J/125 Crushes, EL OCASO Pre-dominates!(Simpson Bay, St. Maarten)- A record entry of 81 yachts entered the Gill Commodore's Cup, the prelude to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. 30 knots of wind with breaking waves, provided testing conditions for the fleet. The starting area on the south side of St. Maarten provided some relief from the ocean swell but the big breeze from the east cascaded over the hill tops forming bullets of pressure causing several boats to spin-out. Today's best performers were the teams that kept their yachts under control in difficult conditions.
In
this “warm-up” regatta, many of the J/Teams attending had a fun time
working out the “rust” of winter and collecting some silverware along
the way. In CSA 2 Class, Greg Slyngstad’s fantastic crew from Seattle,
Washington and San Francisco, California sailed the J/125 rocketship
called HAMACHI to an easy class win with two bullets. In CSA 4 Class,
fellow J owner Rick Wesslund also sailed “lights out” on the fleet,
posting double bullets to take CSA 4 on his highly photogenic J/122 EL
OCASO. Not far behind in third was John Thouron’s J/122 DUNDER with a
2-3, losing the tie-breaker for 2nd. And, in third was Global Yacht
Racing’s J/120 SUNSET CHILD. CSA 7 Class saw the resurrection of the
famous J/39, now named BUDGET MARINE ARUBA, and sailed by Robbie Ferron
from St Maarten to a 2nd in class. Finally, CSA 8 saw Bryan Coon’s
J/105 SOLSTICE take class honors followed by David Cullen’s J/109 POCKET
ROCKET from St Barths.
Afte
the racing it was time for a new “sensation”. For years the Heineken
Regatta has pulled out all the stops when it comes to on the water
racing, and on shore parties, which is what has made the event the
success that it is. For the 35th anniversary edition, things were a
little different. This year the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and Heineken
hosted the largest party St. Maarten has ever seen, the Thursday night
“Green Sensation Party”!! Port de Plaisance hosted the party to kick
off the regatta festivities— for some it was a night to remember (or
forget completely!).The evening was packed with local DJ talents as well as international mixing artists that delivered electronic music of pop, disco, rock and the hottest beats that only Heineken can deliver. DJ Nachum, Heineken Caribbean DJ champion, teamed up with Soggy Dollar Bar DJ Bossman, to bring everyone a nonstop party vibe. But it didn’t stop there, making an appearance from New York City's hottest nightclubs, DJ Riz and Chris Moody layered on top of all that a new energy that could only be described as “Green Sensational, Mon”!!
After
hundreds of sailors lazily woke up on Friday morning feeling a bit
“green flushed”, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta got underway with 188
yachts entered for the three-day extravaganza. The huge fleet was a
magnificent sight and very likely to be the biggest gathering of racing
yachts in the Caribbean this season. Sailors from all over the world
that came for fun-in-the-sun, competitive racing were not disappointed.
Strong trade winds, gusting up to 25 knots, with brilliant sunshine
served up spectacular conditions. Close to 2,000 sailors enjoyed a long
first day of amazing yachting in the crystal-clear aquamarine waters off
Simpson Bay. The vast majority of the fleet sailed a 30 mile course
around St. Maarten and as an appealing change, the fleet raced
counter-clockwise starting upwind from Simpson Bay.The second day of sailing produced more thrilling action for the international fleet of yachts. All classes had at least two races. In comparison to the last two days, a breeze of about 20 knots was in more people's comfort zone, but the racing was no less spectacular with close racing right through the fleet. Most of the northern hemisphere was gripped by freezing temperatures, but not the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta with an air temperature of 75 F. degrees and a water temperature to match! It was shades, t-shirt and shorts weather even with blue water across the deck.
The
last day was as good as it ever gets in the Caribbean with even more
big breeze, plentiful sunshine and dolphin and flying fish flashing
across the wave-tops, frolicking with the fleet. The raw ingredients of
fantastic sailing conditions and intense competition gave the regatta
organizers the opportunity to lay on a tremendous spectacle – needless
to say, it was an unqualified success for all!For the Heineken St Maarten Regatta, it was clear the Slyngstad’s J/125 HAMACHI crew were on a mission after sweeping the GILL Commodore’s Cup. After five races, HAMACHI swept the fleet with five bullets! Needless to say, they crushed the fleet of sportboats in their class that included several Puerto Rican Melges 32s.
Greg Slyngstad commented, “HAMACHI goes really well in big breeze and we love big breeze, it is what we are used to in San Francisco. All of us have had a great time, we loved it. We have been sailing together for years, the weather was perfect for us and we have been tuning up the boat for two years and when the wind blows hard we know we can do well. Today’s my birthday, so it was a great present to go up on stage and take the trophy!!”
HAMACHI’s
tactician, Jonathan McKee, said “HAMACHI is not a one man show, all of
the crew are great sailors and we are all from the same area, so we are a
California/ Seattle team that have come a long way to compete here and
it is great to get such a good result. The courses here are great,
windward-leeward, point to point and round the island. That is the stuff
we love and the format is a big part of why we are here.”In the CSA 4 Class, it was clear there was going to be a strong fight for class honors between Wesslund’s Miami team on the J/122 EL OCASO and a local Guadeloupe A40. After a disastrous first race in which EL OCASO sailed to an unheard of “out-of-the-money” 8th place, Wesslund’s crew settled down and basically won their class with a 1-1-2-3 for the last four races- not good enough to win but at leastthey could take pride in a strong performance. Their 2nd place finish will certainly help their bid to win the 2015 Caribbean Offshore Series.
Like they did in the GILL Commodore’s Cup, Ferron’s J/39 BUDGET MARINE ARUBA sailed fast and smart to take a 3-2-2-2 series scoreline to grab the silver on the podium.
CSA 8 Class saw Sophie Olivaud’s J/109 ALBACOR IV crew from St Barths sail a superb series, posting a 5-4-3-3 record to take 2nd overall in class! Her best finish to date in “the Heineken”! Fourth was yet another top J/109 from St Barths, David Cullen’s POCKET ROCKET, taking a scoreline of 4-3-5-5 into 4th place. Just behind them in 5th place was a perennial Caribbean sailing ace, the Tanner & Shari crew from Antigua sailing their fabled aqua-blue J/30 called BLUE PETER. Sadly, despite having posted three bullets (yes, 1-1-1), the BLUE PETER crew had to take a DNF in race 1 and could not throw it out— otherwise, it looks like they could’ve swept CSA 8 class! In turn, they were followed in 6th place by Bryan Coon’s J/105 SOLSTICE; after winning the first race perhaps all that celebration went to their heads! Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright For more Heineken St Maarten sailing information
|