Thanks to the early departure from Portsmouth and a particularly fast passage this year, the ARC Caribbean 1500 prizegiving celebration happened a day early, on Thursday last night at Peg Leg’s on the beach.
The evening began as crews gathered round the beach bar and bellied up for a cold beer or a glass of rum punch. The sun had just gone behind the hills in the west, taking the edge off the afternoon heat.
The prizegiving itself got underway with Mile Sutherland Pilch, general manager at Nanny Cay Marina, offering words of welcome to the couple dozen boats that have arrived here over the past few days.
“We’re glad the Caribbean 1500 continues to finish in Nanny Cay Marina,” he said. “We hope that many of you will make our marina your home for the coming winter season, and you’re all welcome back any time!”
Nanny Cay is in fact undergoing a multi-year upgrade that will eventually add 150 slips, a new grocery store, upgraded laundry facilities and more to an already immaculate, full service facility. Their new boatyard space is already operational and was chock-a-block with boats over the summer hurricane season.
Andy & Mia got the prizegiving going in earnest with the awarding of the annual ‘special prizes.’
“Some of these you’ll know about beforehand, like the annual ‘Movember’ award,” Andy said to the audience on stage. “But some of them we simply make up on the fly, after hearing stories from boats at sea and seeing what kinds of donations we can get here in Nanny Cay. Which is part of the fun – you can’t compete for a prize you aren’t aware of!”
On that note, Miles Poor of Karina was called on stage to receive a gift certificate to Island Roots, the local coffee shop in the marina, dubbed the ‘Culinary Award.’ In a rough passage where most boats survived on cold cans and granola bars, Miles cooked up a hot meal each day, and kept his crew well fed.
Andromeda was recognized with the ‘Last Boat’ award and a gift certificate to the laundry mat! They probably needed it after spending 11 days at sea.
Wings took honors for ‘Best Log at Sea’, based on their humorous entries and the fact that their blog received more website ‘hits’ than any others. In total, 27,000 unique visitors were on the 1500 website during the passage, for a total of over 50,000 page views. Their 'Anonymous' crew was very excited.
Sojourner was awarded a Budget Marine gift certificate for having the fewest engine hours in the fleet. They recorded only 6.5 hours under power, for a total of 34 miles, less than a quarter of the next fewest yacht, which was Keep It Simple at 23. One crewmember joked that they can use the gift certificate to buy an extra diesel tank for next year!
Te Mana was recognized for their Man Overboard drill prowess. 8-year-old Russell ‘accidentally’ lost a shoe off the boat during the passage, and they were somehow able to successfully retrieve it. For their efforts they received a gift certificate to Bluewater Divers for an afternoon dive.
Miles Sutherland Pilch came back on stage to present the Movember Award for best mustache.
“Movember started 8 years ago in Australia,” he explained, “and we caught on in the BVI 6 years ago. Money is raised that goes to help local BVI islanders treat male illnesses like prostate cancer, and even one of our own employees has benefitted from the program.”
All the crews who took part in the competition lined up on stage to be judged by their peers on their mustaches. Based on the applause, it came down to Paul from Moondshadow and Ryan from Ryana. Paul narrowly won out in the end, though we think it was more to do with his tight red pants than his actual mustache!
Finally, crews were called on stage to tell stories of their bumps and bruises for the ‘Best Bruise’ award, started last year by Martin on the Aussie yacht JAC. Three competitiors told their stories and showed off their bruises – Julie from Te Mana, Morgan from Andromeda and Ray from Solstice. It was an easy win for Julie, who had the best story and showed the best bruise to loud applause from the rest of the crew.
The competitive awards were handed out following the fun prizes. In the ARC Caribbean 1500, the fun prizes are nearly as important as the competition – many people simply are in it for the challenge and the fun of it.
Nevertheless, we had close racing in the Cruising Division between Class A and B, and the Multihull Division.
Ryana edged out the larger Nexus to take 1st in the Multihull Division.
“It was awesome seeing Ryan’s face light up when Nexus was called for 2nd,” Diana, co-skipper of Ryana told us last night at the prizegiving dinner. “His smile just got bigger and bigger as he realized we’d won!”
In Class B, the J/42 Keep It Simple won for the second straight year, despite leaving some 18 hours after the fleet and battling through stronger weather in the Gulf Stream than everyone else. They beat out the two Hallberg-Rassey’s, Kia Orana and Starburst, who took second and third respectively.
In Class A, the Hylas 54 Wings took first place and Line Honors, edging out the other Hylas 54 Tara and the Hallberg-Rassey Trillium, who took second and third. Wings was also honored with the ‘Steve Black Trophy’ for the Overall Classification in the Cruising Division, narrowly edging out last year’s winner Keep It Simple, who took second. Kia Orana wound up 3rd overall.
The evening concluded with the last of the ‘extra’ special prizes, before all crews received their participation awards, engraved at Weems & Plath in Annapolis. The traditional navigation instrument company sponsored a new ‘Navigators Award,’ which went to Steve on Free Spirit for his log-keeping ability. He even broke out the plotting sheets, and really set the tone for what a good log is all about. Ryana received a special mention for their log-keeping abilities.
Topaz, the yacht who diverted to the Bahamas to get medical care for an injured crewmember received the Seamanship Award, an engraved chart weight from Weems & Plath. Despite being effectively double-handed when they lost Percy’s watch to a dislocated shoulder, and with a finicky engine, Topaz, under the guidance of skipper Chuck and crewmember Austin, represented true seamanship when they sailed the boat safely into Marsh Harbor while caring for Percy and communicating all the while with the USCG and Rally Control. There was never a moment of panic or even a raised voice, and Chuck and company showed the attitude of true seaman and acted professionally through it all. Percy was immediately taken to a hospital – after surviving uncomfortably on bed rest and Advil for four days at sea – and fixed up the same night they arrived.
Finally, Rick Palm came on stage to introduce the Tempest Trophy for ‘Spirit of the Rally.’ Jeremi from Avanti joined Rick in presenting the award, which started way back in 1990 when Steve Black had just founded the 1500, and which Avanti had won in 2012.
“The yacht Tempest was in the 1500 in 1990,” explained Rick, “and stood by another yacht that had suffered rudder damage in the Gulf Stream. They stayed with them all night until a tow could be arranged, and Steve decided to name the award after them to honor their spirit of helping others. It’s carried over ever since as a perpetual award.”
The World Cruising Club inherited the trophy from Steve’s Cruising Rally Association, and it’s back in action again. Paul and Monica from Moonshadow will have their names engraved on the trophy this year for their enthusiasm and selfless attitude towards helping others complete what for many is a lifelong dream.
“Prepare, prepare, prepare!” said Paul from the stage after accepting the award with Monica. “We love this event and we love helping all of you guys. You’re family now!”
The Tempest Trophy will remain in Nanny Cay and hang on the wall in Peg Leg’s, each year receiving a new inscription.
With that, the prizegiving wrapped up, and the participants moved upstairs to Peg Leg’s to celebrate with their final group dinner together. A slideshow of the entire event was broadcast on screen, bringing back memories from Portsmouth and the passage, memories which for many seem like a lifetime ago.
Tonight, Friday, is one last happy hour at Mulligan’s bar in Nanny Cay Marina, and then it’ll be off to the rest of the Caribbean for many cruisers. The red, white and blue flags of the 1500 will doubtless be seen far afield this winter and some crews are planning to head as far south as Trinidad.
Until next year!