Antigua Sailing Week has had a rough time over the last couple of years. The popular event that draws participants from around the world was hit harder than most by the global financial crisis, but organisers have a plan to change the format slightly to keep the regatta appealing to its target market.

Like many sailing events, that target market is sailors, and with a strong charter element, Antigua Sailing Week can afford to concentrate on those taking part and not have to worry too much about spectators.

The 44th Antigua Sailing Week will include some changes. A newly formed Regatta Organising Committee (ROC) will be responsible solely for racing and race organisation and they have looked at formats used at different regattas around the world to finalise a new racing programme. These include varying course lengths to suit the large variety of yachts that enter the Regatta each year.

Kathy Lammers, Chairman of the ROC commented:

“The new Regatta Organising Committee is very aware of how important it is to provide competitive, exciting and fair racing with excellent courses and management. Times are changing and so are the expectations of sailors for world-class sailing events. We have therefore had extensive consultations in recent weeks with past participants of Antigua Sailing Week which have contributed significantly to our event planning for Sailing Week 2011. We think the sailors will be very pleased come April with the many changes we have planned for the Regatta.”

The Ocean Series will also have some changes on offer for 2011. The Guadeloupe Race will remain as a feeder race to Antigua Sailing Week but will not be part of the Ocean Series. The Redonda Race will not be returning but the Series will see the addition of courses suitable for the ocean going and high performance yachts that are expected to participate in the event.

The main focus for 2011 is on providing a variety of race courses suitable for all competitors whilst maintaining a high standard of race management. New in the 2011 Notice of Race is provision for entry using CSA and/or IRC rating systems.

Efforts are also being concentrated on ensuring that there is a good fleet of cruising and charter boats and, subject to demand, Antigua Sailing Week may lay on courses and events for the IMOCA 60s and Class 40s that will be in the Caribbean following the finish of the Route de Rhum earlier in the season in neighbouring Guadeloupe.

The new Chairman of Sailing Week, Ian Fraser, commented,

“Feedback has been enormous and positive, and we are gratified by the goodwill that exists for Antigua Sailing Week and the desire of yachtsmen worldwide to come to Antigua to enjoy all that we have to offer. What is clear is that the racing has to be challenging but also that Antigua Sailing Week is about having fun both on and off the water.”

More Antigua Sailing Week News…

Antigua Sailing Week has been having a hard time in recent years. Hit hard by loss of major sponsors and the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, the event is now a victim of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. The 43rd edition of Antigua Sailing Week, was to take place from 24-30 April, but organisers have had to postpone the start of racing due to many competitors being stuck in Europe due to the closure of airspace.

A statement on the official website says:

“With many of our participants stranded in Europe due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, we have had to postpone the first day of racing which had been scheduled for Saturday, 24 April. It is hoped to reschedule these races later in the week. The race for Sunday, 25 April will go ahead as scheduled.”

Antigua Sailing Week draws an international entry list, with yachts like such as Niklas Zennstrom’s 72-footer Ran, Ron O’Hanley’s Farr/Cookson 50 Privateer, Tom Hill’s custom Reichel/Pugh 75 Titan 15, and Austin Fragomen’s JV TP52 Interlodge scheduled to compete in the event.

After the sudden loss of major sponsor Stanford Bank, the event was run in a cut-down form in 2009. Sponsors for the 2010 edition include Leinelder, a Munich-based  jewellery company.

www.sailingweek.com

It you haven’t got the message yet, the web and digital technology will change the way sailing is delivered to its audiences forever. Traditional media will have to work very hard to keep people interested in their generic products that try to appease everyone while (almost) anyone with a video camera and a microphone can deliver HD footage around the world.

This video from just a couple of days ago, while not as polished as some network packages, is nice activation for the sponsor of the inaugural Corum Round Redonda Race at Antigua Race Week. With some carefully positioned shots of the brand and a product still at the end – it shows how giving away ‘free’ media can work.

In the last couple of days, the video has been viewed 297 times. Keep in mind that YouTube only counts a view if the video has been watched in its entirety.

[youtube width="560" height="340"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WEyypQUPWg[/youtube]

Antigua is having a rough time at the moment. As if the murder last month of yacht skipper Drew Gollan was not enough, the famous Antigua Sailing Week looks set to lose it’s title sponsor. Sir Allen Stanford, has been charged with an alleged $8 billion dollar fraud by America’s SEC.

America’s Securities and Exchange Commission says that the Texan billionaire financier had orchestrated an alleged “fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme”.

It is believed that Stanford’s support of Antigua Sailing Week was in the region of $US100,000 and US$150,000. Which only a couple of months to go, it will be difficult to find a sponsor who would take the risk of association with the Stanford scandal.

Sponsorship has allowed the regatta to become more professional and commercial. Like Cowes Week in the UK, the event can continue to be held without title sponsorship, but momentum that had been built by having a little extra money will be lost.

The Stanford Antigua Sailing Week continues to attract top racing boats from around the world to compete for the Lord Nelson’s Trophy. Following on from a successful 2008 edition, a new Race Committee was appointed to review the event and chart the way forward – a new format for 2009.

The 2009 edition will sail off a day earlier for the racing and cruising fleets on Saturday 25 April rather than the traditional Sunday start. There will then follow full five days of racing to culminate on Thursday 30 April. The bareboat fleet will start their regatta on Sunday finishing on Friday, and both divisions will race six days rather than the previous five.

The regatta for the racing boats will comprise a challenging combination of short inshore and longer offshore races, and the traditional Round the Island Race for the Yachting World Trophy will now be completed in one day rather than the traditional two. Redonda, an island dependency of Antigua and Barbuda situated 40 miles offshore, will see racing boats encircling its rocky coast line once again, as the ‘Round Redonda’ Race is reintroduced after many years.

With three distance races – the prologue ‘Guadeloupe to Antigua’ Race, the ‘Round the Island’ Race, and the ‘Round Redonda’ Race – the organisers will be creating a regatta within the regatta with the ‘Antigua Ocean Series’. Special prizes and records will be established for each of these three races and an overall prize. Larger yachts not wanting to compete in the shorter inshore races will be allowed to enter the Ocean Series and compete for these prestigious trophies. Antigua is throwing out a challenge to the world’s top maxis to be the first to establish records for these two new races.

Both racing Division A and Cruising/bareboats Division B will race on new inshore courses around the southern and western coastlines of Antigua. The island’s constant tradewinds guarantee some of the best sailing conditions in the world.

Stanford Antigua Sailing Week will be held 25 April – 2 May 2009.

For further information visit www.sailingweek.com.