Above and below: Classic yachts racing the week before Antigua Race Week.

Hello all you sports fans out in webland. Beowulf has competed in her first “official” race. After deciding to forgo Antigua Race Week we thought the Guadeloupe to Antigua venue might fit us better – straight line reaching, modest fleet size, and moderate navigational hazards.

The Guadaloupe-Antigua course is designed as a “feeder” from the S. Caribbean to Antigua for race week. Over the years many racing maxi yachts and other mega-sailing vessels have done the trip. The promise of power reaching is a strong draw – with many boats sailing over from Antigua the day before – which is what Beowulf did.

The elapsed time record in the past has been held by Adella (a 150-or-so-foot schooner), Sleighride (a water-ballasted ULDB day sailer), and last year by Maricha 111, a 145-foot all-carbon-fiber high-performance mega-yacht (the current transatlantic record holder).

The race starts off the town of Dehais on the Northwest corner of Guadeloupe. Dehais is a charming spot, very provincial looking, with lots of small shops for the local population and a relatively small tourist presence. It would be a fun place to just hang out for a week.

The skipper’s meeting was due to start at 1700, but in true Gallic/island fashion got underway at 1830. Entries were filled out, instructions were given for the 0800 start, and the competitors were checking out the opposition as a few local beers were consumed.

For Beowulf, it looked like the real competition would be from a Santa Cruz 70; possibly a W-60 ( a 70+ footer which looks like a traditional boat but with a modern underbody and huge carbon rig) or a cool-looking French BOC-type ketch – almost a mini Beowulf.

We’d been watching the weather all week, hoping for the wind to back to the SE and blow at least 25. If that happened we’d have a shot at shredding Maricha’s record of three hours and two minutes. The course is 41.5 miles in length, so we’d need to average just 14 knots – no big deal if the wind is on the quarter.

We had son-in-law Todd Beveridge with us to help sail Beowulf, and Todd and I were up early, getting the mizzen genoa ready in case the wind allowed its use. We had the hook up by 0700 and headed out to the starting area – I wanted to watch the wind shifts and see if there was a pattern.

The race starts in the lee of the island. There is usually a mile or two of puffy, unsettled weather before you reach the steady trade winds. Negotiating this area – not getting caught in a flat spot, while the other boats sailed away, would be key to a good result.

With main and mizzen we sailed back and forth amongst the other yachts, awaiting the committee boat. It was apparent there would be at least a moderate breeze – but the conditions for a record run did not look promising.

By 0825 there was no committee boat in sight, so a radio chat ensued and it was decided that the Santa Cruz 70, Hotel California, would drop their sails, give us all a start, and then take up the chase 5 minutes later.

Everyone used GPS time for a starting sequence, while Steve on Hotel California called off the time.

We lined up Beowulf on a close reach, and then with 30 seconds to go unrolled the jib and accelerated to full speed within a few seconds of crossing the line. We had clear air, with the W60 to weather of us.

It was a close race for the first half mile – the breeze was on the beam at about ten knots – and we were gradually pulling away from the big sloop. Then we hit the trades – 17-19 knots of wind, still on the beam, and Beowulf began to hit a steady 13 to 14 knots. In short order the fleet was falling behind and within a half an hour it was apparent we were in a race with the clock rather than the other boats.

We can carry our mizzen genoa – which at 820 square feet is bigger than the working jib – at 45 degrees apparent wind angle, but in this much breeze it is a lot of bother that close, so we continued with just working canvas. At the end of the first hour there were 28.8 miles to the finish line, and only two hours left to do it in.

With the breeze in the teens, and refusing to go far enough aft, we didn’t think we’d do more than finish first. As the two large competitors both owed us time on handicap, we thought we might be OK in this regard.

Since we’d removed the sailing awnings for the race, Linda stayed in the pilot house, keeping out of the sun. She was calling off the true wind direction and speed every minute so we could monitor any trends that might affect our course and our average course relative to the finish line. Todd was on the helm, while I handled sail trim and made the various adjustments.

A direct course to English Harbor had us sailing at an angle too close to the wind to break the record. So, we decided to sag off to leeward and accelerate in the puffs, betting that the breeze might free as we approached Antigua, allowing us to come back up on course.

By the end of the second hour we had 14.8 miles to go, with just an hour in which to cover the distance. It was apparent that we were going to miss unless something changed.

The potential to go a knot or so faster lay furled between the coamings – our mizzen genoa.

Getting it set required running off for a minute, and then we found that the sheets were not properly led, so some hasty re-rigging was called for. When we finally were squared away, heading back on course, it was hard to see where we’d gain enough to make back the losses due to the poor set. But Beowulf picked up her pace a bit and each time we checked on the time left vs. distance to go, the record looked barely within reach – if everything went perfectly.

The finish line is set between a flag on the hill and an orange inflatable buoy, around which you are supposed to jibe, before hitting the island. If we hadn’t known that Maricha and other mega yachts had done this we’d have been much more cautious. Closing with a lee shore, flying along (now at a steady 16 knots) is not our idea of conservative sailing!

We were able to pick out the flag on land from two miles offshore, but the buoy was still illusive. With only eight minutes to go it appeared too close to call on the record and considering what needed to be done in order to jibe and avoid the beach; the mizzen genoa needed to be dropped and stowed so it was clear of the main traveler, main and mizzen running backstays had to be released and stowed forward, and then the three working sails needed to be dealt with as we rounded the mark – we just couldn’t bring ourselves to finish the race flying that huge mizzen genoa – with an immediate jibe in the offing. So while I worked the roller furler Todd went forward to wrestle the sail under control and clear of the traveler.

It was at this point we picked out the leeward end of the finish line – well below our position. This meant running off at a broad reaching angle, well below optimum speed. We crossed the line to the sound of a cannon and cheers from the race committee. However, I was in a deep funk. If we’d flown the mizzen genoa from the start, and come in at the correct angle to the finish, we’d have been quite a bit quicker.

You can imagine our surprise then when the race committee hailed us on the radio. “Congratulations, Beowulf. You’ve finished in three hours and fifty-seven seconds. A new course record."

Elapsed Times BEOWULF 3hrs 0min 57 seconds (mom and pop cruiser) HOTEL CALIFORNIA TOO 3hrs 42min 44 seconds (Santa Cruz 70)

MARION 3hrs 44min 08 seconds (BOC 50) WHITE WINGS 3hrs 44 min 36 seconds (76′ high performance “traditional” sloop)