Hawkeye defied tricky winds, a challenging course and determined rivals to win the 2013 Lucky HorseShoe Regatta in Carlisle Bay on Sunday.
Robert Povey and the Williams Industries Hawkeye crew slammed the opposition in two days of ocean racing, winning four of five races to maintain their front-running position in the tussle for the 2013 Jaguar/Land Rover J24 National Championship.
After a clean sweep on Saturday, HawkEye were upstaged in the fifth and final race on Sunday as Banks Esperanza belatedly made their presence felt.
Last year’s champions Impulse, skippered by Neil Burke, were second in the regatta as they posted two second places and two third places.
Third was Greg Webster’s ISIS Racing and fourth, Banks Esperanza. Fully Covered finished fifth.
“Our crew sailed extremely well and everything came together for us. It is a special feeling to win against quality opposition,” said Povey.
Following light winds on the first day, on Saturday, stronger but shifty winds prevailed on Sunday, forcing the 11 crews to rethink their strategies and making the event even more challenging.
Once the champions were determined on the high seas, HawkEye later took the winner’s trophy during a presentation ceremony at the Yacht Club, where Paul Johnson, a sailor and owner of sponsors Lucky HorseShoe, said he was happy to support the event and yachting.
President of the J24-Club of Barbados, Greg Webster, praised the sponsors and organizing committee for staging another competitive event and congratulated the sailors for making it exciting.
“The regatta produced two days of good competition and there was only one protest lodged. That shows that the sailors maintained an honourable competitive spirit in a challenging event by completing their penalties on the water,” said Webster.
After four of six regattas in the 2013 Jaguar/ Land Rover series, HawkEye lead the race for the national championship with four points, and are followed by Fully Covered and Impulse, who share second place on seven points. Fourth are Esperanza (eight points), with ISIS fifth on 16 points.
HawkEye won the season opening Taylors Cycle Centre Regatta, while Esperanza won the CGI Regatta and Fully Covered took the three-day Mount Gay Regatta in mid-May.
The two remaining events in the Jaguar/Land Rover national series are the First Citizens J24 International Open (June 22 and 23) and the Harris Paints Regatta (July 6 and 7).(BB)
