NEWS AND NOTES
Blue Water Sailing
May 1, 2009
Charles Dunstone’s TP 52, Rio, Takes Overall Honors, Crescendo, Dragon Fly Plus, Hugo B Among Big Winners In 2009 Running Of Antigua Sailing Week
Falmouth Harbour, Antigua (April 30) – The list of boat names is legendary: Titan. Kialoa. Infinity. Sayonara. Morning Glory. Pyewacket. The roster of yachts and sailors who have captured overall honors at Antigua Sailing Week is certainly long and distinguished. And today, on the sixth and final day of competition for the Division A race boats at the annual regatta, a new skipper and boat joined that illustrious list of champions when Charles Dunstone’s Transpac 52, Rio, capped a dominating performance with two more victories to win overall honors for the 2009 edition of Antigua Sailing Week.
“We got what we came for, sunshine and twenty-five knots every day,” said Rio’s captain, Richy O’Farrell. “We had a pretty good week in terms of crew work and boat handling. Everyone seems very happy, certainly Charles is walking away from the week very pleased. The day around the island was awesome, and we had another day where we had a little squall come through as we went offshore, so that was a 30-knot flame-up and we hit some pretty good speeds with spray all over the deck so it was good. I think we saw 24 or 25 knots (of boat speed) that day so it was up there.”
Among the several innovations for Antigua Sailing Week this year was the addition of a new big-boat “regatta-within-a-regatta,” the Antigua Ocean Series, and the expertise of a new race-management team, the U.K.-based GWM Racing Ltd., headed by principal race officers John Grandy and Peter Wykeham-Martin, with assistant race officer Emma Bourne, who handled the Division A and B race circles, respectively.
Rio had little competition once Chris Sherlock's ICAP Leopard was out of the racing after only one race due to a broken boom.
In Cruising 2, Antiguan sailor Hugh Bailey and his island crew finished a strong week aboard the First 456, Hugo B, to top the 15-boat fleet in a runaway victory. The overall winner in Cruising 2 was Dr. Ulrich Rohde aboard the Swan 53, Dragon Fly Plus, which also edged out Hugo B to earn the Cruising Overall title. Poul Richard Hoj Jensen capped a perfect week—six wins in six starts—to capture in the International Dragon class in highly convincing fashion.
Cover Shot, Roger Webb’s Seawind 100XL, was the winner in Cruising Multihulls, although there was some confusion on the awards podium as to whether the Flint 54 Trimaran Running Cloud, took first honors. This was the first time for the Cruising Multihull class with only two multihulls competing. Hopefully more will come for all the fun next year.
Photos: Top - www.sailingweek.com, Dragon Fly Plus - Nancy Birnbaum, 2009.
Antigua Sailing Week website at www.sailingweek.com
