Bobby Velasquez’s L’Esperance won CS6. (Robert Luckock photo)
SIMPSON BAY—The final curtain has come down on the 42nd St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The prize giving was delayed due to several protests. No not about the war in Ukraine, although several Ukraine flags were seen flying on boats sailing around the course and Russian teams were not welcome at the regatta.
Several teams protested on water moves by other teams particularly near turning marks.
The Most Worthy Performance award went to Liquid a J 122 from Antigua racing in Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) Class 7.
There were 12 other team in the group that competed in four races during the regatta. Liquid finished 2 in race one and third in race two, three and four for a total score of 11 points.
Points are awarded based on the team’s finish. Thus, the lowest the score the better the finish. Second place in class went to Dauntless a Beneteau First 47.7 at 12 points. Also, at 12 points but third due to the tiebreaker was Spike a J 111.
Sailing Poland and Janssen de Jong both Volvo Ocean 65s, finished with 9 points each in CSA 1. Sailing Poland was declared class winner having taken two first place wins.
Third place went to the Volvo 70 I love Poland.
Vicitan a class 40 sailed by Olivier Delrieu won CSA 2 taking first in all four races. Palanad II was second and Selma Racing Academy was third.
The Swan 58 OMII dominated CSA 3 winning all four races. Isobel was second and followed by Fujimo in third place.
Jolt the TP52 won CSA 4. Tonnerre De Glen was second.
Twelve teams competed in CSA 5 and competed in six races with the result of the worst finish discarded.
F.K.G. the St. Maarten Melges 24 won the class with four first place finishes. Second was Arabella a Cape 31 and third was another local Melges 24 Team Island Water World.
CSA 6 competed in five races with a fleet of six teams. Bobby Velasquez’s Esperance was first with two first place finishes and three seconds. Rebel from Antigua was second and Montana was third.
CSA 8 featured seven teams and sailed seven races with the worst finish discarded. The J 105 Solstice won class. GFA Caraibes – La Morrigane was second and Jenk was third.
The Bareboats competed in four races. Girl a Dufour 455 won the 14-team group. Second was Open Greece and Krabbegat was third.
Windwalker a Hood 60 won Island Time Class. The 13-team group sailed four races. Parceira was second and GameChanger was third.
In Multihull 1 Five Oceans dominated the five-team group taking first in all four races. Island Water world was second with four second places and 2 2 Tango was third.
Cry Macho dominated the four team Multihull 2 group of Diam 24s. Cry Macho won all four races. CryBaby finished second and third place went to Merlin.
“These new Diam trimarans fly,” said Steve Burzon from the Caribbean Multihull Challenge. “It has a crew of three, and they can keep up with the Volvos. Amazing.”
The Leopard 45 Spellbound took top honours in Multihull 3 with three first and two seconds. La Novia was second and Honey Badger was third.
