KIM SHA BEACH--The 36th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is complete. The sails have been furled and spinnakers stowed. Records were set and parties were well attended. As always there were a few bumps, some at the bridge openings and a few on the race course.
Even the Marines got into a “fender bender” on Friday. On the final day, one buoy, marking the final turn to the finish, was removed before the last four boats in Lottery Class finished, but the shortened course did not seem to bother the thirsty sailors.
“Everyone seemed happy,” said Regatta Director Michelle van der Werff. “I’m pleased. I think everything went off well.”
Race director Paul Miller was also happy. “Conditions were great and the courses were well received.” He continued, “I think we had a great regatta.”
Twenty classes, 193 boats, sailed between three to seven races in three days. One of the most noticeable changes to the courses in 2016 were the downwind “pop the spinnaker starts” and finishes in Simpson Bay.Maxi 1
Sorcha took top honours in Max 1 Class. Peter Harrison from Great Britain on the Botin TP52 crossed the finish line behind Highland Fling XI in all four races but moved up to first on corrected time. Highland Fling XI set the monohull record for the around the island race Friday at 2 hours 12 minutes 32 seconds.
Sunday in the final race she finished 1:57:35, which was corrected to 2:50:16. Sorcha finished in 2:20:48 and was corrected to 2:49:14.
In third place was Prospector.
Maxi 2 Lot66 a Swan sailed by Jeroen Van Dooren from the Netherlands won Maxi 2 by one point. They edged out Durlindana 3 a Farr sailed by Giancarlo Gianni. Third place went to Spirit a Swan 65 from Great Britain.CSA 1
Dingo, a Ker design sailed by Mark Chapman from Trinidad won Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) group 1. Dingo recorded four first place finishes and dropped to fourth in the final race. First for the day was Soca a Melges 32 with a time of 2:05:01.
Sergio Sagramoso’s Lazy Dog from Puerto Rico was second Sunday at 2:06:32 and second overall. Luis Juarbe’s Soca, also from Puerto Rico, finished third after three days of racing.
St. Maarten yacht club commodore’s Ian Hope-Ross and his Melges 32 Kick’em Jenny2 finished fifth in class despite placing third Sunday.CSA 2
Scarlet Oyster topped CSA 2 with two first place finishes and two seconds. The Oyster Lightwave 48 sailed by Ross Applebey from Great Britain finished Sunday with a time of 2:16:19.
Ventaneiro 3 finished just one point behind in second place. The Dufour 500 sailed by Renato Faria from Brazil was second and would have tied for first but for a third place finish Sunday with a time of 2:20:01.
Dauntless finished third overall in CSA 2. Affinity was the spoiler Sunday snatching a second place finish, but the Swan 48 was fourth overall.CSA 3
El Ocaso won CSA 3 by three points. The J122 sailed by Richard Wesslund from the United States placed second Friday and in the second race Saturday, but first in the first race Saturday and in the final Sunday.
El Ocaso completed the Sunday course in 2:11:28.
Lipton finished Sunday in fourth place at 2:17:06 but second overall. Corrs Light Racing was third overall and second on Sunday with a time of 2:11:35.CSA 4
Wild Devil, Ben Jelic from the Friendly Island started out the regatta slow recording a fourth place finish with his Custom Kiwi 35 Friday.
He finished fourth in the first race Saturday before finishing strong with two firsts. Dark Star from Puerto Rico was second in class and followed by Solstice.CSA 5
Bobby Velasquez on his Beneteau 45F5 L’Esperance won CSA 5 again. Having won class last year, Velasquez repeated this year by just two points.
Second and just minutes behind was Robbie Ferron’s Team Budget Marine Micron 99. Velasquez won the around the island race with a time of 3:46:43. Ferron was second at 3:52:18.
Budget Marine won the first race Saturday at 58:01 to Velasquez’ 59:28. L’Esperance took the second race Saturday 2:32:41 to 2:33:07.
Everything was set for a show down. Ferron had the lead Sunday rounding the windward mark. Ferron finished third at 2:33:33.
Third place went to Avanti who took first Sunday with a time of 2:27:26.CSA 6
Raphael Magras from France won CSA 6 on Maelia. Maelia won three of the four races and the first race Saturday took second place. Speedy Nemo was second and Caribbean Alliance was third. Three local youth sailing teams raced in CSA 6.
Kidz at Sea 2, racing on Purple Heart a Didi 26 kit the youngsters constructed in wood shop, placed seventh in class. Kidz at Sea 1 finished ninth and Kidz at Sea 3 placed 13.Melges 24
Local sailor Frits Bus on Island Water World dominated class. In five races he record three seconds and two firsts. Gill race Team was second, seven points behind Bus. Firewater from the Virgin Islands was third.
Elvis the Gunboat 62 won class winning all three races the five boat class raced. Second place went to Tribe and Coco de Mer was third.Multihull 1
Phaedo3 stole the show. Winning most of the races on only one of her three hulls, the 70-footer won all three races and broke the around the Island race record she set last year.
Steve Fosset set the record on his 125-foot catamaran PlayStation back in March of 2003 at 2 hours 4 minutes 23 seconds. Last year Phaedo3 circumnavigated the island in 1 hour 30 minutes. This year Phaedo3 flew around the Friendly Island in 1 hour 19 minutes 59 seconds.
Soma a formula 40 was third around the island in class and finished second Saturday and Sunday to finish second overall. Fujin a Bieker 53 was third.Multihull 2
Multihull 2 was won by Carib Cat. The St. Martin MyCat 26 finished third Friday, first Saturday after two protests and first Sunday.
In fact all five multihulls were involved in at least one of the three protests filed Saturday. Guimamalou was second in class and Selika was third.Multihull 3
A Lagoon 380, Karla won Multihull 3 with three first place finishes. Nala a Lagoon 450 crossed the finish line first all three days, dropped to second three times on corrected time. Blue Tooth was third.Beachcats
Beachcats returned to the St. Maarten Heineken regatta, for the first time in nearly a decade and were well received. Turenne Laplace’s Alizes recorded four first place finishes in seven races to take first overall. Carib Cleaning from St. Barths was Second and Pierre Altier from the Friendly Island was third.Bareboats
A total of 60 bareboats competed in four classes. Kiev Racing Yacht Club from the Ukraine on a Sun Odyssey 441 was the overall bareboat winner recording two seconds and a first in their class. Baltics from Germany was second and Bageal from Sweden was third.
Most creative or unusual names in class were Something Hoy, an all women team in seventh overall; J World Annapolis a United States sailing School entry placed 22; Aquaholics from the Netherlands was 23; Knotty Bouys from Canada was 26, Kraken Beers with Dirty “Oars from Canada was 30, Team de Pub was 31 from Netherlands, and DILLIGAF Racing from the United States was 33.Lottery class
Thirteen sailboats raced in the Lottery Class. Flying Penguin took first place in class. Avocation was second and Altair was third.
