Jumbie returns to attempt another Great Race

Jumbie competes in the 2015 edition of the Great Race.
Jumbie competes in the 2015 edition of the Great Race.

THE boats in the A-Class (130mph) category for the Great Race will have to look behind because the Jumbie is coming. Jumbie returns after a two-year absence this Saturday – just in time for the 50th edition.

Jumbie throttleman Justin Decle declared, “We are trying to win this year so we will be going hard!”

Decle added, “Preparations have been going good so far; we are just doing some final checking through. We are starting up the boat, side strapping and locking down everything.”

Decle said no major changes were made to the boat but they have completed all the necessary repair work. Jumbie unfortunately collided with Ironman in May at a circuit race regatta close to the Trinidad Yacht Club in Glencoe but has now overcome that hurdle and is ready to go.

Decle and driver David Brash will be controlling Jumbie and are hoping to put their previous mishap behind them on Saturday. Decle elaborated, “We have never finished a Great Race before so this will be our first successful race hopefully. We ran two years ago but had some problems with one of the drives which caused us not to make it much further than the first ‘Bocas.’” The Jumbie crew said completing this year’s historic race will be a memorable experience if it happens.

“Obviously it is very exciting to race in the 50th race and it’s a lot more boats than normally in any Great Race before. So the anticipation is very high and we look forward to doing really well.”

The Great Race is one of the longest running offshore races in the world and has been recently recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. In this year’s edition of the inter-island race, there will be over 40 boats competing which is a record amount of entrants. The various categories are the A-Class (130 mph), B- Class (120 mph), C-Class (110 mph), D-Class (95 mph), E-Class (80 mph), F-Class (70 mph) and the G-Class (60 mph).

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