The 2011 First Citizens Investments Services J24 International Open Regatta came to an exciting end on Sunday with many changes in the fleet results. The leaders from Saturday came under serious threat from strong challenges of a few teams out to create an elusive yet very possible upset as is known to happen in One-design racing.

Saturday’s racing saw the fleet battle with a variety of wind conditions in Carlisle Bay over a Windward/Leeward course and from the outset it was clear that Banks Esperanza sailed by Ian Mayers and his team came out for business. They had a fantastic day to finish at the top of the standings by winning three out of the four races on day one.  The rest of the fleet could only watch their outstanding performance unfold as they sailed almost flawlessly throughout the day. Second place on day one went to BNB Impulse skippered by Neil Burke who sailed consistently throughout the day to record mostly top- end finishes which included a huge win in Race #3. In third position after day one was the ever popular Xpelair Fadeaway skippered by Charlie Gloumeau who also sailed extremely well to achieve some consistent scores in a very talented fleet made up of local sailors and teams from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Sunday’s racing took place on the South Coast just off Accra and Hastings which provided excellent viewing for spectators on shore. The wind and sea conditions were pretty good with an average of about 12 to 15 knots. The Race committee did a nice job of setting the courses and getting thought the races without any major delays.

Fully-Covered sailed by Bruce Bailey and his team came out blazing to record two first place finishes, leaving the leaders wondering what went wrong and then also won the final race of the day to move into contention for the overall title.

However, when the final results came in it was Banks Esperanza who held on to their overnight lead to finish ahead of Fully-Covered by one point. Third place went to Xpelair Fadeaway who was also able to hold on to their overnight position and finish well clear of the fourth place team Die Hard sailed by Robbie Yearwood and his team from Grenada sponsored by Island Water World.

Jabulani sailed by Marc (Roots) DeVerteuil and his team from Trinidad which included the Rostant brothers Adam and David, sailed well and consistent but finished in fifth position. Having won this event in 2009, they have promised to be back next year to reclaim the top spot. 

Special mention and thanks to all who helped to make this year’s regatta a success. Thanks to all of the sponsors, the BYC, the Race Committee, Mr. Paul Johnson, the competitors and visitors from overseas and of course the local sailors.