Antigua 2005

Two Spirit 46's were built over the winter of 2004-05 and were both entered by their owners in the Antigua Classics regatta. This regatta starts in mid April and so on a snowy, cold March morning they were loaded onto two lorries- destination Portsmouth, there to be loaded onto a Geest banana boat and then across the Atlantic to Deep Water Harbour, Antigua for launching into the warm Carribean Sea.

For 46/05-'Ski4'- these were to be her home waters as her owner has a villa in Jolly Harbour complete with its own dock! For 46/04 'Reprobate' it was to be a case of taking a slight (slight??) detour from her eventual destination of Vancouver Island, Canada.

We wrapped both yachts up with every sort of weather protection known to man in order that the Atlantic crossing in winter shouldn't make them look as though...well... as though they had been across the Atlantic in winter! After a few days of apprehension, they arrived in Antigua bang on time, looking immaculate and absolutely non the worse for the crossing. The unloading was slightly hair raising because to get the yachts over the side they had to be hoisted right over the top of the ship and being 100ft up in the air on a yacht somehow just doesn't feel right! Safely back at sea-level we motored round to Jolly Harbour with both masts in a crate on the deck of Ski4 and unloaded them and all the gear at the excellent marina there. John Morris from Formula Spars had flown over to step and tune the rigs, both the new owners had arrived and within a couple of days we were ready to go for a sail.

Coming from wintery, grey old England and finding yourself gently heeled over in crystal clear warm seas, with blue skies and about 15 knots of warm breeze is one of the more agreeable aspects of our job.

We spent a few days setting the yachts up, tweaking and playing with sails until the time came to go round the corner to Falmouth Harbour and Nelsons Dock Yard and join the regatta.

Having attended the Prada Challenge for Classic Yachts in the Med in 2003 and many other 'Big' regattas we weren't sure what to expect when we sailed up to Antigua Yacht club to sign in. The welcome was very 'Carribean' ...'Just find yourself a place to tie up...try and give the 'J's a bit of room to move, have fun!'

As soon as we had tied the yachts up they both attracted a small (sometimes not so small!) crowd of people anxious to know more about these two beautiful yachts. Reprobate has all the 'classic' features familiar to the Spirit stylewith swept teak decks and gleaming varnished coach roof sides. A 'traditional' interior i.e foc'sle, shower/heads, saloon, quarter berth etc. One American admirer was heard to say, upon seeing the beautiful grain on the coach roof sides, 'Say, that looks just like a Jaguar's dashboard, ain't that the darn'dest thing!'

Ski4 on the other hand has no varnish at all. Painted coach roof sides and scrubbed teak on deck. Minimum maintenance. A understandable choice for a yacht that lives under such an unforgiving sun. Her interior also reflects her Carribean home having a open interior with two planter chairs on the port side instead of a berth and instead of mahogany panelled locker doors she has rattan panels to allow the air to pass into all areas and keep everything fresh and well aired.

The first race was the single handed race which Dan Heald entered with his brand new 46 'Reprobate' and, much to his surprise and great credit- he won! Not a bad start to a regatta or indeed to ownership of a new yacht!

Both yachts were racing in the Spirit of Tradition class which had about ten entries ranging from us at 46 feet to the J's and 'Wind Rose' at the other end of the scale. Our nearest competitor in terms of size was a 70 foot Yawl so the starts were interesting in that jockeying for positions is always exciting but not long after the gun we were essentially match racing the two Spirits.

The two J's, Velsheda and Ranger, and Wind Rose had their own start about 15 minutes after us so we had some very spectacular close sailing with these leviathans. Ski4 and Reprobate were always within a yard or two of each other and it was an interesting exercise to look back and try to position yourself against the other Spirit so that one or more of these giants would have to thread the needle and sail between us. The wind shadow of a 'J' going past close up gives you time to put the kettle on and read the news paper! We eschewed the opportunity to indulge in a luffing match.......

The first race started with Ski4 about 30 seconds ahead of Reprobate and at the finish there were still about 30 seconds in it. Race two saw Ski4 about 45 seconds behind and, again that is pretty much how they finished. So it was all to play for in the last race. This race was simply a reach out for about 5 miles, then back, then out again then back to the finish so there was little opportunity for tactics or fancy footwork. Reading the race instructions again it appeared that the Spirit of Tradition Class had to complete an extra 15 miles or so. All very well for the J's etc but a long way for a 46 footer. 'Reprobate' doggedly continued as the breeze dropped. The siren call of the rum punch was too much for 'Ski4' and her crew and so they withdrew from the race and thus 'Reprobate' took the series.......but 'Ski4' had the rum punch.

The 46's revelled in the conditions in Antigua and the regatta was undoubtedly the best we have ever attended. We could have done with a bit more breeze to get the yachts planing, but to complain about details at such a superb event seems churlish. To those who are thinking about attending .........GO!

Ski4 has been laid up for the hurricane season but Reprobate continues her journey to Canada and we are the recipients of a stream of postcards from Dan who has been meandering around the Carribean for the last three months slowly and, from the tone of his cards, increasingly reluctantly on his way home. At the last count he had covered 2000 miles, much of this open sea passages between the larger groups of islands- anyone who thinks that the smaller Spirit's aren't deep sea yachts might think again!