(PR) – A yacht representing St Vincent was placed second in the inaugural 500-mile offshore Yacht race around the Windward Islands.
The Windward 500 is an offshore yacht race is organized by the Caribbean Offshore Racing Club (CORC) and sails a 500 mile non-stop course around St Vincent, St Lucia, Martinique, Barbados, and Grenada. Yachts, representing their countries start and finish at their home ports but follow the same course.
The start line or “gate” in St Vincent is off West Quay, Bequia, with all competitors having to pass through it. The route then heads to Rodney Bay, St Lucia, around Diamond Rock off Martinique, passing the Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados, and around Grenada and back to Bequia. All yachts are tracked by satellite for safety and to ensure they complete the course correctly.
The sole St Vincent entry was the yacht Sweet Janina from Blue Lagoon, skippered by Mark Wibberley (pictured with crew). The entry was sponsored by Medicinal a local company supplying medical cannabis to the pharmaceutical industry.
For Sweet Janina the race started with the other competitors on Monday 17th at 10 am and finished early Thursday 20th at 1:00 am, having completed a total distance of 506 nautical miles. In addition to 2nd place honours Sweet Janina also held the record for the fastest time between St Lucia and Martinique as well as Martinique to Barbados.
The winner was the yacht Whistler from Barbados skippered by Peter Lewis.
Skipper of Sweet Janina Mark Wibberley said “This is a great opportunity to establish SVG on the offshore sailing map. The Windward 500 will hopefully become an annual event with the potential to attract crews from all over the world”.
President of the SVG Sailing Association Jenny Trumble said “We have worked hard with the organisers of this race for over 6 months and I’m so happy that, despite recent challenges, we managed to field a competitive entry to represent St Vincent” she added, “None of this would have been possible without the approval and support of Tourism Minister Hon. Carlos James, the Maritime Administration and the SVG Coastguard”.
