And the winner is……
By Captain Jim Ryan
Photos byTed Martin
When I won the Antigua Barbuda Hamptons Challenge last August, I really didn’t know what to expect. The prize was described as a trip to Antigua for the skipper plus a crew of six, along with a boat to race at Antigua Sailing Week. I had heard of Antigua Sailing Week 25 years ago and had always wanted to participate. Ultimately, the prize was all that Tourism Minister John McGinley said it would be, and more. Once I had chosen the six people who would go with me (which wasn’t easy!), we had a meeting at my house. I made sure we all wore the same shirts on the plane so that we looked like a team when we arrived at Antigua. As it turned out, that plan was perfect, because an official from Antigua recognized me and my team and took us to
One of the miracles of this trip was that, altogether, 11 of us went away onvacation for nine days, and we came home still liking each other!
a VIP room, where we could enjoy punch and snacks, and take some team photos, while the official took our passports and cleared us into the country. It was a great way to arrive! From there, a bus was waiting to take us to the beautiful Sugar Ridge hotel. My room had a great balcony with its own swimming pool. I was curious to see the boat that we were racing, so I contacted the driver Antigua provided for us and went to go look at the boat. It was a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 44, and the owners’ representative that would be sailing with us introduced himself. Disco was a smallish “Rasta”looking guy who knew everything about the boat and helped only as much as we wanted him to help. Within a day, half of my crew was
56
CAPTAIN’S SEASIDE GUIDE 2013
www.captainsguidemagazines.com