Logbook
Out and about
T
he typical trades didn’t make it to Antigua for
the 29th Classic Regatta, but 40 vessels did,
along with boatloads of exuberant crew. The
fl eet was as varied as the weather. Small boats
like the 26ft Harrison Butler, Cora A, mixed it up with six
big gals, each well over 100ft. Topping that list in length
and quite possibly in beauty too were the 212ft (64.6m)
three-masted schooner Adix and 141ft (42.9m) Gloucester
schooner replica, Columbia, launched in 2014.
Six days of racing took place in lake-like conditions,
eliminating the usual drama of fl ying water and broken
parts. Dry decks served as lounges and no one felt the need
to call in too exhausted for the regatta’s legendary
schedule of parties and musical events.
Columbia may have taken top honors in the beauty
contest, winning Concours d’Elegance in class, but the
35ft Nick Skeates design Island Swift was given the Arne
Frizzel Award for most seaworthy vessel.
Nordwind, a stunning 86ft Henry Gruber ketch built in
1939, was the overall winner in the single-handed race.
After a one-year refi t at Antigua’s Woodstock
Boatbuilders, the 43ft Kettenburg Janley, built in 1943,
walked away with regatta sponsor Panerai’s top prize.
The week closed as dinghies raced through the
dockyard in wet conditions, but even that couldn’t
dampen the Caribbean’s most spirited regatta.Caribbean
calm at the
Classics
12(^67)
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TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS JAN HEIN