IT WAS a hollow victory for Bunga-Bunga as the overall winner of the 35th annual Harris Paints Regatta, as last year’s title holder Esperanza was not available to defend its crown.
Charlie Gloumeau was the captain of Bunga-Bunga.
Last year saw Esperanza, Shangri La, and Loose the Cat, which competed in the J24 class, racer/cruiser and multihull classes, respectively. Esperanza, then captained by Ian Mayers, beat out seven other contenders to take the top spot away from Charlie Gloumeau’s Bunga-Bunga, which finished second while third place went to Grenadian entry Die Hard, captained by Dr Robbie Yearwood.
This time around, the Dinghy class saw 25-year-old James Austin with his “crew” of nine-year-old Dario Lawrence taking away the top prize for that category, and the man who invented the youth category for the regatta – Isaac Brown of LRN2Sail – himself placing second.
This year’s event was staged a month early because some of the organisers will be out of the island on business on the first weekend in July, when the regatta is normally held.
It is very likely that as a result the entries were fewer than for previous events. However, a number of tributes were made to competitors and Harris Paints staff who doubled as sailors.
Dr Robbie Yearwood from Grenada was the lone overseas entry with his Die Hard, while Dabian Elliott, who has been in quality control from 2007 and Alfred Hughes, a raw material selector for the last 27 years, were part of the crew on board founder Ralph Johnson’s Rapajam, which was second to Bunga-Bunga.
Perennial solo competitor Trevor Charles Hunte competed in the windsurfing category. He tried to engage far younger windsurfers, but, as always, he braved out the waves on his own. (IB)
