Guests at Cap Juluca have had the rare privilege of looking out from their rooms across to Maundays Bay Beach, or relaxing on the sand, witnessing the closing and exciting moments of an out-of-season Anguillian boat race.
Right in the inshore waters, on Sunday afternoon, December 30, the tourists witnessed the stunning performance of the traditional yell:Hard lee! Hard lee!!. It is an exhilarating period of seconds when two boats swiftly sail towards each other, on an apparent head-on collision course, and then veer away before a feared bow to bow crash.
One long-time return visitor to Anguilla, who is well acquainted with the above performance, assembled a number of guests of the hotel to watch the spectacle – a highlight of the national boat-racing sport. “Come and see this,” she urged them. They gathered around and marvelled at the manoeuvring – the sailing skills of the fairly young boatmen, well-steeped in the art of sailing from their elders.
She told The Anguillian afterwards: “Being not from the island, it is just an experience to see the local boats with such power and beauty. The excitement of all the locals and tourists, all cheering for the boats, was just a thrilling and amazing experience.”
It was to have been about six boats in the race, but only four turned up – a sufficient number to easily follow their performance as they made several racing laps into and out of the harbour. “We started from the shore and went down around a buoy, just outside Blowing Rock, at Anguillita, came back to the marker in the bay, then out again, and later returning here,” one sailor explained.
The participating boats were R.O.B.B., from South Hill, which placed first, winning US$800 ; De Branch, a Blowing Point community boat, which came second and received US$600; Kedro Pride, of West End, which took third place and won US$400; and Legal Rights, from East End, which was fourth and got US$200.
Cap Juluca’s Asset Manager, Eric Prevette, speaking on behalf of Mr and Mrs. Charles Hickox, said the resort and its owners were very supportive of the boat race, part of Anguilla’s culture. He also praised the organiser, Cardigan Connor, Cap Juluca’s Director of Activities.
“We are absolutely very supportive of the event,” Mr.Prevette said. “I view Cardigan as a celebrity on the island. I think he knows its people and culture as well as anyone. He has been tremendous with our guests here and we want to be very supportive of the island, the culture, the people and everything that is going on here. I think you will find Mr and Mrs Hickox to be completely supportive of these types of events here at Cap Juluca.”
Mr. Connor replied as follows: “Boat-racing is a great tradition in Anguilla. It is regarded as our national sport and I think that it is great that Cap Juluca decided to make it part of their holiday programme. A number of the guests staying here at present won’t actually experience boat-racing because it is out of season…
“It is important that Cap Juluca is making this part of its programme. I think what we want to do, going forward, is to make this an annual affair. I think it can be put on the calendar as the last race of the year, and Juluca’s race. There were four boats with their captains and crews in the race. There was a lot more interest that was shown initially but, it is a time of the year when a number of people are employed. Those who were in a position to come decided that this was the place to be, and we are grateful to them for their participation.”
