Antigua and Barbuda: Antigua and Barbuda is all set to welcome Seefalke II, Oliver Greensmith’s 41-foot, wooden-hulled sloop for 2024 Traditional Yacht Regatta which is scheduled to happen from April 17 to 22, 2024. The yacht was constructed by German boatbuilders, Abeking and Rasmussen with the assistance of the sq. meter rule.
The rule is the ranking system that was first proposed by the Swedish Crusing Federation in 1907. Initially christened Seestrum, German for sea present, the yacht was launched in 1936 for the German Navy as an officer coaching yacht within the Baltic.
After World Warfare II it was seized by the Royal Navy and brought to Portsmouth on the south coast of the UK the place yacht was renamed Sea Sailor and served as a coaching vessel for the Royal Marines for a few years.
Offered out of service, Seefalke II was renovated and sailed with out an engine throughout the Atlantic to Antigua in 1996 by Welsh engineer Lynn Roach. 1998 was a 12 months of highs and lows for Seefalke II.
The yacht was first general within the Antigua Traditional Regatta however later that 12 months, because it was heading for Newport, Rhode Island, it received caught within the remnants of Hurricane Mitch and dismasted in what folks can solely think about was a terrifying expertise for its crew.
The yacht ultimately returned to Antigua, however by 2012, it was in very poor situation and languishing on the laborious at North Sound Marina. That’s when Oliver’s father-in-law, Griffith Williams purchased the yacht and employed Oliver, who ran Antigua Boatbuilders and Carpentry, to start an in depth restoration.
The rebuild was accomplished simply in time for the 2015 Antigua Traditional Yacht Regatta the place it received the Woodstock Trophy for one of the best restored yacht. The yacht received her class in 2019 and now it could be out on the water once more for the 2024 Antigua Traditional Yacht Regatta.
The regatta is the platform to showcase the true tradition of Antigua within the crusing trade the place the travellers from completely different international locations will collect.
