SIMPSON BAY—Registration is still open for the Caribbean Multihull Challenge V Race and Rally.
A record-setting field of more than 30 racing and cruising multihulls are in the process of gathering and preparing for February 3 to 5.
And as the fleet and the regatta continues to expand and evolve on this fifth anniversary of the only Caribbean event catering strictly to multihulls, so too does the CMC.
This year, the fifth anniversary. CMC features for the first time, not only a new and exciting series of offshore races, but the organization will also be hosting its inaugural rally for dedicated cruising boats, the CMC Shipyard Brand Turnkey Rendezvous.
In the “big-boat” racing category, the CMC is welcoming back a pair of catamarans that have enjoyed resounding success in the event: Greg Slyngstad’s 53-foot Fujin, with an all-star crew from the Pacific Northwest led by Olympic Gold Medalist and recent National Sailing Hall of Fame Inductee Jonathan McKee, and Anthony McVeigh’s superbly prepared 53-footer, 2 2 Tango.
Nipping at their heels will be an impressive pair of newcomers to the CMC: Freddie Mills representing the Antigua Yacht Club aboard Cui Bono, a Gunboat 60, one of the best-known brands of performance cruising cats, and Aussie Guy Chester sailing Oceans Tribute, from the board of legendary catamaran designer Lock Crowther, which he sailed from Australia to race off St. Maarten.
These boats, along with their fellow competitors in the all-out racing classes, will this year be contesting a trio of distance races called the CMC Trifecta, which include the CMC 60-Mile Sprint, a blast to St. Barth’s and back that’s a holdover from previous events; the Around Saba Dash, a brand-new 52-mile power reach to the isle of Saba and back; and a perennial favorite of all sailors who come to St. Maarten to compete, the SXM Circle Race, the tricky 27-mile circumnavigation of the island, which always holds numerous surprises when it comes to currents, breeze and tactics. The winner of the Trifecta will receive a beautiful new Aquis Depth Gauge dive watch from longtime CMC supporter and sponsor, ORIS Swiss Watches.
The CMC has drawn cruising sailors from near and far, all of whom enjoy their sailing and time on the water in more mellow, island-time circumstances. The CMC Rally component of the festivities has drawn 11 entrants, including several French-built cats from Lagoon and Nautitech; a couple of Leopards from the popular South African builder Robertson & Caine; and a half-dozen Balance cats, another performance-cruising outfit from South Africa with the company’s founder and guru, Phil Berman, preparing to join the fun on his own Balance 482, In Balance. While the racers are underway thrashing through the blue water, the Rally boats will enjoy a somewhat more civilized venue: a pleasant sail to the welcoming anchorage at Anse Marcel; a jaunt to Anguilla, with an overnight stay in Sandy Ground; and a return trip to St. Maarten’s Simpson Bay, where it will all begin in the first place.
The festival of sail and sailing will also showcase the half-dozen, peppy Diam 24 one-design trimarans; the return of the all-women crew aboard the Lagoon 380, Team Fope; local favorites Tryst, the classic Dick Newick-designed trimaran, and Island Water World, the sleek Joubert/Nivelt 52-foot cat; and so much more.
For more information and entry forms visit www.caribbeanmultihullchallenge.com.
