9th Antigua Sailing Day Regatta at St Edmundsbury Sailing & Canoeing Association - Preview
by Mike Steele 7 May 2022 13:05 BST
12 June 2022
Steel band at the SESCA Antigua Sailing Day Regatta © Mike Steele
As Antigua Sailing Week is in full swing, members of the St Edmundsbury Sailing and Canoeing
Association are looking forward to their own 'Antigua Sailing Day Regatta', which will be held on
Sunday, 12th June at Lackford Lake in Suffolk.
The Regatta was introduced into SESCA's racing programme, eight years ago, as a fun event to
celebrate and coincide with Sailing Week. To the club's amazement, reports of the Regatta came to
the attention of the Antigua Sailing Week Race Committee and the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism
Authority via a Google news alert. The Tourism Authority were so impressed with the initiative that
they kindly offered to come on-board as event sponsors.
With the authority's generous support, the Regatta has become the highlight of SESCA's sailing
calendar. After a couple of years of particularly chilly weather, the event was moved from April to
June, which, although not up to Antiguan standards, has provided rather more pleasant sailing
conditions.
This year, the club is hoping to break its record of 43 entries. The Regatta will feature handicap
racing for both adult and junior divisions, with additional prizes for the club's Sea Cadets and WASH
Sailability members. Any class of non trapeze dinghy up to 4.5m is eligible. There will be two races
scheduled before lunch and one in the afternoon for each division.
The Club is delighted that the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority will once again be sponsoring
the event and providing a live steel band for lunch time entertainment, in addition to race prizes of a
suitably Caribbean nature.
Mike Steele from SESCA says 'Although we would love to be out racing in Antigua, our Antigua
Sailing Day Regatta has provided a lot of fun and inspired many of our members to start racing. The
club feels very privileged to be associated with such a prestigious sailing event.'
Spectators are welcome but no dogs are permitted on site as the club is in a nature reserve.
Further details at www.westsuffolksailing.org.uk/Antigua-Regatta