St Edmundsbury Sailing and Canoeing Association regatta at Lackford Lakes celebrates links with Antigua Sailing Week

A Suffolk sailing and canoeing group has celebrated its surprising links with the Caribbean at its annual regatta.

Members of the St Edmundsbury Sailing and Canoeing Association based at Lackford Lakes, near Bury St Edmunds, enjoyed good conditions for the event on Sunday.

The regatta, now in its eleventh year, was started as a one-off to coincide with the Antigua Sailing Week in the Caribbean.

Since then, the event has received attention from sailing enthusiasts across the world, with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority supporting it and providing prizes, including a bottle of English Harbour Rum.

Mike Steele, who helped to organise the regatta, said the tourism authority first heard about it after spotting a Google alert and it had helped put Lackford Lakes on the map for sailing.

He said: “They follow it closely, it is amazing really that a tiny sailing club in Suffolk is linked with one of the most prestigious sailing clubs in the world.”

The event on Sunday attracted a large crowd, including one of the founders of the association – Barry Southwold.

Members of the association range in age from children aged four, to people in their 90s.