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