Anguilla Boat Racing

Anguilla's national sport is not cricket or football but boat racing, a passionate and uniquely local tradition that is the beating heart of the island's culture and identity. Born of Anguilla's deep heritage of fishing and wooden boatbuilding, the sport pits distinctive, hand-built wooden sailboats, with no cabins and heavily ballasted, crewed by teams who shift sandbags and even leap overboard to trim the boat, in fiercely contested races around the coast. Watched by cheering crowds from the beaches, especially during the summer festival around August and on public holidays, these colourful, high-stakes races are a genuine, living expression of Anguillian pride and community.

What you actually see

• The wooden sailboats - the distinctive hand-built racing boats.
• The races - the fiercely contested coastal races.
• The summer festival - the peak racing around August.
• The crowds and culture - the cheering beach crowds and island pride.

When to go

Races are held through the year on public holidays and special occasions, but the peak is the Anguilla Summer Festival, or Carnival, around late July and early August, when the biggest and most prestigious races take place amid music, food and celebration. Watching from the beach among the passionate local crowds is the way to experience it.

Honest expectations

Boat racing is a genuine local cultural tradition rather than a staged tourist attraction, so the best experience is simply joining the crowds on the beach to watch a race, especially during the summer festival, and soaking up the passionate local atmosphere; the schedule follows holidays and events, so timing matters. As a unique, living and passionately followed national sport, born of the island's maritime heritage and central to Anguillian identity and pride, though, boat racing is a wonderful and authentic cultural highlight.

Nearby

The beaches and bays of Anguilla host the races; The Valley is the hub.