Antigua, April 2016
For many years we have heard about
Antigua’s Classic Yacht Regatta. Everyone said we should try to be there and
join in, so we did. We did not expect to win anything, but we were looking
forward to having loads of fun and seeing some wonderful traditional boats
under full sail.
We spent the few weeks
before the regatta sprucing the boat up ready to cross the Atlantic shortly
after the Classics, but also secretly we all wanted Island Swift to look her
best!
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| English Harbour - Parade of Sail |
We arrived at our designated berth on the
Wednesday morning. This was one of our rare visits to a marina, but the boys
were slightly disappointed because they had hoped we would have Internet on the
boat! We signed up for all the events (including a cocktail competition!) and
we received lots of free ‘goodies’: t-shirts, hats, a box of beer and a bottle
of rum! Where were we going to find room
on the boat for all this stuff?
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| Concourse d’Elegance second place and most sea worthy boat! |
On Thursday morning we did a last tidy-up
before we were visited by the committee members who were judging the Concourse
d’Elegance. The whole marina by this time was full of beautiful boats of all
sizes, miles of perfect varnish, enormous flags and some very rich people. We
were one of the smaller boats and as ‘live-aboards’ we couldn’t hope to match
the perfection of some of the wealthier boats.
The judges came aboard and Lochlann did his best to charm them. That
evening it was prize giving for the single-handed race and the Concourse
d’Elegance. We were there to cheer on
our friend Leo Sampson for winning the single-handed race, so we were
completely surprised when they announced that Island Swift had won an award for
the ‘most seaworthy boat’ as well as second in our class for the Concourse.
What a start!
The following day was our first day of
racing, and we were determined to have as much fun as possible. We all dressed up in piratical costumes and
were joined by two wonderful friends ‘Captain’ Jack and his beautiful wife,
Fizzy, who added the extra sparkle to our happy band. We were not very fast as there was hardly any
wind, but we looked the part with Island Swift sporting a huge Cornish flag and
both topsails, and with Finbar and Lochlann climbing everywhere - up the
rigging, up the mast, and on the end of the bowsprit.
After an exciting day’s race (I think we
came last!) it was time for me to put on a cocktail dress and present my
offering to the Mount Gay Rum cocktail competition. A friend had told me about
it as soon as we arrived, so I was one of the lucky six who signed up, which
included another bottle of rum and a special glass. I presented the ‘Island
Swifter’.
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| Making my cocktail |
Island Swifter Recipe
Homemade
lemonade cordial made with sugar, limes and ginger.
Mount Gay Rum
Topped with
fizzy water
Grenadine
dropped into the bottom of the glass
Decorated with
sugar and grenadine on the rim of the glass, two little red pepper ‘islands’
(thanks Fizzy) namely Antigua and Barbuda, and a straw with an origami bird
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| Winner of the Mount Gay Rum cocktail competition |
We were expected to make our cocktail on
the stage, presenting it to the judges and the audience. Most of the other competitors made their
cocktails hidden by the high table that I could only just see over. I presented
mine in full view of the audience, juggling limes and trying to make it as fun
as possible. One competitor stormed off
the stage cross about something and the other competitors offered various
different variations on the rum theme. I was completed shocked to find that I
had won first prize which was (yet another) bottle of rum and 250 US dollars!
The next day’s race was as much fun as the
first (and this time we weren’t last) and this was followed by a party for the
boat owners (no crew allowed!) with a free meal and my Island Swifter cocktail
served as guests arrived, complete with origami birds. It was also the Open Mic
night and we were scheduled to start the evening off with our Bash Street
Family Band. Our lovely friend Tom, who we had met in Grenada, was also at the
regatta and he joined us on the stage for our 10-minute set. It was very special to play music with our
wonderful teenage boys and supported by many very special friends in the
audience. Thank you Tom for playing with us, the guitar made all the
difference. Later that night Finbar and Lochlann did some fire poi accompanied
by a drummer on stage. Simon and I then hurried off to the meal so sadly we missed
the other open mic offerings.
As we awoke on Sunday morning to our daily
delivery of croissants, orange juice, yummy biscuits, yachting mag and daily
newspaper, we realized how exhausting this racing lark was. But we were still determined to have as much
fun as possible. Gale joined us on the Sunday race, also dressing up, and we
became known as the pirate ship. After
the Sunday race we sailed into English Harbour, which was packed with crowds to
watch the boats. Simon and Lochlann were up the mast, while Jack played music
on his guitar and Fizzy, Gale and I added extra colour.
Monday was the last day of racing after
which we were mooring in English Harbour at the historic Nelson’s Boat Yard.
Prize giving night was very memorable with
Linda plying me with bubbly! We were all very surprised to be called up on
stage. We had won third place racing in our class and more amazingly a trophy
called the Spirit of the Regatta (I think for just having so much fun!)
The next morning we awoke with throbbing
heads to very little wind and dinghy racing. Despite the rain we rowed, sculled
and sailed. Jack was a hero to sail our dinghy Swiftlet in hardly any wind,
Simon, Finbar and Lochlann all rowed manfully, and I had a sculling battle with
Jan, and lost. Lochlann joined Leo in the sculling race on his folk boat. Fizzy
was a great sport to row doubles with me, and I had a special sail on Bruce’s,
beautiful sailing dinghy. We ended the day with a cream tea in the lovely
gardens.
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| Iland Swift and the ketch Segue |
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