SIMPSON BAY—The 40th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta got under way Thursday in Simpson Bay in perfect sailing conditions with 149 participants including the seven high performance Volvo yachts in CSA Ocean Racing 1 that provided a dramatic spectacle amongst the other classes.
The Volvo 70 “I Love Poland” won the class taking a first and a third place in the second race. Ocean Racing 2 was won by Hermes.
CSA Sportboat 1 saw local boat “Kick em Jenny” tied on equal points with the Melges 32 “Soca” after two races. It will be interesting to see how these two will fight it out over the next three days. Frits Bus’s Team Island Water World Melges 24 drew first blood in Sportboat 2 getting the better of close rival FKG. Both had a bullet a piece but FKG slipped to fourth in the second race.
CSA 1 was won by the Italian boat Fra Diavolo but it was the all-women crewed “Maiden” that caused a sensation in this 10-boat class finishing with two second places. CSA 2 was won by repeat winner Ross Appelbey’s “Scarlet Oyster’ while CSA 3 saw the J111 “Spike” take the win. CSA 4 was won by the St. Barths boat “Speedy Nemo.”
Multihull 1 saw “2 2 Tango” win class while it was good to see the return of Steven Bourne’s “Ineffable in second place. “Ineffable” was not able to make it for this year’s second Multihull Challenge. The 80 ft trimaran “Ultim Emotion 2” was spotted on the course for the first race but retired from the second race for reasons unknown. Ian Martin’s Spellbound won Multihull 2.
CSA 5 was won by X-402 “Myxy.” In Bareboat 1 it was Salsa-Regatta Club Ru taking first place with two bullets edging multiple winner at the Heineken, Blue Tide-KHS&S Contractors, into second place with two bullets. KHS&S was also involved in a protest, one of three filed on the first day. Bareboat 2 was won by Ananda-Regatta Club Ru, Bareboat 3 by Maguy-Baltics 1, and Bareboat 4 by Proseco.
“Hey Jude” won the 11-boat island Time Class and 12-metre “Stars and Stripes” won the one design class. Racing continues today with the around the island race.
