The annual Solaire Cup Boat Race is all set for Sunday, July 19, at Meads Bay, according to the main spokesman, Mr. Yanchie Richardson.
The anticipated large crowd of onlookers and vendors will converge on the Connors’ Park – an area between Blanchards Restaurant and Carimar Beach Club for the event. The land there was made available to the West End Meads Bay Boat Racing Committee by the landowners, the Connor’s family, for all boat racing functions including the upcoming August Thursday race.
“It is the fifth annual Solaire Cup Boat Race, presented by my company, YLR Consulting,” Mr. Richardson explained to The Anguillian. “Tom McInerney, owner of Solaire, and also Meads Bay Villas, is the cooperative sponsor, and Pam Webster is the platinum sponsor.
“This year we have added much more to the race and we have such persons as Conrad Rogers, Chief of Staff of the Mayor Show, who is also part of the Solaire team; Chris Miller; Tom McInerney, senior; and Tom McInerney, junior. Among other things, this year, is that we will be having a selected seat on one of the boats for the Governor. This will be raffled – not for a prize. Someone will pick a boat and the one so picked will be that on which the Governor will travel. She wants it done that way…”
There will be cash prizes for the first five winning boats in the race. The first or main prize will be US$1,000 with the other cash prizes declining by US$100 for each of the rest four boats. There will also be consolation prizes for the other boats.
“The Solaire race came out of the Ruben Browne Celebrity Golf Tournament that we had some years ago,” Mr. Richardson recalled. “As Tom McInerney was a big sponsor of that event, I told him we need to have a boat race for Anguilla’s national sport and from now on we are going to call it the Solaire Cup Boat Race. From then it has been going from strength to strength.”
Richardson went on: “This year we are honouring Hulio (Cap) Carty who has been racing boats for many years at Crocus Bay. His name was picked by raffle from a list of other persons from various districts…Six names were placed in a bag and DJ Ritchie pulled Hulio Carty’s name so he is going to be the recipient of a donation. There is normally a prize of one 1,000 US dollars from Dr. Paul Webster, but it is going to be split this time. $500 will go to Mr. Carty and the other half will for the Boys’ Brigade of the Methodist Church in his honour.”
The race will begin in Meads Bay; travel around Anguillita and up to Solaire villas. On the return leg “Yanchie says “there will be a dog-fight at the point of Viceroy before crossing the stake by the Malliouhana point and then the boats will sail out in the vicinity of Dog Island, returning afterwards to Meads Bay.” The route will enable persons along the shorelines to view the exciting finish of the race.
