History of the "West Indies Regatta" Festival«
From the rediscovery of a small island lost in the Antilles to the 15th edition, the West Indies Regatta Festival tells the story of a know-how that almost disappeared, and of those who decided to do everything to save it!
1990s
The discovery
Alexis Andrews, a nautical photographer, discovers Carriacou in the Grenadines. There he finds a dying world: shipwrights building magnificent wooden sailboats by hand on the beach, without written plans or modern machinery. The Carriacou sloops.
2005
Genesis
Alexis Andrews financed the construction of a sloop and entrusted the project to master shipwright Alwyn Enoe. Genesis was born on the sands of Carriacou, shaped from memory.
2007
Gli Gli is passing through Saint-Barth
Aragorn sails with the Kalinago people in a large canoe hand-carved from the forests of Dominica. Antigua, Saint Barthélemy, the British Virgin Islands. The stopover in Gustavia leaves a lasting impression: its history is the talk of the island.
2008
Two books and a journey
Alexis Andrews publishes Vanishing Ways And Genesis: Building a Traditional Carriacou Sloop. That spring, Doggy Watson, Alexis Andrews and Aragorn drove Genesis from Antigua to Foxy's Regatta, on the island of Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands — an event on the last weekend of May that has existed since 1974. Stopover in Saint-Barth, where Alexis exhibited his two books.
November 30, 2008
Beauty of Petite Martinique, Balo's last boat
On the beach of Petite Martinique, in front of the whole village, the master carpenter Baldwin DeRoche, known as "Balo", launches the sloop Beauty of Petite Martinique. This will be his last sloop, but also the last one on this island.
2009
The first West Indies Regatta
Competing in the Classic Regatta of Antigua, Alexis and Aragorn were looking for boats to accompany them to Saint Barthélemy. With Loulou Magras, Daniel Blanchard, and Bruno Gréaux, then the port director, eight boats entered Gustavia: Genesis, Ocean Nomad, Tradition, Sweetheart, Good Expectation, Summer Cloud, the Nevis schooner Alexander Hamilton, and the Carriacou sloop Plumbelly. The Collectivity generously provided the quay for mooring and the port's forecourt for concerts. It all started there.
Two people held the thread in Saint-Barth during the first few years: Jannie May, Loulou Magras's wife, and Lee Davidson, a friend of Alexis. They were the ones who helped Alexis and Aragorn organize the event, and who served as liaisons on the island for several years.
2012
The first market
The sloops arrive laden. Fruit from Antigua and Dominica, t-shirts and pottery from Aragorn: the market is born in the holds. It will grow every year — once, an entire cargo ship of bananas will arrive from Carriacou.
2013
Exodus
Alwyn Enoe launches Exodus, a forty-foot sloop born on the beach at Carriacou. Alexis Andrews films every step of the way.
April 30, 2015
Vanishing Sail
The film is released. It follows Alwyn Enoe building Exodus, then the 350-mile voyage to Antigua. Its goal is explicit: to inspire others before it's too late.
2015
Free in St. Barth
Captivated by the West Indies Regatta and the lifestyle it fosters, Thierry de Badereau financed the construction of a new sloop. Alwyn Enoe, now elderly, completed the project with his sons—as if to pass the torch before it faded away. The boat sailed its first regatta in Gustavia in 2016. It would be the last Carriacou sloop launched for nearly ten years.
2016
The Community makes a commitment
Loraine joins the team. The year's budget: €3,000. Recognizing the event's cultural impact, the local authority decides to increase its support the following year—concerts, communication, equipment, and market staff. It becomes the main supporter and the condition for its survival.
September 2019
The association West Indies Traditionnal
The festival has established a structure to manage its organization. Loraine and Bruno, sister and brother, and Thierry de Badereau have registered the association "West Indies Traditionnal" with the prefecture under the 1901 law, and its creation was published in the Official Journal on September 28, 2019. Its purpose is to promote traditional Caribbean rigging and sloops, foster cultural exchange between the islands, and defend traditional crafts.
But Covid, a few months later, would put an end to this attempt at organization.
2020-2023
Three years in lockdown
The festival has been cancelled for three consecutive years due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
2023
Official recognition by UNESCO
Supported by the images of Vanishing Sail and by the approach of the Government of Grenada, the traditional shipbuilding of Carriacou and Petite Martinique is inscribed on the intangible cultural heritage of humanity — as a skill to be safeguarded.
2023
The regatta resumes and changes scale
Thanks to the efforts of Loraine, Rachelle, Valentine, and many others, the regatta was organized again. Loraine tried to rebrand it as a "festival," securing the inclusion of street arts. Circus performers and actors visited schools the week before, enlivened the market, and closed the weekend with a show on Sunday evening.
That same year, Vincent joined the organization and redesigned the layout of the market — spaced-out tents, stands on either side: the number of exhibitors jumped.
The following year, relocated opposite the Collectivité building due to construction work, the market became the largest on the island with nearly forty stalls. This would be Loraine's last appearance; she would eventually leave the island for a new life project.
2024
The gesture resumes
On July 1st, Hurricane Beryl devastated Carriacou and sank the Carriacou sloop Maristella. Grenada subsequently announces its intention to create a Boat Building School; a site is chosen in Windward.
In the same year, Mr. Piero Zipoli, owner of the small shipyard Marine Carriacou, finances the construction of a roof to shelter the building site, as well as the first ship which is put into construction under the hands of the master carpenter Callistus Enoe, son of Alwyn. The gesture changes generation.
«Helping the Carriacou sloops is my way of thanking Carriacou Island for everything it has given me over so many years.»
— Piero Zipoli
2025
The pivotal year: the regatta becomes a festival
Loraine is no longer there, Valentine doesn't have much time left, Thierry's boat "Free in St Barth" sinks in a tragic accident, and the circus can't come. Boats are canceling one after another. The event is in doubt: "Will the Collectivity support a regatta without boats?"«
But the blue Carriacou sloop Navasana, Unwavering, he will maintain his participation! He will be joined at the last minute by a classic grey and white boat, over a hundred years old, coming from Europe., Nomad, a dark blue fiberglass boat from the British Virgin Islands, and Oumiak, a yellow aluminium boat from Saint-Barth.
Of course, Navasana will win all the races, proving that the Carriacou sloops are the fastest! More than 700 people will be counted on the docks on Saturday evening alone.
The rallying cry has been launched: "The West Indies is no longer simply a regatta, it's a cultural festival!" and "The low presence of Carriacou sloops is clear proof that we must redouble our efforts to safeguard them!"«
April 2026
The 15th edition with the founders and Carriacou
Around ten boats are expected, and the founders will be present: Alexis Andrews, Aragorn, Loulou Magras, Bruno Gréaux — then port director in 2009 — and Daniel Blanchard's son. Three films will be shown: Vanishing Sail, Quest of the Caribbean Canoe And Ocean by David Attenborough.
And, for the first time, the governments of Carriacou and Grenada sent an official representative: Dwight Logan, advisor to the minister of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. He came to announce the commencement of work on the shipbuilding school — and the order for three additional ships.
July 31 – August 2, 2026
The rediscovery of the Carriacou Regatta Festival!
Vincent traveled to Carriacou and Grenada for the Carriacou Regatta Festival, cementing the link that now unites the two regattas. The Carriacou regatta has existed for sixty years, but it had not been able to take place for the previous two years, as the island was recovering from Hurricane Beryl, which devastated homes, wildlife, and vegetation, and sank several Carriacou sloops: Maristella, Pink Lady, and Reality 2.
This was an opportunity for Saint-Barth to rediscover the island and its maritime heritage. But also, for Carriacou, to rediscover that it is not alone — and that the five Carriacou sloops present are not alone either: there are at least seven others in the northern Antilles.
Work then began to find them all and compile the first inventory of the Carriacou sloops still alive. You will find it on the page History of ships.
2027
The sequel
We hope that boats will once again make the route from Carriacou, and that the island will return to Gustavia.