11 Teams Set Off for Jamaica in the 33rd Pineapple Cup – MoBay Race!
Wizard and Prospector in a Tight Battle in IRC, Dragon Chasing Renegade for the Lead of PHRF
11 teams started the 33rd Pineapple Cup Montego Bay Race at 2:05 ET today under sunny Miami skies in a very light 5 knots of breeze. The R/P 74 Wizard was first across the line in the IRC division just edging out the Mills 68 Prospector and TP 52 Heartbreaker. The Frers 62 Merrythought slipped across the start line of the PHRF division slightly ahead of Santa Cruz 52, Renegade. Five hours into the race, competitors are continuing to see light air as they head toward the first turning point of the race around the Bahamas’ Great Isaac Island. Prospector has pulled ahead of Wizard to take the lead of the IRC division and Renegade has overtaken Merrythought for the lead in the PHRF division.
As of now, the PredictWind weather routing is showing the fastest boats arriving into Montego Bay late Monday evening. Race tracking is available on the homepage of the Pineapple Cup website and will update every hour on the hour!
Nigel Knowles, Commodore of the Montego Bay Yacht Club, “Having sailed twice before myself and never seen the boats line up, it was quite a site to see. Being on board Commodore Munroe’s boat with the BBYC and our valued sponsors. Even though the winds were light you could see the excitement in the crews as they crossed the start line on this fantastic adventure.
I am very much looking forward to seeing all the teams in Jamaica as we give them our world famous Montego Bay Yacht Club welcome.”
Hugh Piggin, Race Director, “It was an extremely challenging start in light air, but the boats are on the way and the wind will pick up as they carry on. The forecast is for a solid east, northeasterly breeze and once they make the turn around Eluethera it will be champagne reaching and running conditions. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing who comes out on top”