193	MARTINIQUE	Frank Foulard	Martinique	Janneau One Design	35
194	MORNING MIST	Frank Barthe	Scotland	Swan	37
195	ANY TAXI	Jimmy Fuller	Antigua	SR -	27
196	ALIZELEC - OPEN	Yves Cheminat	Martinique	Jeanneau	35
197	WILD AT HEART	Heiko Godel	Germany	JOD 35	35