Anguilla’s racing boats.
ANGUILLA--The island’s national and favourite sport of boat racing starts a week of races on Sunday, August 5, with the warm-up Heineken race, and closes the following Sunday with the Champion of Champions race.
This year 10 A-Class boats and 10 B-Class boats have registered to compete. The A-Class boats are UFO, 4G Eagle, Sonic, Satellite, Real Deal, De Tree, Speed and Comfort, Bluebird, Wizard and Light and Peace. More may be ready by Sunday and will be included.
August Monday boat races will start and finish at Sandy Ground. They are being sponsored by Captain Morgan rum. On Tuesday the A-Class boats will race from Sandy Ground and finish at Island Harbour with the community there sponsoring the race.
On Wednesday the race will start at Sandy Ground but will finish this year at Blowing Point – this is a tradition that was discontinued some years ago but has been revived this year. It will give the Blowing Point community an opportunity to celebrate and provide entertainment at the end of the race. There will be the Mussington Brothers Band and the Musical Brothers to provide entertainment and lots of food and drinks on sale. It is being sponsored by Minister for the district, Curtis Richardson, the Blowing Point Community and the Anguilla Air and Seaport Authority.
The Thursday action will be at Meads Bay and will include the A- and B-Class boats. There will be music, food and much action on the beach. Sponsorship is by Tropical Distributors, the Anguilla Tourist Board and telecommunications company FLOW.
The Champion of Champions race on Sunday, August 12, brings the Summer Festival to a close. The races start and finish at Sandy Ground and Social Security is the sponsor. The government of Anguilla has donated EC $130,000 to the boat racing committee to be distributed as needed.
Prizes for the races start at US $1500 for the winner of the A-Class boats and US $1200 for the B-Class. The first five places each receive a monetary prize decreasing by US $100 for each position. The first five from each race are also eligible for the Champions race on Sunday.
