Kickin’ It Old Style ~ Classic Boat Week Antigua

Our visit to Antigua to pick up our new North Sails coincided with Classic Yacht Week which meant we had the opportunity to watch old style sailing vessels. Classic week draws sail boats in a variety of sizes and all of these aged beauties reflect an era of pre-fiberglass boating.

These wooden boats have a lot of teak which makes them look beautiful, but I imagine the TLC required to keep it bright and shiny is tremendous. It was fun to walk the docks and imagine the history of these old timers.

It was even more fun to watch them race. The crew from Sail Pending; Kristie, Richard, Tyler and Kristie’s parents, joined us on LIB and we motored out to watch a day of classic racing. As the old boats were hoisting sails and jockeying for positions, we relaxed, shared stories, took pictures and had lunch. It was very fun to be right in the middle of the race as an observer and share the experience with Sail Pending.

Unfortunately, winds were very light so the boats didn’t have ideal condition but there was enough wind for them to raise sails and we enjoyed seeing them flying all the canvas they could hoist as they tried valiantly to compete with little wind.

Here is a bit of boat “eye candy” for those who love sailing and those who appreciate sailing from a different era.