ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK

English Harbour Rum Race Day kicked off racing action on Sunday 28 April 2024 at the 55th edition of Antigua Sailing Week. The international fleet got their first taste of racing in tropical heat on the stunning South Coast of Antigua. An easterly breeze of 7-13 knots and flat sea state provided sweet conditions, but the competition was full of spice.

The ASW Race Committee set a cocktail of courses, including tight coastal short races, and longer races, taking the fleet to the deep water marks of Antigua Sailing Week. Start lines were humming with close competition right through the 88 boat fleet. Stop watches were buzzing with several class wins by seconds after CSA time correction.

After racing, the Regatta Bars were busy on the Antigua Yacht Club Lawn, followed by a packed house for the English Harbour Rum Daily Prize Giving. Antigua Distillery is the purveyor of the award-winning English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum and every race winner at Antigua Sailing Week wins a bottle of English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum. Lisa Farara, Executive Director of Antigua Distillery is a direct descendant of the company’s founders; her Grandfather Quin Farara started producing rum in Antigua in 1932.

“No visit to Antigua would be complete without sampling some local rum,” smiled Lisa Farara at the English Harbour Rum Daily Prize Giving. “We chose the name English Harbour because it is the location where Antigua welcomes people from overseas. The rum’s character is laid back and friendly, ‘a welcome to my home’. English Harbour Rum’s long association with Antigua Sailing Week lets us reach out to visitors and we have both grown together over the last three decades. Above all, English Harbour Rum is a part of Antigua that all the sailors can take home with them, especially if they win races!”

After the English Harbour Rum Daily Prize Giving the party continued at the AYCM Platform with a fancy dress Pirate Nite! Party-band HyperActive played a live set to get the dance floor pumping. Racing at Antigua Sailing Week continues on Monday 29 April with Axxess Marine Youth 2 Keel Boat Race Day.