NONSUCH BAY, Antigua, April 13 2015 – The organisers of Antigua Sailing Week have announced that the Nonsuch Bay RS Elite Challenge will be returning to this year’s Lay Day events on Pigeon Beach on Wednesday, April 29.
The Challenge is a one-day invitational one-design racing event featuring 24-foot RS Elite sailboats and offering top-quality racing for eight highly qualified skippers and their teams.
Racing will take place in close proximity to Pigeon Beach inside Falmouth Harbour to provide maximum spectating opportunities from the beach as well as from the water.
Olympic medallist and America’s Cup winner Peter Holmberg was last year’s Challenge winner and he will be returning to Antigua again this year to defend his title.
“The Antigua Sailing Week organisers invited me to participate in the Nonsuch Bay RS Elite Challenge last year and I’m really pleased I accepted the invitation. They provided well organised racing close to Pigeon Beach which allowed us to really showcase our sport of sailing,” Holmberg said.
“Although we took the racing seriously, we had a lot of fun and it was a great way to spend Lay Day. I’ll definitely be back to defend my title this year.”
Other teams signed up to participate in the Challenge this year include Team Phaedo^3 which has been breaking records around the Caribbean in its MOD 70 since its arrival in Antigua in February this year.
There will be two all-women’s teams including Performance Yacht Charter with skipper Lucy Reynolds, and a KH+P yachtcharter team with Nicole Lameter at the helm.
The Kick ‘Em Jenny team from St. Maarten will be participating this year as will a team from At Last . . . with skipper Pietro Corbucci.
Rounding out the eight-team line up will be two teams that won a place to enter the Challenge at the Final of the Nonsuch Bay RS Elite Summer Series held last December. Those teams will be led by Marc Fitzgerald of Sojana and Martin Beck who owns an RS Elite and is keenly promoting growth of the RS Elite class in Antigua.
