Gorgeous weather once again graced the shores of Grenada for the fourth and final race day of the 2023 Pure Grenada Sailing Week. Steady 11 knots of northeasterly wind prevailed, with stronger gusts of 23.
Boats paraded out of the lagoon and past the historic capital of St. Georges, its red fishscale roofs scattered up the hillside like confetti. Backed by the two-mile arc of Grand Anse beach, yachts made their way to the nearby courses. The CSA 1 class sailed two courses today, beginning with an 11-mile windward-leeward course of two sausages, and then a second 14-mile triangular course. CSA 2 also raced two courses, a a 7.6-mile triangle followed by the 14-mile triangle. The Simplified, Classics, and Multihull classes sailed a single race, the 14-mile triangle.
Within the Classics it was Galatea’s turn for a late start, and the CSA 2 class had two boats over the line early that returned to start again.
It wasn’t the end of Galatea’s misfortune though, as almost immediately after her first tack into the wind, the 125-year-old classic lost the top 12 feet of her mast and a crewmember was thrown overboard. Everyone was unharmed, but presumably shaken, as the safety boat towed them to a nearby mooring to assess the damage.
The races continued and Chris Wood’s Assuage took line honors today with an elapsed time of 58:32 around the 7.6 mile triangle, which also placed him first in his CSA 2 class after corrected time. In CSA 1 Richard Szyjan’s Category 5 placed first, and Mah Jong saw her first top spot for the Classics. For the Multihulls, the Outremer 45 Delphine placed first, and John McMonigall secured another win on Zig Zag in the Simplified class.
The CSA 1 and CSA 2 classes both had tight second races around the 14-mile triangle, with all boats finishing within only a few minutes of corrected time of each other. Notably, the top 2 CSA 2 boats, Huey Too and Rasmus, finished within 13 seconds of each other after corrected time.
The protest committee was kept busy again this afternoon with another four protests today, mostly within the Classics class. They were heard without any resulting changes to the scoreboard, and overall results for the week were tallied with much anticipation.
Starting with the Multihulls, coming up in third was Sean Thomas’s Apollon and Daphne, followed by local Grenadian Robbie Yearwood’s Leopard 47, Spirit of Everest in second place, and Diane and David Slater’s Outremer 45, Delphine taking first.
In the Simplified class Darren McLaughlin’s Hanse 505 Amandla Kulu placed third, followed closely by Bronwen McKiever’s 1966 Morgan 34 Sea Swan in second, and then John McMonigall’s Oyster 82 Zig Zag placed first with a healthy lead.
The local Classic and traditional Carriacou Sloop Glacier, built, owned, and sailed by three generations of the Patrice family, placed third. Alex Goldhill, another Carriacou native, sailed his Yawl 52 Mah Jong into second place, and Mathew Barker’s Alfred Mylne 65 The Blue Peter, took first.
The largest class this year, CSA 2 with 11 boats, also held the most disqualifications, making it anyone’s game. Chris Woods’s Nautor Swan 48 Assuage placed third, while Mark Chapman’s Tartan 10 Dingolay took second, and Bernard Evan-Wong’s Cal 40 Huey Too stepped up to first.
There were no surprises in the CSA 1 class, where Jean Michel Figueres Farr 40 Maisons Satec placed third, Richard Szyjan redeemed his DSQ on Day 2 for his Hobie 33 Category 5 to place second, and Tristan Marmousez’s Surprise Archambault, GFA Caraibes – La Morrigaine, secured first with a healthy lead.
Despite the record number of protests, sailors expressed thanks and gratitude to the race committee for organizing a friendly and well-run regatta. As we get ready to close down the regatta we want to thank all of our sponsors, supporters and competitors for helping make our return to the international regatta season such a wonderful event. Roll on 2024!
Event website: grenadasailingweek.com
