The story
A-Class Knock Out Boat Race in Sandy Ground
The A Class fleet's season opener, held each February at Sandy Ground roughly two months before Easter racing begins. The Knock Out format suggests elimination-style heats, though exact round structure isn't publicly detailed. Traditional 28-foot-plus wooden sailboats, crewed by up to a dozen sailors, kick off the year on the same beach that later hosts August's Carnival racing.
Every Anguillian boat-racing season has to start somewhere, and for the island's A Class fleet, that start line is Sandy Ground in late February, when the A Class Knock Out Round opens the year's competitive calendar roughly two months before the Easter racing picks up in earnest.