Lady Mariposa beats Wizard on corrected time to take home the Pineapple Cup! The Ker 46 Lady Mariposa crossed the finish line in Montego Bay at 08:33:05 ET this morning with an overall elapsed time of 3 days 18 hours 28 minutes 5 seconds. The Silver Pineapple Cup Perpetual Trophy is awarded to the IRC boat with the best corrected time. As of right now Lady Mariposa’s corrected time of 4 days 21 hours 36 minutes and 30 seconds puts them 6 hours 4 minutes and 17 seconds ahead of the Volvo 70 Wizard which confirms their win of the 34th Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race .
The trophy will be awarded this evening by the Honorable Custos Rotulorum Bishop Conrad Pitkin. The crew of Lady Mariposa was thrilled with their finish in what was a new race for their Ker46 based out of the United Kingdom. It was also a new race for many of the crew competing however tactician and former Olympic campaigner Kalle Coster won the race in 2005 onboard Thin Ice. Skipper Nigel King said of the race, “It was a really enjoyable race – very different race. The conditions changed throughout the course. It was lumpy in the gulf stream from Miami and then you get through the Bahamas with quiet and flat seas and then obviously we had a good rip down towards Jamaica. I think everyone enjoyed it – it was nice and sunny. There were times it was colder than we thought it would be, but I think everyone really enjoyed it. It was a good length of race because you can really get into it – it was the longest race we’ve done for a while so it was good for us.” When asked how he and the team felt about winning the Pineapple Cup, King did not realize they had captured the victory, “Oh cool! wow – that’s very cool. That’s always the objective. You always want to try and do as much as you can to perform and Andrey [Yakunin], the owner, puts a lot into the program so it’s really nice for him to get a trophy so if that holds that’s great!”
Celebrations at the Montego Bay Yacht Club!
After 811 nautical miles and several days at sea teams are greeted by the best welcome in yachting provided by the members of the Montego Bay Yacht Club! As soon as they hit the dock cases of cold beer are handed off to the teams and once they get into the Yacht Club, there’s usually a party welcoming them. Last night it was time to celebrate Jamaican culture at a party supported by the Hard Rock Cafe, Juici Patties and Steakhouse on the Bay. Competitors, dignitaries and members alike shared stories from the race course accompanied by local foods and coconut cocktails.