Clarke’s Court Bay, Woburn was the place to be over the Thanksgiving weekend to see a great mix of competitive sailing. This year the annual Thanksgiving Regatta run from Island View Sports Bar & Island Breeze Restaurant had a Dinghy Regatta for young sailors in addition to the traditional work boat racing, plus for the first time, the finish of a Pursuit Race organised by the Grenada Yacht Club.

Thanks to sponsorship support and assistance with boat transport from Mr George Cohen and his son Benjamin of Paradise Island, Calivigny, boats from Gouyave and Grand Mal came to Woburn to add another racing class to the event. Sailing conditions proved very good on Saturday for an entertaining racing series. The end of the first day results per Class were as follows: Woburn: Second place to Rip Tide, with Unity taking first. Gouyave & Grand Mal Sloops: there was strong competition between Grand Mal’s Swift and Gouyave’s Endeavour, with Endeavour moving into second place after the last race of the day, with Gouyave’s Classic taking first with an unbeaten record.

On Sunday the winds picked up considerably, providing some very challenging conditions to the skippers and crews and resulting in a reduced number of races for the day. Final results for Day 2 by Class: Woburn – third place Rip Tide second Top Ranking and again first place Unity. In the Gouyave/Grand Mal Class the places remained the same as Saturday, again with an unbeaten Classic taking first ahead of Endeavour in second and Swift in third.

On Sunday the Budget Marine/Spice Island Marine Services Dinghy Sailing Series was also run. Nine young sailors from Gouyave and the Grenada Yacht Club in a fleet of Mosquito and Optimist dinghies spent the day competing on a course set in Clarke’s Court Bay. The winds were strong, but this did not daunt the eager young sailors, and with excellent race management from Mr Steve Nimrod from the Grenada Yacht Club in the safety boat, a good series of races was completed. After a final race off between winners from the differing dinghy classes, the overall result went to Shakeem Collins, with Kwesi Paul, a very talented girl sailor from Gouyave coming second and Joshua James third. Laser Dinghy One on One racing also took place between Gouyave’s Kevin Banfield and Israel Irangit, with Kevin taking the final honours. Prizes were provided by the Grenada Sailing Festival from Budget Marine and all participating sailors took home a certificate and a Grenada Sailing Festival canvas bag.

This year a great selection of product and cash prizes was sponsored by Bryden & Minors with Mount Gay Rum, with additional prizes from The Grenada Canvas Shop, Independence Agencies and the Grenada Sailing Festival.  After the presentation for each days racing with prizes given out by Mr Brian Sylvester of Bryden & Minors, there was also prizes for the overall winners in each class with Rip Tide and Top Ranking sharing second and Unity, with an unbeaten race record, taking the first prize in the Woburn Class. In the Gouyave/Grand Mal Class Classic took overall first with Endeavour second and Swift in third place.  Mill Reef from Grand Mal and Gouyave’s Riot Act also received participation prizes.

Participants in the GYC Pursuit Race also joined in the Presentation Party, with Mrs Marilyn Steele-McKenzie, Manager of the Grenada Yacht Club presenting prizes to Alex Johnstone in Chao Lay in third place; Richard Watson in Sobriyah in second and in first place Dieter Burkhalter of Le Phare Bleu with Blanquilla. The winning crew, mostly visitors from Switzerland, also received a bottle of Mount Gay Rum from Woburn Thanksgiving Regatta, presented by Mr Cletus Pascal. The next Pursuit Race is scheduled for the third week-end in November, when the fleet will race one of the courses planned for the 2010 Grenada Sailing Festival (29 January – 2 February). The winner will receive a free Entry Registration for the Festival, based at Port Louis by Camper & Nicholsons Marinas.

As always there was great food and drinks from Island View Sports Bar & Island Breeze Restaurant, and the Organisers would also like to thank all sponsors and supporters who made it possible for this popular event to take place again: Paradise Island; Bryden & Minors with Mount Gay Rum; Budget Marine; Spice Island Marine Services; True Blue Bay Resort; Le Phare Bleu; Independence Agencies; Prickly Bay Waterside; Island Dreams Yacht Services; Turbulence Grenada; Bulk Buy Frozen Foods; Island Ice & Westerhall Estate; Grenada Bottling Co; Grenada Yacht Club; Grenada Sailing Association; Glenelg Natural Spring Water; Horizon Yacht Charters; ValMart; The  Canvas Shop Grenada, and Grenada Sailing Festival.