Race Results -

Sunday, April 9 race report

Roxanne wins Coconut Cup, Stella takes out season

The canoes Kak-Kinono and Bora and the yacht Roxanne set a blistering pace in the Eighth Annual Coconut Cup Regatta to each take out first place in their respective classes on Saturday afternoon.

For the first time, the annual race was used as the final race in the 2004-05 Mieco Beach Yacht season, which has been won by the yacht Stella, skippered by Terry Forsbrey.

The sun and the wind put on a fine display for the race, which saw 13 traditional canoes, nine yachts, one home-made outrigger, and a bathtub take to the course.

Before the race, crews gathered at the RRE Tide Table for brunch, welcoming in a small group of visitors from Kwajalein. Then the lagoon action started at about 2pm, with Majuro Hospital’s Virginia Watson being radio race control for the yachts. The Royal Australian Navy’s boat True Blue transported members of the press and the Canoe House’s Alson Kelen around the course.

The after-race party at the RRE Boknake was voted one of the best ever, with a relatively short awards ceremony emceed by Cup founder Don Hess followed by some ripper music from the Coconut Cup Band.

A ton of generous sponsors helped to make the Cup a big success, with the canoes winning cash prizes and Mieco Beach Yacht Club caps, and the yacht owners a huge range of goodies. Of note was a thank you to Iroij Imata Kabua, who pledged $1,000 to the event. As well, Miss Coconut Cup for 2005 — Amber Kramer — did a fabulous job of helping to hand out the woven-sail cups created by Janet Hess, with “a lot of help from my friends”.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful for a picnic at Enemanet, with yachts and sports boats transporting party-goers to the buffet catered for by the Marshall Islands Resort. And the weekend wasn’t over yet, as the Kwajalein Yacht Club hosted a cocktail party at the Resort on Monday evening.