Pro-am crew notch up perfect score in Antigua
Sailing conditions couldn't have been better for the 100 plus boats competing in the 49th annual Antigua Sailing Week, held April 23-29 in the waters off the Caribbean island. Heavy rain the week before cleared through giving way to sunshine and fresh breezes throughout the event.
Teams came together from as far afield as Argentina and Brasil, to Texas, Lithuania and the Netherlands in this, the premier sailing event of the winter calendar.
On Saturday, 49 competitors started the 51 mile Round Antigua race, a stand-alone event prior to the 8 race series proper. The Gladiator team, comprising 9 amateur and 6 professional yachtsmen, got off to a faultless start and led the fleet to line honours, class and overall winner trophies.
Tony Langley's Gladiator B powering its way to line honours, class and overall win in the Round Antigua race
With a strong after-guard combination of Volvo Round-the-World champions, Britain's, Ian Walker and Jules Salter, the amateurs invited along, including 18-year-old Antiguan Olympic hopeful Rhone Kirby, were treated to a master class in tactics and sailing skills by the A boat sailors.
The pressure was on on race day four as the breeze picked up to over 20 knots, presenting the plethora of yachting photographers the opportunity of some spectacular images.
Despite the up-range conditions, world class US bowman Sean "Doogie" Couvreaux doing "pit" for this event, orchestrated the sail handling superbly, the occasional foul-up by the rookies being quickly sorted and the boat back on its way to first place on the podium in every race of the series and the class trophy for the event.
The Gladiators were not the only team notching up an impressive string of bullets though. Sir Hugh Bailey, the "grandfather of Antiguan yachting", and his all Antiguan crew on board Gypsy UGo over in CSA 7, were also unbeaten in all but their final race. But it was enough for Sir Hugh to claim the Lord Nelson Trophy
Tony Langley and the crew of Gladiator.18 year old Antiguan Olympic hopeful, Rhone Kirby, joined the team for the event.
“Antigua is the first place that I sailed competitively, this is where it all started for me. Today it is still the beating heart of Caribbean sailing,” commented Gladiator B’s owner, Tony Langley The Gladiator "A" boat begins the serious business of 52Super Series sailing in the first of the 5 regatta Med series off Scarlino in Italy on May 21st.
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