Ten teams to compete in Carlos Aguilar Match Race

Charlotte Amalie’s harbor in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands is one of the most picturesque ports in the Caribbean, and is the venue for ten teams competing in the 6th Annual Carlos Aguilar Match Race (CAMR), November 21-24, 2013.

The field includes USA’s Jennifer Wilson, winner of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Match Race Championships and a founding member of the sponsoring Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC). The event’s other woman match racer is the USA’s Stephanie Roble. Roble is the top-ranked U.S. female match, 5th ranked woman match racer in the world and competes on the Global Women’s Match Racing Circuit.

Rounding out the elite fleet of match racers are: Finland’s Antti Luhta, who is ranked 25th in the world; the USA’s Don Wilson, ranked 24th in the world and the number one ranked U.S. match racer as well as founder of the CMRC; the USA’s Chris Poole, ranked 27th; Greece’s Stratis Andreadis; the USVI’s Olympic silver medalist and America’s Cup sailor, Peter Holmberg; the USA’s Dave Dellenbaugh, who most recently won the 2013 U.S. Match Racing Championships; the USA’s Dave Perry, author of Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing Through 2016; and the British Virgin Islands’ Colin Rathbun.

Sailors will compete in IC-24s, a local adaptation of a J/24. The CAMR is an International Sailing Federation (ISAF)-provisional Grade Two event. The race format will be a double round robin series leading to the semi-finals and finals. Spectators are invited to watch the racing under tented bleacher seating where there will be live narration. Viewers around the world can watch via a live webcast on www.carlosmatchrace.com. Racing starts at 9 a.m. (GMT – 4 hrs) daily.

The Virgin Islands Sailing Association is the organizing authority for the CAMR, namesake for the late Carlos Aguilar, who was an avid sailor.

Carol Bareuther reporting