They came, they saw and they conquered.
Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique sailed away with the top prizes in the Racing Class A and Cruising Class A of the Barbados Sailing Association’s 26th annual Mount Gay Rum International Regatta, which concluded with the prize-giving ceremony at the Yacht Club on Bay Street on Sunday.
Ven Dan Vwell 2 from Martinique and Legacy from Trinidad and Tobago led from day one of the three-day tournament and never relinquished their lead by the end of the final race on Sunday.
Finishing second in Racing Class A was Paul Johnson and his crew of Bruggadung II. They were knocking at the door of the eventual winners all weekend but just could not overtake them. Third was another Martiniquican boat, Ven Dan Vwell 1.
In Cruising Class A, the Barbadians once again had to settle for second place overall, this time to the Trinidadian boat Legacy, which is owned and skippered by Reginal Williams, who told NATIONSPORT that he and his team were elated to have sailed against a great competitor like Ralph Johnson in Rapajam and won.
“I feel honoured competing with Ralph Johnson, who has been undoubtedly and still is one of the best sailors in the Caribbean for many years. He and his crew kept up the pressure and made us work really hard for our victory.
“The conditions were excellent. The camaraderie was second to none. It was a fantastic regatta and we will definitely be back next year to defend our title,” Williams said.
It was sweet revenge for the Barbadians in the popular J24 Class where the Neil Burke-owned and skippered BNB Impulse took the top prize from a field of 15 competitors.
Finishing second overall was the St Vincent and the Grenadines boat Salt Fish while Hawkeye, owned and sailed by Barbadian Robert Povey, had to settle for third place overall after his fine showing on the two previous days of the competition.
In Cruising Class B where there was only one Barbadian entrant, the British crew of Perseverence, led by John Still, continued their fine showing from the beginning of the tournament to emerge champions of the regatta.
Second was the British Virgin Islands boat Leonora and third was another British team led by David Jeffs.
This race featured four British boats based in St Lucia, three from the British Virgin Islands and one from the United States.
