The 15th Superyacht Challenge Antigua closed on March 8, 2026, with Hetairos rewriting the record book, Rebecca edging Adix in the week’s tightest battle, and Adix ultimately taking the Gosnell Trophy for embodying the event’s spirit. Held at Nelson’s Dockyard, the regatta once again proved why Antigua remains one of superyacht racing’s most distinctive stages.
The 15th Superyacht Challenge Antigua closed on March 8, 2026, with Hetairos rewriting the record book, Rebecca edging Adix in the week’s tightest battle, and Adix ultimately taking the Gosnell Trophy for embodying the event’s spirit. Held at Nelson’s Dockyard, the regatta once again proved why Antigua remains one of superyacht racing’s most distinctive stages.
March 8, 2026
The Superyacht Challenge Antigua has always preferred character over corporate gloss, and its 15th edition delivered exactly that. Staged from March 4 to 8, 2026, out of Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour, the regatta brought together a fleet of ten superyachts for four days of racing shaped by trade winds, Atlantic swell, and the event’s signature pursuit format, where staggered starts are designed to compress the finish into a dramatic chase. More than 300 sailors, owners, guests, and crew were part of this year’s edition, which closed with the customary emphasis on camaraderie as much as competition.
The biggest headline belonged to Hetairos. The 218-foot Dykstra/Reichel-Pugh ketch, captained by Graham Newton, set a new race and monohull course record in the Round Antigua Race, covering the 20.7-mile course in an elapsed time of 1h 35m 20s, comfortably securing the class win. In the way only this regatta can, the reward mixed prestige with mischief: Newton also collected his weight in rum. Hetairos went on to complete a flawless regatta, winning all four races in the Privateers Performance class.
Yet the week’s real tension lived in the duel between Rebecca and Adix. Rebecca, the 140-foot German Frers ketch, received an OCS start penalty. It opened strongly, beating Adix by 3 minutes and 39 seconds on corrected time in Race 1. The second race tightened everything. Rebecca slipped back to 2.40 points while Adix took 2.00, setting up a decisive final showdown. Rebecca responded in Race 3, finishing ahead of Adix again and sealing the Privateers class on 4.40 points to Adix’s 6.00, a margin of 1.6 points. It was the closest championship fight of the regatta and the clearest proof of how finely matched very different yachts can be under ORCsy.
Other class winners underlined the fleet’s range. Linnea Aurora, a 128-foot Hoek-designed sloop launched in 2024, won the Corsairs class on her event debut, while the Spirit 111 sloop Geist swept the Buccaneers class with a perfect series. But the final emotional note belonged to Adix. The 213-foot three-masted gaff schooner, competing in Superyacht Challenge Antigua for the first time, was voted winner of the Gosnell Trophy, the prize that matters most here because it honors the spirit of the regatta itself. In Antigua, silver is secondary. Style, sportsmanship, and the way a yacht carries itself still count for more.
