“Brutal” Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller In The BVI Proves “No Pain, No Gain”
Twenty miles of “no pain, no gain” downwind sailing saw Ewan Anderson emerge victorious in the Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller held this weekend (January 15). This windsurfing event in the British Virgin Islands, and resurrected for 2005, took competitors from Pusser’s Marina Cay to Peg Leg Restaurant at Nanny Cay Marina and was not for the faint hearted.
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, (PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- Twenty miles of
“no pain, no gain” downwind sailing saw Ewan Anderson emerge victorious in the
Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller held this weekend (January 15). This windsurfing
event in the British Virgin Islands, and resurrected for 2005, took competitors
from Pusser’s Marina Cay to Peg Leg Restaurant at Nanny Cay Marina and was not
for the faint hearted.
Although obviously breezy at the skippers’
briefing, it was not until the leading sailors reached Beef Island Bluff, with
4-6 foot standing waves and winds reaching thirty knots, that they realized the
race was going to be one of endurance and survival. “Brutal” was how one
competitor described the race at the finish and race organiser Owen Waters of
Island Surf And Sail described it as “twice as extreme as we’d anticipated” and
estimated their average speed at 25-30 miles an hour.
Ewan and Owen were
first to reach Beef Island Bluff and, having sailed too low and too close to the
cliff face, saw their wind evaporate and watched Roy Keegan tear past further
out to sea. Owen was first to escape the Bluff’s clutches and followed Roy to
the right of the course and the more sheltered south side of Tortola. Having
rigged for 15-20 knots at the start and carrying large sails (7.7 sq. metres)
they were heading for the flat water.
In a do or die call Ewan headed out
to sea and the bigger winds, waves and longer reaches with plans to do less
gybing on the downwind course. “Watching the others sailing very tight angles, I
decided to bear off and bear off, get comfortable, get in the groove,” said
Ewan.
Slowly adjusting his sail to its fullest so that he could sail dead
downwind, he unhooked and effectively wave-sailed his way to Peter Island,
nature’s gybe mark for the final run to Nanny Cay and the finish at Peg Leg
Restaurant. Peter Island offered a curving wind and flatter water. “It was
strategy that worked,” said Ewan. “I gybed maybe five times and I know Roy did
at least ten”. Every gybe that ended in a swim sapped strength and added two to
three minutes to the race.
Although, the right choice in the end it was
no easy win. Ewan ended up in the water at least four or five times, and his
knee “popped” twice. With gritty Glaswegian determination he muscled his way
down the course to finish first.
Although no official times were recorded
- the Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller is more about finishing than the time it
takes - Ewan finished in about an hour with Roy and Owen only minutes behind.
“Ewan claimed first place, I came in second only one minute later but had no
visual on him at all,” said Owen. “Thirty miles an hour is extremely fast at
sea.”
Peg Leg Restaurant, an event sponsor, welcomed the hardy fleet
with a barbecue lunch. The afternoon saw a short and sharp six-lap slalom race
off Nanny Cay won by Chris Simpson.
For the prize giving much needed
Pusser's Painkillers were provided to ease the pain. Pusser’s Rum has been the
original rum of Great Britain's Royal Navy for 330 years.
2005 Pusser’s
Painkiller Thriller Results
1. Ewan Anderson (Team Island Surf And
Sail/Pryde)
2. Owen Waters (Team Island Surf And Sail-
Starboard/Pryde/HIHO/Quantum Sails/ Nanny Cay/ Dirty Dogs)
3. Roy Keegan
(Team Island Surf And Sail/JP/Pryde)
4. Chris Simpson
5. Sean Anderson
(Team Island Surf And Sail/Starboard/Pryde)
6. Dave Pettigrew
7. Eddie
Brockbank
8. Bill Bailey
9. Carolina Pettigrew
10. Jason Ruffle
Smith
11. Craig Chomiac- DNF
12. Mirko Sanger- DNF
Slalom 1st
Place- Chris Simpson
Super x stunt 1st Place – Owen Waters
On July
31st, 1970, the Admiralty Board abolished the daily issue of Pusser's Rum. In
1979, entrepreneur Charles Tobias resurrected the Pusser's Rum tradition. He
obtained the rights and all the blending information from the Admiralty and
formed Pusser's Ltd. on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. He began bottling
and selling Pusser’s Rum to the public for the first time in 1980. Prior to
then, it was restricted to the Royal Navy.
Today's Pusser's Rum is still
produced with the blend of five West Indian rums in exact accordance with the
Admiralty's specifications. Unlike most rums, it is predominantly a
"pot-stilled" rum. The distillation process is similar to that used for single
malt scotches, which produces greatly enhanced flavor using no flavoring agents.
It is 100% natural.
For more information on windsurfing in the British
Virgin Islands visit Island Surf And Sail online: http://www.surfandsailbvi.com
For more information on
Pusser's Rum visit: http://www.pussers.com. For high resolution photos from the
2005 Pusser’s Painkiller Thriller visit: http://www.broadswordcommunications.com/painkiller05/index.htm
or
contact:
Alastair Abrehart
Broadsword Communications
Tel: (284) 495
1090
E-mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
For further information
on Pusser’s contact:
Liz Jackson
Pusser’s Ltd.
Tel: (284) 494
2467
E-mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
For more information on
Island Surf And Sail contact:
Owen Waters
Sails Director
Tel: (284) 494
0123
E-mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb198617.htm