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Falmouth – Falmouth Rum Race 2012 – The Pendennis & Antigua Yacht Club Trans-Atlantic Fun Sailing Regatta

May 10, 2010

Pendennis and Antigua Yacht Club partner to organise a Trans-Atlantic fun regatta to feed in to the 2012 Olympic superyacht programme in the UK.

Falmouth – Falmouth Rum Race

Following dockside chat during the St Barth’s Bucket, a number of yachts and crew have expressed interest in a race to the UK which follows a similar format to the “Route de Rosé” – a yacht race to encourage yachts to St Barthelemy. Traditionally, the race started in St Tropez at the end of the Mediterranean season in mid October, and finished in St Barth’s at the start of the Caribbean season on the first Saturday of December. All yachts were required to load several cases of Rosé aboard, with the condition that one case had to be landed on the dock in St Barth’s for the grand celebrations at the end of the race. The winner was decided by the shortest accumulative time taken only when on course to St Barth’s – allowing yachts to start at different times, or stop off on the way.

The Falmouth – Falmouth Rum Race will run in the opposite direction to the traditional Route de Rosé – the event will begin at the Antigua Yacht Club in Falmouth Harbour as a fleet start, following Antigua classics with the option for yachts to start earlier if they prefer, with a possible stop in the Azores on route. The entry fee will be $500 and a case of rum to be consumed at the finish in Falmouth UK at the dockside party.

Kenny Coombs of Antigua Yacht Club commented, “We are very pleased to be involved in this exciting new event on the yachting calendar. The Falmouth – Falmouth link will no doubt attract a great number of yachts to link up with a number of fantastic UK-based regattas in 2012.”

Shortly after the finish there will be two big events in Falmouth UK, namely the J-Class regatta and Pendennis Cup. Yachts will then either continue east to participate in the many events on the Olympic calendar or head down to the Mediterranean for the summer season.

Toby Allies of Pendennis commented, “Falmouth has a long history of yacht racing and hosting sailing events and the 2012 “Rum Race” will provide a fantastic start to the 2012 yachting programme in the UK.”

The finish will be organised by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club and interested yachts should contact Pendennis on +44 (0)1326 211344.

CharterWorld organises sailing superyacht charters worldwide so contact us to find out more about organising a luxury yacht charter for a sailing regatta.

NZ Marine Cup

March 09, 2010

On the 4th of March 2010 the first NZ Marine Cup was held. The race began at New Zealand’s Auckland Harbour, with scenic Kawau Island as their destination which lies in the Hauraki Gulf, (40 km  north of Auckland), and 1.4km off the North Auckland shore.

The race included a small fleet of superyachts that set sail late in the morning on Thursday 4 March for the first NZ Marine Cup, hosted by the New Zealand Marine Export Group (NZ Marine). This one-off race saw the beautifully-crafted superyachts SY Drumbeat, SY Shenandoah and SY Celandine as the official entries for the Kiwi Kawau Challenge.

The beautiful, classic three-masted schooner Shenandoah was built in 1902. She is 54m (177 ft) in length with a steel-hull and a traditional timber superstructure.

Sailing yacht Drumbeat is a 174 ft (53 m) Dubois-designed, Alloy Yachts-built ketch that is back in New Zealand having scheduled maintenance work done according to Captain Michel Personnic.

Sailing yacht Celandine is a 95 ft (29m) cruising yacht that is visiting New Zealand while on a round-the-world cruise following a westerly direction. Sailing yacht Celandine arrived in New Zealand in October and has been undergoing some repairs and maintenance after more than a year at sea covering 17,000 nautical miles.

The course provided perfect sailing for the race with clear sunny skies and a good wind blowing. All three yachts had different start times allocated by race director Hal Wagstaff of the Royal New Zealand yacht Squadron. With the difference is start times, Sailing yacht drumbeat was across the finish lines first, with Sailing yachts Celandine and Shenandoah following. With the race completed entrants and spectators headed the Kawau for the prize giving and celebrated with a kiwi BBQ under a marquee setting pitched beside the historic landmark Mansion House.

With the times reconciled, the results were announced as follows:

1st place: Sailing yacht Celandine

2nd place: Sailing yacht Shenandoah

3rd place: Sailing yacht Drumbeat

The race was a great success that aimed to help profile New Zealand and Auckland as fantastic places for super yachts and their passengers to visit.