Spirit 65’ Chloe Giselle performed extremely well in the Panerai Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, boasting straight victories in every race and deservedly winning the Spirit of Tradition class. Crew member, James Oxley, gives us an insight into the racing:

Chloe Giselle is a great cruising yacht with some clever technology, including ECsix standing rigging and titanium spreader bars on a carbon fibre mast, which reduces the weight up high. This coupled with her high-performance sails, meant she was a strong contender in her class.

Race legs were predominantly long reaches with small up/down wind legs which prove popular and favour the cruising yachts and the large schooners.

It was exciting racing with stiff breezes allowing us to sail Chloe Giselle at some of her best speeds which made for really exhilarating racing after three years of mainly light wind racing. The competition was varied with our main rival, the W class yacht and defending champion, Wild Horses hot on our heels.

In my opinion Antigua is one of the best settings for a regatta and the sailing conditions were fantastic. A very well-run event, Antigua is great at accommodating boats of every size and crews of every kind, from the most serious of racers, to those more interested in enjoying the event as a whole, rather than taking the racing too seriously.