The Most Worthy Performance trophy of the 44th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta was presented to the bareboat “Sea Breeze” by caretaker Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs (fifth from left) at Port de Plaisance last night, bringing the four days of the regatta to a close for another year. (Robert Luckock photo)
COLE BAY—"Sea Breeze”, winner of Bareboat 1, captured the Most Worthy Performance of the 44th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta at the awards ceremony in Port de Plaisance Sunday night.
The crew from Bareboat Sea Breeze with the Columbus Cup for Fastest Bareboat around the island with Minister Omar Ottley (far left). (Robert Luckock photo)
Cary Byerly was presented with a special award for her many years of promoting sailing in the Caribbean. (Robert Luckock photo)
An emotional Regatta Director Michele Korteweg speaks about her decision to retire as Regatta Director. (Robert Luckock photo)
The crew were presented with the St. Maarten/St. Martin Trophy by caretaker Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and a Seiko timepiece. Seiko is the official timekeeper for the regatta and partnered with Joe’s Jewellery.
Jacobs said she had been out with the coastguard on Saturday to follow the regatta. “I tip my hats to all you sailors out on the water. It’s a tough job,” she said.
Earlier, Sea Breeze was presented with the Columbus Cup by Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Omar Ottley, for Fastest Bareboat around the island in 4hrs 37:06 and overall Bareboat winner.
It all went wrong for Last year’s Most Worthy Performance winner GFA Caraïbes” from Martinique who suffered a sail disaster on Friday moments before the start of the around the island race. The disappointed crew finished fourth overall and will now regroup for Antigua Sailing Week. Their class, CSA 6, was won by Doub 6/Clipper’s Ship, also from Martinique.
The Women in Sailing Award was presented to the “Something Hot” all female team by Gretchen Ortiz from Puerto Rico. Winner of CSA 5 Solstice received the Heineken Cup from Heineken CEO. The Robbie Ferron trophy was presented to Cary Byerley for her promotion of sailing in the Caribbean over many years not by Robbie himself but delegated to John Leone and Michele Korteweg who made the presentation.
As Michele Korteweg pointed out Cary Byerley has held numerous functions over the years; President of the Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA), Race Committee Chair, married to a sailor, her son is a sailor and her parents are sailors.
Winner of CSA 1 was “Leopard and one of the crew pointed out by emcee Robbie Ferron was Mitch Booth, Australian Sailor of the Year and Yacht Sailor of the Year, one of a few rock stars on board. The crew were presented with the Windward Islands Bank (WIB) trophy for Fastest Monohull Spinnaker around the island.
Commodore of Sint Maarten Yacht Club Frits Bus made a shock announcement that the 44th regatta is the last won that Michele Korteweg will be involved with as Regatta Director but she will still be available for advice.
