BNB Impulse takes 2011 Mount Gay Regatta top honours

The 2011 Mount Gay Rum Barbados Regatta came to an exciting end for the J24 Class on Sunday. The fresh and moderate breeze which prevailed over the first two days of the regatta, gave way to much lighter and more shifty winds on the last day which made the competition much more challenging. The leaders from day two, Williams Industries Hawkeye, where under pressure from BNB Impulse, Banks Esperanza and Budget Marine Saltfish, who were each only a few points adrift.

These boats battled all the way to the end in their effort to pull off a victory in one of the most popular regattas in the Caribbean. When the final curtain came down, it was Impulse skippered by Neil Burke, who sailed the last day extremely well and with relative consistency to overtake Hawkeye who then fell from first to third place due to some remarkable tactical errors. Second place overall went to Saltfish who sailed the last day conservatively to achieve two third place scores to end up tied on points with Hawkeye, but gained the higher position due to their first place finish in Race 1. The regatta was a bit inconsistent for Saltfish who started the first day in the lead with a very outstanding first place finish only to fall to an overall fourth position after the second day.

The rest of the fleet fought tooth and nail for every position they could get and occasionally they played the role of “spoiler” for some of the leading boats in contention. They too had their own battles happening throughout the entire regatta.

One of the scarier moments for the event took place during Race 3 which saw the fleet take to the South Coast of the island, where Fully-Covered sailing on a port tack collided with Maximum on starboard and had to retire from the race due to considerable damage to the bow of their boat, which effectively cost them a better finish in the regatta.

This year the first four boats all finished within two or three points of each with one tie between the second and third placed boats. This only shows that there is good, close competition across the fleet, with no team in particular having a tremendous advantage over another.

Thanks again to the sponsors Mount Gay Rum, to the Barbados Sailing Association and to the Barbados Yacht Club for hosting a fantastic regatta.

See you in 2012…

***photo credits to the guys at Adrenalin Sun ***