Antigua Sailing Week

Yachts from all over the world will arrive in English and Falmouth Harbours to participate in the one of the world’s major sailing events, the 55th Antigua Sailing Week – to be held from the 28th April – 3 May, 2024. From small beginnings this regatta has developed over nearly 55 years to become one of the preeminent yacht racing events in the Caribbean and one of the most prestigious worldwide.

Well over 100 yachts participate each year, ranging in size from 24 feet to over 100 feet. The Regatta attracts all types of yachts from serious racing boats including state-of-the-art, high-tech racing machines to a variety of performance cruising and cruising boats and even features a Club Class for less serious racers who want to be part of the on-the-water action.

The sight of all these yachts is unforgettable, both from vantage points on the shore and from spectator boats carrying onlookers alongside the races. The reputation of Antigua Sailing Week allows the event to attract some of the world’s top racing and performance cruising boats and some of the most famous professional sailors in the world.  You don’t need to own a personal yacht as it’s easy to ‘Rock up and Race’ with one of many available race charter outfits.  If the highly competitive race class isn’t what you are looking for, luxurious bareboats can be booked through  Sunsail Moorings and Dream Yacht Charter.

For five days crews are challenged with a variety of coastal race courses encouraging tacking duels around the buoys – all in the picture-perfect setting of the deep blue Caribbean Sea off Antigua’s south coast with the ever-present trade winds. The idyllic racing is enhanced by sailors retiring to Antigua Yacht Club for passionate post-race analysis and daily prize-givings which carry on into the evening. Hundreds of locals and visitors will continue partying well into the late hours but yacht crews know there is another day of racing so they leave the late night revelry for the others to finish.

After the week of ever-exciting racing, Antigua Sailing Week draws to a close in the romantic historic Nelson’s Dockyard with the final awards presentation attended by owners, skippers and crews, with their friends, well-wishers and race officials, alongside Antigua’s government representatives including the Governor General to present the awards.

This exciting event is followed the next day by Dockyard Day and the Beating of the Retreat as the Antiguan flag is lowered to signal the close of Antigua Sailing Week for yet another year.  It is a truly fitting end to a week of glorious racing.

The Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and other official documents can be found on Yachtscoring,com.

To enter Antigua Sailing Week 2024 click here.

Club Class

This Class is open to sailors who want to participate in the on-the-water action but who may not take their racing as seriously as others and don’t want to incur all the usual expenses. If you are racing to win, this is not the class for you!

 

  • The entry fee is US $9 per foot of measured overall length.
  • Acceptance of entries into the Club Class is solely at the discretion of the Organising Authority. High performance boats, boats using high tech sails or spars, boats that have previously done well under CSA racing or boats with highly trained crews will not be accepted into the Club Class.
  • The Class will be scored using Variable Simplified CSA Handicap. Boats that already have full CSA Ratings may enter the Class but will still be issued a CSA Simplified Rating, at no cost. Boats without a CSA Rating must request a CSA Simplified Rating at a cost of US $50 by accessing this link. All boats should endeavor to have their Simplified CSA Handicap a few days BEFORE the close of registration.
  • Boats may enter as jib and main (pole or no pole) only or with spinnakers.
  • After each day’s racing, individual ratings will be adjusted up or down according to the following formula:
    New Rating = Old Rating X Equalizing Factor X Reward Factor. Yachts that do well (better than 4th place) will have their rating adjusted up while yachts that do not do as well (worse than 4th place) will have their rating adjusted down. The newly adjusted rating becomes your rating for next day’s race. This will result in tighter racing as the week progresses with more opportunities for all teams to experience the thrill of a podium position.
    Equalizing Factor:
    Calculated as the ratio of each finisher’s corrected time to the 4th place boat corrected time to a minimum and maximum amount of 0.950 to 1.050, inclusive.
    Performance Reward Factor:
    This does not vary for the duration of the regatta.
    1st = .990, 2nd = .994, 3rd = .997, 4th = 1.000, 5th = 1.003, 6th = 1.006, 7th = 1.010, 8th = 1.011, 9th = 1.012,
    10th = 1.013, 11th = 1.014, 12th and below = 1.015
    If the boat has no finish time (DNC, DNS, DNF, etc), then
    New Rating = Old Rating.
    For the top three finishers, the New Rating will not be less than the Old Rating.
    For finishers below fourth place, the New Rating will not be more than the Old Rating.
  • All class participants must accept the Variable Simplified CSA Handicap procedures.
  • The CSA Simplified Rating or the Variable Simplified CSA Handicap procedures are not subject to competitor protest.
  • There will be one race per day for the Class with no throw-outs.
  • Courses will be 2-3 hours long with less emphasis on windward/leeward performance in as much as that is possible within our geographic and mark placement limitations.
  • Club Class entries will not be eligible for The Royal Southern Yacht Club Challenge.
  • This list of rules is NOT final. Please check back for possible updates.

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