HISTORY                                             carriacouregatta.com

The CARRIACOU Regatta Committee was established in 1965 by the late John Linton. Riggs, a Jamaican born Yachtsman who settled here in the early 1950's.

Mr. Riggs original plan was to retire peacefully in this beautiful island but as fate would have it, he would end up working and racing for many more years to come. Given the state of the economy Mr. Riggs was genuinely worried about the island and formulated a plan to revitalize the boat building industry to get the economy back on track. As the industry was being rebuilt, he created a regatta for workboats where professional boat builders and skippers could race amongst themselves and have a chance to win cash for their efforts. He traveled from Bequia to Trinidad promoting the event tirelessly. Radio announcements like, “Come race in Carriacou.
You can win good money if you think your boat is fast enough!”, was among messages used. Mr. Riggs was able to also convince two enthusiastic yachtsmen from Trinidad to join the organizing team for the event.

John Watson and Sidney Knox were therefore instrumental in putting on one of the most authentic Caribbean regattas the region would ever see.
After organizing the race for three years, Riggs decided that it was time for him to get into his own race to savour his chances. He then convinced Zepherine McLauren (winner of the large work boat class for three years) to become his partner in the building of their new boat, the Mermaid. The agreement was that Riggs would supply the finances and McLaren, a master shipwright, would build it. As Mermaid was launched, it was evident that she would be the one to beat. With her new technological advances (new terraline sails ordered from England) Mermaid was a formidable opponent and winner of the next 7 regattas.

The competition was furious that Mermaid could be allowed to sail against them, as they believed that she was more of a yacht than a workboat. This did not stop the shipwrights and captains of Carriacou who started building bigger and more technologically equipped boats, all with the intention of beating Mermaid. This spirit has lived on today as can he seen on the many workboats that are equipped currently with state of the art sails and equipment. <Read More>

The members of the current Carriacou Regatta Committee executive are -

Duane Williams - President 
Wendy Samuel - Vice-President/Treasurer
Karl Benjamin - General Secretary 
Leo Joseph - PRO

CARRIACOU REGATTA COMMITTEE INC.

For more information about the 2009 Carriacou Regatta contact -
Carriacou Regatta Committee Inc.
Regatta Jupa
Hillsborough, Carriacou
Grenada, West Indies
Tel: (473) 443-7930
Fax: (473) 443-8900
Email: ccouregatta@caribsurf.com
www.carriacouregatta.com