ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK

Tod Slyngstad’s HH 66 catamaran Nemo was the first to reach the island’s shores in this year’s Antigua Bermuda Race.

The crew were the first of the six-boat fleet to cross the finish line off St George’s at a recorded time of 3.06pm on Saturday, more than five-and-a-half hours ahead of Stefan Jentzsch’s Botin 56 Black Pearl, who reached Bermuda at 8.53pm, to claim first place in the in IRC and CSA classifications.

“It was a busy, interesting race with a great variety of conditions from blast reaching in beautiful trade wind conditions to torrential rain in the front they passed through Thursday night,” reported Botin.

“The navigator was kept busy anticipating the future wind directions and the challenge of keeping up and for a time passing the catamaran Nemo added to the fun.”

On Sunday, Kevin McLaughlin’s Rye reached the finish line at 4.42pm for third place, with the overall standings in the CSA Cruising division still dependent on the positions of Canadian Peter Blunden’s Life of Rilley and compatriot Ray Rhinelander’s Bella J.

Another competitor who started the 935 nautical mile race, which started on May 9, and is managed by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in association with Antigua Sailing Week, was repeat entrant Richard Dumas, who was sailing Tim Wilson’s El Oro.