From a race amongst friends to the sailing event of the year

By Alison Sly-Adams, President, Antigua Sailing Week

Emotions run high no matter who you are or seemingly where you are in the world whenever Antigua Sailing Week (ASW) is discussed. Big seas, cooling trade winds and competitive racing at its best! Legendary beach parties, long nights of Soca, reggae and rum, peppered with numerous rendezvous around the island. Making new-found friends and the opportunity to reunite with old ones creates the stuff legends are made of.

In the mid-sixties, when the potential of the charter industry started to emerge, an insightful bunch of friends decided a race to Guadeloupe and back again was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the season. Soon afterwards, the hotel association, of which many were members, decided that there was an opportunity to extend the short tourist season. Familiar names such as Howard Hulford, owner of Curtain Bluff Hotel, and Desmond Nicholson, along with Peter Deeth and Ed Sheerin, began an event, the long-term impact of which they could never have understood at the time.

The inaugural event actually took place in June and was more a festival of sailing, which included sports fishing, dinghy sailing and windsurfing. Participants slept on board and partied where their anchors dropped. Over the years, the end date was moved earlier in the year as tourism evolved and the international boats developed their seasonal migration pattern.

For Antigua, ASW, along with the Antigua Charter Yacht Show, heralded the emergence of an industry that continues to grow today and has spawned a huge number of events on the island and in the region as a whole. Indeed, regionally, all eyes were on us (and still are), with the BVI Spring Regatta starting in 1972 and the St Maarten Heineken Regatta in 1980, with most islands following suit. To this day, ASW is the anchor event of the regional calendar, and the islands work together on a Caribbean circuit giving each one its chance to shine.

For Antigua, ASW, along with the Antigua Charter Yacht Show, heralded the emergence of an industry that continues to grow today and has spawned a huge number of events on the island and in the region as a whole.

The industry is now a critical driver of the economy in Antigua & Barbuda. The obvious front end is the events, but the provision of marinas and marine services is really what creates value and employment – the marinas, riggers, sailmakers, engineers and myriad of other service providers that keep the boats shipshape.

Cut to 2023, and the drive of the sport to be inclusive continues to create the perfect conditions for youths from the National Sailing Academy and Antigua Yacht Club sailing programmes to have opportunities to race on visiting yachts and get their first glimpse into a career in yachting.

The core objectives of ASW remain the overall importance of the event, extending the season and creating significant economic impact to the islands. As an asset, it’s a marketer’s dream as one of the best-known brands in Antigua. For the sailors, it remains high on the bucket list of experiences they want to achieve in life, as well as the dream of many sailors to one day hold the Lord Nelson Trophy in their hands on stage in the UNESCO-designated Nelson’s Dockyard; certainly, the stuff legends and dreams are made of!

Photocred: Paul Wyeth - pwpictures.com