Boat-racing fans flocked to the hills and other high ground areas on Tuesday, August 2, to catch a glimpse of the eleven boats in a close encounter as they raced from Road Bay to Island Harbour Bay. It was the first boat race for the 2016 Anguilla Summer Festival as the August Monday race at Road Bay, Sandy Ground, had to be postponed due to inclement weather.
The boat-racing fans took up vantage positions on the Shoal Bay road and higher up, on the road at Lily Hill, between Shoal Bay and Island Harbour, where they were able to have a full view of the boats as they made their way up wind.
The fans were able to see the tacking of the boats as well as the famous “hard lee” out to sea. “Hard lee, hard lee!” is a shrill cry when two boats suddenly appear to be on a head-on collision course before, in the final seconds, breaking away almost just as suddenly.
The positions taken up at the hilly sides of the roads, by the boat-racing fans, were not without some confusion. In between anxiously peering out to sea, many people performed the roles of the police by clearing traffic jams and calming impatient motorists travelling in opposite directions. It was only luck and good fortune that prevented a number of vehicles from colliding on the crowded portions of the highway at Lily Hill.
At Island Harbour Bay, itself, there was little activity apart from some music and a number of people patronising food vendors. They only knew about the performance of the boats by radio and patiently awaited their arrival into the Bay. There, most of the boats quickly turned around heading back to Road Bay while a few others remained in their home port – Island Harbour.
Of the eleven boats in the race, the first five places were taken as follows:- 1: Real Deal; 2: Sonic; 3: Satellite; 4: Light and Peace; 5: Eagle.
