Nelson Pursuit Race in Antigua - Foils, Fifes and Cannons
by Louay Habib 2 Jan 2017 07:27 GMT
31 December 2016
Mariella during the Nelson Pursuit Race © Louay Habib
The magical island of Antigua has an epic season of sailing ahead and race reporter Louay Habib was lucky enough to end 2016 with a race on Carlo Falcone's magnificent ketch Mariella.
The Nelson Pursuit Race is held in Antigua on December 31st and this year 20 or so yachts took part. It is a fun day on the water, with a 20 mile course on the stunning southwest coast of Antigua. The 1936 41ft sloop Seefalke II had a cannon mounted on the transom and fired at every yacht as they passed!
The slowest boat goes first followed by the the progressively faster yachts. Last to go was Falcon the G4 offshore foiling catamaran, skippered by Shannon Falcone. It was hardly a fair fight, especially since Shannon poached multihull record breaker, Brian Thompson, from Mariella, at the last minute!
America's Cup winner, and Volvo Ocean Racer Shannon Falcone, has designs on building a class of boats to race. The G4 catamaran is a real rocket ship. Capable of foiling in 17 knots of wind speed and once airborne can deliver an adrenalin pumping 35 knots of boat speed. 40Ft long the all up weight is just shy of 4000kg and it has an interior including 4-6 bunks.
Mariella was beautifully built in 1938 at William Fife and is one of the few boats built at the famous Scottish yard that was not designed by one of the Fife family. Mariella's fine lines come from the drawing board of Alfred Milne, a close friend of the Fife family. Carlo Falcone fell in love with Mariella in 1993 and has been racing her ever since. However, in 2014 Mariella was badly damaged by Hurricane Gonzalo. She was shipped to Genoa for extensive repairs and the Nelson's Pursuit Race was the first contest since her loving restoration.
Happy New Year from Antigua!