Early this March the Heineken
Regatta, a yacht race around the
Caribbean island of St Maarten, was
held for the seventeenth time. With
226 entries, the number of competi
tors was again higher than in the
previous year's edition and the
Regatta has grown to become the
major sailing event in the Caribbean.
The principal feature of the Heineken
Regatta is the unique combination of
serious sailing, then having fun
afterwards.
HEINEKEN REGATTA
MORE THAN
'SERIOUS FUN'
The event creates growing excite
ment each year. To quote one of
the enthusiastic contestants: "The
Heineken Regatta is a tremendous
event. Absolutely top class! Certainly
when you realise that all the hospita
lity arrangements and the entire pre
sentation and publicity of the event
are handled by the importer and a
handful of people. I have great admi
ration for them." That perfect
Heineken image is mainly the work
of Ron Oldenburg and his crew. In his
regular job Mr Oldenburg is
Managing Director of the liquor divi
sion of Jan Bruinsma, the Heineken
importer on St Maarten. But in the
months leading up to the event he
works closely together with Mark
Bakker Schut of Heineken Trading in
Curasao to finalise all the prepara
tions for the Heineken Regatta.
The 17th Heineken Regatta could
not complain about a shortage of
media attention. ESPN, America's
biggest and most important sports
channel, was present on all the race
days and filmed a report which was
aired on TV in the beginning of May.
A Dutch and a German television
crew also filmed the action and jour
nalists from all around the region
flocked to the island.
These pages show a photograph
ic impression of the Heineken
Regatta. Specially for The World of
Heineken, pictures of the races in the
various classes were shot from a heli
copter.
