Round Barbados Sailing Week: 14-22 January 2023
by Karen Rollins Jan 2, 2023
Barbados’ coastline will be teeming with sailors and their boats in January as the Round Barbados Sailing Week gets underway from 14-22 January 2023.
The prestigious sailing event begins with a Junior Weekend from 14-15 January which will feature a two-day dinghy series along with freestyle kite surfing on Saturday and wing foil board racing on Sunday.
After the opening ceremony on Monday 16 January, the first day of offshore racing is scheduled for Wednesday on the south coast and the west coast on Thursday. The final offshore race takes place on Sunday 22 January. On Friday 20 January the Barbados Sailing Week Fun Day features a treasure hunt and a beach party.
The main Round Barbados Race will start at 9am on Saturday 21 January (Errol Barrow Day).
Most of the sailing, prize giving, and after-parties with live music will take place in Carlisle Bay and at the Barbados Yacht Club and Barbados Cruising Club.
Background:
The Round Barbados Sailing Week is the opening event on the Caribbean Sailing Association’s regatta circuit.
According to the official Round Barbados website, the first organised race around the island took place on 1 January 1936 with five trading schooners – Sea Fox, Mona Marie, Marion B Wolfe, Lucille Smith, and Rhode Island.
Those boats are said to have competed for a small prize and ‘bragging rights’ in an inaugural race which followed an anti-clockwise course. The winner was Sea Fox in a time of 10 hours and 20 minutes – a record that still stands today.
Any crew that manages to break any of the existing Round Barbados circumnavigation records is awarded bottles of Mount Gay Rum equivalent to the weight of the registered captain of the vessel!
Visit Round Barbados Sailing Week’s Facebook page for more information.
