“She is just so special,” Konrad Kaltenbach told me. “The wood,
the crew, how she goes through the water. She takes you back
in time.” “What you feel is the boat’s heart,” added wife Lea.
The three of use were talking in the doghouse of the 115ft
(35m) Bermudan staysail schooner Eros, after a day’s racing.
Americans Konrad and Lea were among eight charter guests
and were having the time of their lives. They fi rst sailed on
Eros during the 2017 America’s Cup in Bermuda and they were
now planning a third time, probably in autumn in Newport.
Originally called Jeanry, Eros was designed by William
McKeek and built by Brooke Marine in Lowestoft for an
American owner in 1939. Soon after she was launched she was
commandeered by the Royal Navy as a coastal patrol boat and
might have taken part in the Dunkirk evacuation. After the war
she was bought by Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos
and renamed Eros. Three owners later, she was bought in
2016 by Cameron Riddell and a partner, not long after the
boat had undergone a comprehensive restoration and her
new owners have continued to upgrade her. She’s been
chartering since then, cruising and racing in New England
and the Caribbean. Cameron, who had helmed Eros that day,
said: “We love these classic regattas among beautiful yachts
with so much history and interesting people.”
Our race took place in an easterly force fi ve, conditions
that are all but guaranteed here, against two other Bermudan
staysail schooners: Mary Rose (Nat Herreshoff , 1925) and
Charm III (Alden, 1928) in the Vintage Schooner class. On the
same start line and same course were four gaff schooners in
the Classics Schooner class, including the mighty Columbia.
We all felt obliged to start on port tack to avoid quickly
running out of sea room. While the smaller boats started
inshore of us, Columbia was further out to sea and began to
point higher and sail faster than us. By the time we arrived at
the gybe mark, we had caught Severine.
On the second reach we overtook both our competitors,
Charm III then Mary Rose. Back on the wind again, we all had
to tack promptly to go outside the starting mark, where the
smaller, nimbler Mary Rose, overtook us again. Eros clearly
struggles racing upwind and our cause wasn’t helped when,
soon afterwards, the staysail was torn and had to come down.
There was talk of retiring but, as Cameron explained: “We
decided we still had enough sail power to make a go of it.”
Catching Mary Rose again at the end of the last reach, we
had the chance to gain an inside overlap at the last mark, but
Cameron decided to go outside, allowing her to fi nish just
ahead of us. “After the race, they thanked us for that,” said
Cameron. “They were appreciative that we didn’t come in on
the inside and make life diffi cult for them.” One noticeable
aspect of our race was the fl uorescent yellow crew shirts. “We
decided to be a little outrageous and have some fun with it,”
said Cameron. “It looks like mission accomplished!” Nigel Sharp1564Antigua
Classic 2019
Out and about
Logbook
23PHOTOGRAPHS:^
NI
GEL^ SHARP(^1
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);^ JANHIEN(^2,^3
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