Summer Cloud: More Soul Than Speed

by Louay Habib 19 Apr 17:36 BST 15-20 April 2026

Long before motor boats and aircraft began making the Caribbean accessible to tourists, sail was the region's great connector. Across the islands, working sloops carried people, produce, livestock, building materials, mail and just about anything else that needed to get from one shore to another.

From the Bahamas to Trinidad, different islands developed their own versions of these tough, handsome craft, shaped by local conditions, local trade and local boatbuilding traditions. Among the most distinctive of them all is the Carriacou sloop, with deep roots in the tri island state of Grenada, comprising Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

At the 2026 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, that living tradition is very much alive. Five Caribbean sloops are racing in the Traditional Class, joined by a Falmouth working boat from Cornwall, a reminder that these practical, hard driven craft belong to a much wider seafaring story. Among them is Summer Cloud, helmed by Bryn Palmer, the wooden sloop is new to the Bajan but his affection for West Indies wooden boats is heartfelt, thoughtful and entirely infectious.

"When I really looked at it, buying some plastic boat that's being stamped out at the rate of five a month doesn't seem like a viable strategy," Palmer said, with a wry smile. "The depreciation curve on a new plastic boat, as I would like to call them, is pretty steep, whereas with something like Summer Cloud, it's more like allowing us the opportunity to keep a piece of history alive."

That idea, keeping a piece of history alive, sits at the heart of his relationship with the boat. Summer Cloud is not just an object to own, sail and maintain. To Palmer, she is part vessel, part inheritance, part responsibility. "I view Summer Cloud and all of the wooden boats almost like a piece of art versus a piece of plastic," he said. "If we can maintain them and pass them on to future generations, that does a lot to keep the spirit alive."

There is, in that thought, something deeply appropriate for Antigua Classics, where the best boats are never just admired. They are cared for, argued over, patched up, raced hard, and loved in public.

Palmer is a Bajan with sailing in the blood. His father crossed the Atlantic in a boat he built himself and taught him the fundamentals of life under sail. "My father was big into sailing, taught me everything I know," Palmer said. "To be able to get back on the circuit here in the Caribbean, and further that, also helps me further his legacy."

That gives Summer Cloud an emotional pull beyond its heritage. She is part of a wider thread, connecting generations, islands and traditions through the Caribbean.

One of the curiosities of Palmer's story is that, despite Barbados' proud maritime culture and the prominence of Barbados Sailing Week at the start of the Caribbean season, the island has virtually no traditional wooden sailing boats left. "One of the reasons we got into this is the fact that there are no sloops in Barbados," he explained. "There are no wooden sailing boats in Barbados to speak of at all." For Palmer, Summer Cloud is not just a personal choice. She is also a way of bringing something precious back into view.

And yet, for all the history and romance, Palmer is pleasingly unsentimental about what these boats actually are. Summer Cloud is not some fragile floating jewel, admired only from a respectful distance. She comes from a line of working craft built to carry loads, survive hard use and get on with the job.

"Lots of people say, 'Oh, you must love Summer Cloud, she's very fast,'" Palmer said. "I come from sailing fast boats. This is not a fast boat. This is a relatively comfortable boat with a lot of style added in."

That is perhaps one of the best descriptions of a Carriacou sloop you are likely to hear. Summer Cloud is not about carbon fibre bragging rights or eye watering performance numbers. She is about character. She is about movement. She is about the sort of sailing where the boat talks back.

Palmer also clearly relishes the fact that these sloops still carry echoes of their working past. "The wooden boats used to do a lot of trading within the Caribbean," he said. "We would take a few things with us after Classics. We're looking at maybe taking some charcoal back to Barbados. We brought a few flying fish up here from Barbados to do a Barbados national dish."

Only in the Caribbean could a conversation about traditional racing boats drift so naturally into steamed flying fish, breadfruit cou cou and hot sauce, and somehow make perfect sense. But that is part of what makes Summer Cloud, and boats like her, so appealing. They are not detached from life ashore. They are woven into it.

There is also an honesty in Palmer's plans for the boat. Summer Cloud, he says, was structurally in excellent condition when he took her on, thanks to the work of the previous owner. What partially attracted him was that "the interior was pretty much a blank canvas." The next stage is to make her a little more practical without losing her essential soul.

"We're going to be installing a propulsion package in her and some mod cons, necessities of the ocean, to make her a little bit more comfortable for cruising," he said. The long term vision is for Summer Cloud to occupy a distinctive niche in Barbados. "We're trying to fill a niche of people who actually want more of an experience of the sailing," he explained, rather than simply lounging aboard a catamaran "floating apartment block".

Again, there is that blend of wit and seriousness. Palmer is not interested in reducing Summer Cloud to a museum piece or a lifestyle prop. He wants her used, enjoyed and shared.

And that, perhaps, is the real magic of the Traditional Class at Antigua Classics. These boats are not relics. They are still doing what they were built to do: moving through Caribbean water under sail, carrying stories with them.

Palmer understands that he is only one chapter in Summer Cloud's long life. "I'm sure I won't own Summer Cloud for her whole life," he said. "She will outlive me, as long as we maintain her well. That's the objective."

It is a humble thought, and the right one. In the end, the best owners of old boats are not really owners at all. They are custodians, lucky enough to hold the tiller for a while.

With Summer Cloud, Bryn Palmer is doing exactly that, and doing it with warmth, humour and a clear sense of purpose. In Antigua, among the easy laughter, salt air and hard racing of the Traditional Class, that spirit feels right at home.