sks777,
my personal opinion is that they were not going for the smooth touchdown, rather, the tailwind plus the pitch up at 70ft is what contributed to the long float. at least that is what I think happened. as you mentioned, the CA was a well experienced ex check airman who was very well versed in Caribbean/SA ops and I think he would have been aware that almost all runways in the Carib are not grooved, hence he would not have been going for the smooth landing. Jmho