Anguilla / Special Interests / Sailing & Regattas

With all the sailing in nearby islands, Anguilla sees quite a few sail boats. That said; the Anguillians do not necessarily make visiting that easy. Fees are unpredictable and often extremely expensive. There is no real marina in Anguilla at the moment and because of the shape of the island there are not even that many good anchorages. Most yachts put into Sandy Ground, where there are Customs and Immigration facilities. 

For the Anguillians themselves, however, sailing is really the national sport and it is extremely popular. There are fiercely contested races during the regular island festivities. These events, known as “boatrace” have a rich history that goes back centuries to when the island’s men-folk were forced to sail to nearby islands, particularly the Dominican Republic, for work. The return trips soon became highly-competitive, culminating in the first organised “boatrace” in 1918. Now, many races are held at weekends during the summer months, from Easter week until August when the Champion of Champion race is held at the end of Boatracing week.

As you wander around the island you will see the brightly-painted hulls hauled up on to the beach and supported on pegs, waiting for their next outing. In fact the sport is so popular there is also a children’s version of it, with toy sailing yachts. These yachts can be seen decorating the walls in some of the restaurants around the island.

The ASA Anguilla Youth Sailing Club offers both private and group lessons to tourists (for ages 7-15), and has a team of experienced local sailors who practice year round. They have ‘optimists’ (small fiberglass sailing dinghies), a couple of ‘lasers’ and larger boats such as ‘hoby cats’ and ‘420’s’. They also offer intensive summer camps in June. Call 264-584-SAIL for more information.

Please see our Anguilla Day Sails / Boat Trips section for further details of great activities in and on the superb waters around Anguilla.