An extremely busy season for J24 sailors starts tomorrow with the Taylors Cycle Centre regatta in Carlisle Bay, organized by the J24 Club of Barbados.
This ocean-racing event is the first in the 2013 Jaguar/Land Rover Championship series which will see the island’s top yachtsmen match vessels and skills in six regattas for the right to be called national champions.
Fully Covered, sponsored by CGI and skippered by Bruce Bailey, were winners of last year’s Taylors Cycle Centre regatta and will be defending the title.
“It is always tough, but we will be seeking a good start to the season. We expect the racing to be of a high standard and we are prepared to bring our best game,” said Bailey.
Other members of the Fully Covered crew are Brin Palmer, Stephen Tryhane, Chris Hoad and Danny Parravicino.
Among the major contenders looking to upstage Fully Covered will be 2012 national champions Impulse, HawkEye, ISIS, FadeAway, Die Hard and Esperanza, Glory Daze, Summtins Happenin, UnderCover and Shakin.
Captain Robert Povey and members of the HawkEye crew will also use the regatta as part of their warm-up for national duty at month end when they will represent Barbados in the 2013 Nations Cup, also being staged in Carlisle Bay.
This is the second year of the staging of the Jaguar/Land Rover series and president of the J24 Club of Barbados, Greg Webster said it was critical to the continued development of sailing and competitive racing.
“Support funding and events of this nature allow the J24 Club to promote Barbados as an ocean-racing destination and also help to train and develop our youth sailors to represent Barbados in international competition,” he said. (PR)
