All aboard
The ballad of the bareboaters
Summer 2006
The wind is strong, the massive but light keel of a Spinnaker 1 class
ship—the world's fastest sailboat—cuts through the emerald-blue ocean
like a blade. This particular 117-foot monster is one of the best known
Spinnaker 1 sailboats in the world: Sir Peter Harrison's Sojana, manned by a
formidable crew of sailors culled from the America's Cup, Olympic sailing
teams and other top races. The crew, all poised in their positions, await the
moment when the call will come, when the sail trim of the boat will take
them upwind, ready to begin the race.
The captain, an America's Cup skipper from South Africa named Geoff
Meek, waits with his hand held in the air and, sniffing the moment, yells out
for the mast crew to set the sail. "Pull!" Meek
yells out to two men—grinders, they are
called—as they crank furiously upon a winch
that tightens the jib sail, and the boat, already
moving at a nice clip, surges ahead furiously
across the Caribbean Sea. "Let's go for it,
boys!" he screams as the other spinnaker boats
set sail, swan-like, in a proud display. Soon the
multihulls, the catamarans and other ship types
will follow, each trying to win in their
competitive class.
Gallyon van Vessem—a Dutch TV
personality and member of an all-female crew
named Sail in the City—is hardly impressed as
she watches Sojana's sail unfurl in the near
distance. "Boys: too much money and vacation
time on their hands," she states with a small
laugh as she and her fellow crew members
ready their boat—a chartered ship or
"bareboat" as such yachts for hire are called
for a race in their class.
With the bang of a massive gun, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta—one
of sailing's most prestigious yachting events—begins. It's an unusual
sporting event that brings sailors of varying classes and 27 nationalities to
the tiny two-nation Caribbean island of St. Maarten (aka "Sint Maarten" and
"Saint-Martin"). "It's the party of the year for the whole Caribbean, man!"
says a local in a thick pidgin accent.
As the hot wind pushes the yachts in Spinnaker 1 ahead, I realise that
the following three days and nights will be a challenge to keep up with
these sailors, both as they compete and party. They don't call the St.
Maarten Heineken Regatta "Serious Fun" for nothing.
Rewind to six hours before the race began, the previous night. St. Martin
has been preparing itself for months; the hotels, the bars, the yacht clubs
and all the other hospitality services gear up for what is, by far, the biggest
event of the year for this small Caribbean island. The country, often
referred to by its airport code, SXM, to simplify its two-nation status, is one
of the islands which comprise a ring of former colonial territories (St. Barths
was once a part of France; St. Lucia was once a part of the British Empire;
and
St. Maarten remains divided between the Netherlands and France) that has
turned its economy from agriculture to tourism. Populated with a trilingual
community of 100,000, St. Maarten will swell to nearly 150,000 this
weekend as holiday-makers, sailors and fellow islanders come for the
spectacle of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, its party and music that
features the best soca and reggae musicians in the Caribbean as well as hot
international artists.
In fact, a total 30 per cent of the island's annual income will be made
over the course of the week, a fact lost on nobody who lives here. And with
Heineken® constituting over 40 per cent of all beer sales on this island, it's
hard not to call this island "St. Heineken"—and not just for this weekend.
"This is our event, our moment in the sun," explains Albert Rogers, a local
transport operator who has a team of vans working on the island, racing
almost as fast as the boats to get visitors to their destinations. He explains
to me what makes this island different. "You see, here in St. Maarten, we're
a little bit crazy, that's why we love a good party. You know why we're
crazy? Because we have a dual personality: we are two of everything. On St.
Martin you have more than two languages, two governments, two hospitals,
and you have twice as much fun, ha ha!" he tells me with a broad laugh.
"Well, yes, we have fun," interjects Wendy Leone, wife of John Leone, the
Heineken General Manager, St. Maarten, and an unofficial Heineken
ambassador, "but we also work twice as hard, especially these last two
months. We have the parties that will be in four different locations; we have
the international VIP guests that we'll be taking care of; and we have ail the
customers that will need to be supplied and maintained," she ends in a puff.
"Keep in mind that we do all this with a fantastic team of 20 people—not
bad, eh? You will not find a more dedicated team anywhere else in the
Heineken world!" John says with a wink and a pat on my shoulder as he
goes and engages a group of Heineken USA VIPs, debating the recent
Heineken Premium Light launch in the USA. "Don't forget to catch Ozomatli
on Kim Sha Beach Sunday," John says to a passer-by, reminding many that
the parties and concerts are only just beginning.
Heineken has been the title sponsor of the St. Maarten Heineken
Regatta for 23 of its 26 years of existence, and the cooperation between
the local Heineken Company and the organisers, the Sint Maarten Yacht
Club, is one of mutual respect and dedication. The recipe is one that seems
to work: the Sint Maarten Yacht Club takes care of the world-class racing
and Heineken, St. Maarten, takes care of the world-class parties. We told
you, it's "Serious Fun."
While the parties will be a critical component of the St. Maarten Heineken
Regatta, sailing is the raison d'etre for all those who have descended on the
island. "The local economy needs the influx of people, no doubt about it,"
states Gary Brown, a self-proclaimed boating junkie who downshifted from
Wall Street to Philipsburg. He is involved in a local publication called
Docktalk, and is presently trying to raise funds for the Caribbean Music
Museum, to be build in the shape of a steel drum. "But people shouldn't
lose sight of the sailing; it's world-class and exciting. You have excellent
boats, great captains, and with the bareboaters, a sense of real heart, I love
that," he says tipping a glass to a friend. Bareboaters will come from all
over the world, taking holiday time off work and putting a crew of friends
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