Mariquita Book - mk2.5

LES VOILES D’ANTIBES
29 May – 2 June 2013
Set against the snow peaked mountains of the Maritime Alps
the first of the Panerai regattas marked the beginning of the
2013 European classic season and the debut outing for the new
owners and crew of Mariquita.
The town of Antibes with its 16th-century
ramparts, narrow cobbled streets and
naturally protected port always puts on a
friendly and exciting regatta. Traditionally
‘The Voiles d’Antibes’ coming so early in
the summer is a
gentle start to the
season with light
winds. The forecast
for the week suited
Mariquita and there
was a great sense
of excitement on
board, summed up
here by helmsman
John Caulcutt … “We had to start the
season somewhere and it just happened to be
Antibes. I love the town, it all felt right, there
wasn’t a lot of wind. It was just so exciting to
think that having put the syndicate together
and bought the boat we were actually going
to go racing.”
With light thermal breezes the racing between
Mariquita and her rivals
Moonbeam IV, Cambria
and Mariska was very
competitive. Matters
came to a head during
the second race when
Moonbeam IV protested
Mariquita during
a very congested
start, which resulted
in Mariquita’s first ever disqualification!
So the racing was close, at times too close – a
foretaste of the rivalry with Moonbeam IV
and the exciting season ahead.
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