SCREAMS and cheers from the various participants must have been heard in the distance over the two days of competition as Sy Cricket, Die Hard and Digilife captured some of the top spots at the awards ceremony following a series of races held in the 2017 Saint Lucia Mango Bowl Regatta which took place in Rodney Bay.
It was a delight to watch participants from Martinique, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada compete in stiff and fierce competition, including Saint Lucia’s representatives Fredrick Sweeny (Attitude), Simon Handley (Gaya), Nic Forsberg (Jabal), James Ward (Blue) and Ben Thompson (Papgayo).
The island’s premier competitive sailing event is now into its sixth year and organisers at the Saint Lucia Yacht Club are delighted with the response from participants, sponsors, spectators and media who supported the regatta and made it a resounding success. Meet Director Lily Bergasse was also pleased with the outcome this time around, while Commodore Gene Lawrence thanked all the visiting sailors who participated in making the regatta a success.
On Saturday, the conditions were perfect for sailing with Mother Nature at its best, while on Sunday it was a little blustery with rain and strong winds, which had two cameramen abandoning their dinghy to seek shelter on the Sea Titan from Dive Centre which had members of the media and a number of invited guests on board.
Racing Officer Anthony Bergasse kept everything running smoothly, and committee boat, “Breeze Away”, was home for a team of scorers led by Sue Dyson, spotters, flag raisers and photographers as well as start and finish line for the racing.
Saint Lucian boats placed third in the racing class, third in the cruising class, second and third in the J24 class and third in the J24 surprise/combine class.
Digilife crew from Martinique continued to be a force to be reckoned with in this event as they went on to top the Surprise class ahead of compatriots La Morrigane skippered by Jean Francois Terrien (Martinique), third Denebola-Didier — skippered by Delice Nouel (Martinique), they also went on to win the J24/ Surprised Combine class.
The final results in the following categories were as follows: RACING CLASS: 1st Persevere Diabolicum — skippered by Jean Michel Figueres (Martinique), 2nd Blue — skippered by James Ward (Saint Lucia), 3rd Gaya — skippered by Simon Handley (Saint Lucia).
CRUISING CLASS: 1st SY Cricket — skippered by Sandy Mair (Antigua and Barbuda), 2nd Tulaichean II skippered by Mike Bingley (Grenada), 3rd Papgayo skippered by (Ben Thompson) Saint Lucia.
J24 CLASS: 1st Die Hard — skippered by Robbie Yearwood (Grenada), 2nd Jabal — skippered by Nic Forsberg (Saint Lucia), 3rd Attitude — skippered by Fredric Sweeney (Saint Lucia).
SURPRISE: 1st DigiLife — skippered by Vianney Saintenoy (Martinique), 2nd La Morrigane – skippered by Jean Francois Terrien (Martinique), 3rd Denebola — Didier — skippered by Delice Nouel (Martinique).
J24/SURPRISE Combine Class: 1st DigiLife — skippered by Vianney Saintenoy (Martinique), 2nd Die Hard — skippered by Robbie Yearwood (Grenada), 3rd Jabal — skippered by Nic Forsberg (Saint Lucia).
