Irish sailor Adrian Lee and his international team aboard the Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners matched their star performance from last year by – once again – winning the Racing Division of this opening race in the Antigua Ocean Series, beating Peter Morris’ Frers 43 Jaguar by less than four minutes on corrected time.
A 0900 start from Des Haies, Guadeloupe this morning created plenty of interest from spectators as the fleet made its way across the line in a steady 7-10kt breeze. Roman Paske’s 90ft catamaran R-Six Team (Gemini) was first to nose ahead and cross the finish line off English Harbour but Team Lee Overlay Partners stole the show with their race-winning performance.
The winds were far from taxing which meant optimum boatspeed obtained by smart crew-weight, distribution was an important factor in this offshore race to Antigua. Flavio Zamboni – bowman – talking about the conditions said: “It was unusual in the fact we were on starboard tack the whole way across. The wind was just north of east and we had the Number 1 up all the way and didn’t tack once.”
Scott Wilson – boat captain – who shared the helm with the owner Adrian Lee today added: “We had a great race and winning is obviously a good start to the Ocean Series. We are looking forward to the rest of the series because there are some good boats here including Peter Harrison’s 115ft Sojana.”
In the Cruising division it was Steve Schmidt’s Santa Cruz 70 – Hotel California – that won the class, which puts her in a good position for a top result in the overall Antigua Ocean Series.
