Sail - July 2018

PHOTOS BY

DEN PHILLIPS

JULY 2018

Judging the Classics in Antigua

Soul counts as much as brightwork at this storied regatta By Tom Cunli e

T

hirty-one years at er a group of traditional yachts decided to

make the most of the Atlantic seas and tradewind conditions on

of er immediately outside English Harbour, Antigua, the Antigua

Classic Yacht Regatta has become a riot of racing and good times.

Quite how the unpaid volunteers of the Antigua Yacht Club contrive this

annual weeklong extravaganza remains a mystery, but manage it they do.

Where else on Planet Earth can you see the likes of L. Francis Herreshof ’s

1936 masterpiece Ticonderoga and the mighty i shing schooner Columbia

crossing tacks with Genesis and Free in St. Barth, both built on the lines of

cargo carriers from half-models on the beach at Carriacou?

Over in the South of England there’s an annual classic car revival called

the Goodwood. It’s oi cially about serious racing, but it’s worth 70 bucks

just to drive into the parking lot and feast your eyes on the hardware.

Antigua Classics is like that. Walking the docks last April on the i rst

morning, the dazzling lineup promised a tough challenge for the rest of

the Concours d’Elégance judging team and me, which had been tasked

with judging the best of the best in such categories as “Vintage,” for boats

built before 1950, and “Spirit of Tradition.”

We were a transatlantic bunch with the eastern half represented by

the editor of Classic Boat no less, me, my wife and my old shipmate

“Scrimshaw Mick.” A strong west-side contingent was headed up by the

sponsor, Bill Lynn of the Herreshof Marine Museum working with local

experts who not only knew their way around, but could slip the rest of us

some useful inside information whenever necessary.

RACING UNDER SAIL

The Antigua Classic

Yacht Regatta is as

much a feast for

the eyes as it is a

competition: here

Aschanti IV chashes

down her fellow

schooner Eros