The long-awaited return of the 75th anniversary of the held on Errol Barrow Day, Friday January 21, 2011 lived up to the high expectations of its organisers the Barbados Cruising Club, and main sponsor Mount Gay Rum.

Supported by the Barbados Tourism Authority, Albion Insurance, Miele, Scotia Bank, The Beach House, Indigo Island, the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race, was followed closely by local, regional, and international sailing enthusiasts while capturing the attention of several Barbadians who viewed the procession of yachts from beaches around the island as part as their holiday festivities.

Over 20 entries participated in the 70 plus mile voyage, attempting to set a number of records in the various classes, with the fastest vessels striving to break the absolute records in both the Monohull and Multihull categories.

Local entrant “Silver Bullet”, skippered by Robert Povey, recorded the fastest total elapsed time of 5 hours, 9 minutes, and 33 seconds; followed by the Mount Gay Rum chartered “Spirit of Juno” with a time of 6 hours, 8 minutes, and 41 seconds; and traditional sailing Schooner “Elena”, which recorded a time of 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 19 seconds.

Brand Manager for Mount Gay Rum, Marc McCollin, said the response and support for the event was encouraging, following months of intense planning:

“We worked tirelessly for almost a year with the Barbados Cruising Club on the organisation of this race and it is pleasing to see that it has been hailed as a success. The response from the public was particularly pleasing considering one of goals of the organising committee was to raise awareness of and generate interest in the sport of sailing. Mount Gay Distilleries has made a 10 year commitment to sponsoring the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race, and we shall be striving to make the upcoming evens even more memorable.”

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, Senator, The Honourable D’Arcy Boyce, while making remarks at the prize giving held on Saturday, January 22, 2011, said Government is committed to developing sailing as an integral part of the local tourism product, and challenged the organisers to develop the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race further, to spread the event into a seven day sailing week.

attracted vessels ranging from under 35 feet to under 120 feet as well as scores of locals and visitors who eagerly participated in the revival of the historic race.