And with three days of racing now completed, the cream is rising to the crop as the leaders in many divisions are beginning to separate themselves from the field. In what has to be considered a major surprise, in the second of two windward/leeward contests off Willoughby Bay for the Division A racing fleet, the Cookson 50 Chieftain - sailed by an Irish crew skippered by Gerard O'Rourke - corrected out to first place in the Racing I class ahead of the Volvo 70 ABN AMRO ONE, handing the round-the-world race winner its first setback in what's believed to have been an undefeated spring of racing in the Caribbean. ABN AMRO ONE still tops the leader board in the class, but Chieftain is making noise with a string of outstanding performances.
Chieftain's victory, however, was but one of several memorable events in a wild day of racing in winds that topped off in the mid-20-knot-range and tested the skills and abilities of every Sailing Week crew, as well as the members of ABSAR, the Antigua and Barbuda Search and Rescue Service. ABSAR's first response call was to aid the dismasted 44-footer Caccia Alla
Volpe, which lost its spar in a windy beat in the first of the Willoughby Bay races. As ABSAR was rushing to Caccia's aid, they learned that there was a man overboard near the first windward mark on the Division A course. "As we were going toward Caccia we saw the sailors on (the Beneteau 40.7 First Away) yelling and pointing," said Jonathan Cornelius, a longtime
member of the dedicated ABSAR team. "We spotted their man-overboard drogue and about 100 yards away we picked up the guy who'd gone over the side. He was spitting and sputtering a bit, but otherwise he was fine." Tomorrow, with three days of racing down and two to go, the fleet will enjoy the traditional Lay Day for Sanford Antigua Sailing Week with aspecial 40th Birthday Party and celebration at Shirley Heights.
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Falmouth Harbour, Antigua: Under the bluest of blue skies and with the easterly trade winds established early and often, the 16 classes of yachts in Sanford Antigua Sailing Week enjoyed classic Caribbean conditions today during the third day of competition in the 40th running of this annual festival of sailboat racing.
