SIMPSON BAY—The J122 Liquid from Antigua and Barbuda emerged overall winner of the Gill Commodore’s Cup on Thursday at the prize giving in Port de Plaisance as the warm up event ushered in the 37th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta starting today.
Liquid won CSA 3 as Team Boston took second and El Ocaso, a three-time Most Worthy Performance winner now with a new owner, took third place.
89 boats took part in the Commodore’s Cup, a record number for this event so far. There were no complaints about lack of wind, and the Easterly breeze averaged 18 knots with gusts over 20 knots. Too much for some.
The VOR 70 Green Dragon had the misfortune to be dismasted but managed to save their mainsail and got back to shore safely with no apparent injuries but they will most certainly be out for the remainder of this regatta.
In Ocean Racing class, the SFS II VOR 70 was spectacularly fast easily taking line honours but on corrected time came third in this class. Volvo 70 Monster Project was second and first place went to the Bruce Farr designed VOR 60 Ambersail (ex Assa Abloy).
“The course was great,” said SFS II’s skipper Lionel Péan. “We were sent up to a mark at Tintammare and long legs are easier for these boats. Manoeuvering these boats is quite hard and tough for the crew. The top speed we had today was 27 knots downwind. We had no problems. We have a very good team and the boat has been perfectly prepared by the shore team.”
If the wind holds up SFS II may well try to break the monohull around the island record. They will also be having corporate guests on board for the next three days. Amongst the crew are six Mini Transat sailors and two Figaro winners, one of which is Lionel Péan himself.
The Maxi Class was won by Zampano. Sapphire was second and Spirit of Juno third.
Most classes raced three times over a windward leeward course set off Simpson Bay and Great Bay except for the Ocean Racing Class that was sent up to Tintamarre Island.
CSA 1 was won by Ross Appleby’s Scarlet Oyster and CSA 2 by Sergio Sagramoso’s Melges 32 Lazy Dog. There was no sign of Sir Richard Mathews’ new boat Oyster Catcher in Thursday’s event and the reason for that was not immediately known. CSA 4 was won by Bobby Velasquez’s L’Esperance.
“We took three bullets today, it was awesome,” said a crew member from Scarlet Oyster. “Fantastic racing but a bit dicey at times, big gusts of wind, short runs and a lot of work.”
Gill Racing with St. Maarten Yacht Club Commodore Chris Marshall on board won the Melges 24 class, ahead of GFA Caraibes. Island Water World 1 was third. Morticia won Multihulls 1 and La Novia won Multihulls 2.
Barboats 1 was won by Trem Sailing and Bareboat 2 by the Salish Sisters. Winner of Bareboat 3 was KHS &S Contractors who had a Paralympian silver medallist from the Rio Olympics on board, a first for the Heineken Regatta.
The prizes were presented by President of Gill North America, David Pritchard. The Heineken Regatta starts today with the around the island race.
