De Caribbean Regatta 2009
Day 4 - Mustique & Blues Festival

It was finally time to get back on the water and continue our cruise form island to island. All of us had rested on Bequia and now we were off to Mustique, home of the rich and famous. This is where Basil's Beach Bar is located and we were heading over for the hottest night of the annual Blues Festival.

Sailing to Mustique was an opportunity to test speed as all of the skippers were itching for a race. It is a law of nature that whenever there are two boats on the same sea, a race will sooner or later develop. So the course was set, run out of Admiralty Bay, turn the corner and tack up the south coast of Bequia past Paget Farm, out through the small islands and then close hauled to Mustique. A rabbit start was used with the Flagship serving as the rabbit. This, of course, was timed to permit the Flagship a head start. But by the end of Bequia, Otter had taken the lead with Fresquito close on their tails. During the upwind tacking, the hull length of the Flagship as well as excellent helmsmanship of a 12 meter captain, permitted the Flagship to take the lead. By landfall, they were first with Fresquito in second, Otter third and Caribbean Soul in fourth.

As previously mentioned, Mustique is home to incredible villas owned by the rich and famous. Some teams took tours of the island. Watching the sunset from the Firefly bar is not to be missed. You can walk up there from the dinghy dock. And at night, Basil's Bar lived up to its reputation for entertainment.

Commodore Fortenbaugh had the great pleasure of meeting Basil Charles, who has been designated an OBE by Queen Elizabeth. Basil is pictured below in the center along with Michel Maeder (left) and the Commodore (right).

Click any of the pictures below to enlarge.