|
|
|
Reader Rant ANTIGUA: ONE OF THE TOP 5 REGATTAS IN THE WORLD? Well, on the basis of the 2006 regatta concluded last week the answer has to be a resounding "No way!". Indeed, Antigua struggles to make it into the top 5 regattas in the Caribbean. By way of background my crew and I are based in the Southern Caribbean and have done Antigua many times in past years, including class wins in both 2004 (Racing 4) and 2005 (Racing 3). This year we sailed in Racing 3 on my Melges 32 "Crash Test Dummies" (yes, one of the alleged Key West pussies). The last thing I want to do is put anyone off racing in the Caribbean, but the time has come to call a spade a spade as far as Antigua is concerned. The specific issues that messed up the regatta for many competitors this year were as follows. ** Boring point-to-point courses that produce tedious processions with no tactical options. ** Courses and mark positions set months before the regatta without the flexibility to change the position or orientation of the course when the wind is different from what the Race Committee's crystal ball predicted when they wrote the Sailing Instructions. In Division A (racing) this meant two races canceled on Monday for lack of wind although it was blowing 10-15 knots on the Division B course a couple of miles to the West. It also meant that the last two Division A races of the regatta were one-sided reaching and fetching contests. ** Errors and ambiguities in the Sailing Instructions. In Division A the description of a couple of prohibited areas has been causing confusion for years and yet the SI's are the same year after year. This year it caused a 3-day long protest when half the boats in Racing 3 and 4 went through one of these prohibited areas. In Division B there was an error in the course description for one race, and when the correction was posted it was put up at one end of the island where the majority of the fleet couldn't see it because they had moved to the other end of the island for the following day's start. Confusion reigned as most of the fleet did the wrong course. ** Moving the regatta from one part of the island to another on different days. If you don't have a mother ship this means you end up spending too much time driving around on poor roads with no signposts. These are all symptoms of a wider malaise. At the heart of this is the fact that the regatta is not run by sailors for sailors. It is run as a tourist promotion exercise with a large input from the Hotel Association. Participation is falling with about 180 boats this year compared with close to 250 a few years ago and the quality in depth of the Racing Division Fleet has fallen noticeably. The regatta organization is stuck in a rut and does to many things exactly the same as in past years regardless of whether this is appropriate. The challenge now for Antigua is to be open to constructive criticism (which is what this article is meant to be), recognize that racing has moved on and to reinvent itself. To my mind this needs to be done rapidly. I, for one, won't be going back under the current format. Tim Kimpton 05/11/06 |