Racing day
together or like-minded enthusiasts. They are part-time sailors, weekend
wave warriors who have grown up with sailing and take opportunities like
the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta to compete against other sailors at their
level. Each day of the race, a course is set from different parts of the island
with each class having different start times. There are accidents as boats
tack on the buoy, dead wind that strands boats on the water, and finals that
see mere seconds make the difference between victory and defeat. "It's a
terrific opportunity for these kinds of sailors to be in a professional
environment, yet be able to compete in a class that really tests their
abilities. It's a little bit like racing on a track that Michael Schumacher has
just been on—that's pretty inspiring for these sailors," Henry Menin, one of
the judges for the competition, states. Menin, who is himself based in St.
Thomas, is certainly an informed opinion; he's also one of the America's
Cup judges. "This isn't a kiddy course, the bareboaters race the same
course as the big spinnakers, but even a pair of guys in a catamaran can be
heroes. It's about the sailing, and not how expensive the boats are."
Mirian Ebbers is the Regatta Director of the St. Maarten Heineken
Regatta, a Dutch woman who arrived on the island some 10 years ago and
never left. While she's happy to have the bareboaters, she's also steadfast
in her judgment that the race should be professionalised even further, her
ambition being to make the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta the premier
sailing event in the Caribbean, if not the world. This year's inclusion of the
St. Maarten Heineken Regatta in the 2006 US-IRC Gulf Stream Series moves
her towards that goal.
"Yes, the bareboaters are important, that's true," counters Ebbers, "but
we also want the Spinnaker Is to be here. I want all the top boats
competing in this race. Because we were too heavy on the bareboat
emphasis before, that was harder to do, but it's changing; this year we have
more spinnakers and multihulls than ever. Come to think of it, we have
more boats than ever, which is a surprise considering that last year was the
25-year jubilee. I would like all the rock stars competing," she says with a
bemused laugh. Judging from the line-up for tomorrow's race—classic
multihull Tryst, Titan captained by Tom Hill, Lionel Pean's Jongert 88 and
Pascal Marchais, Beachcat legend—her wish list isn't far off the mark. "Be
up early," Ebbers tells me, "we're going to have a full day of racing. The
boats get ready at 7 AM." While the party still rages, I take her advice and
follow the other sailors who are already starting to leave the festivities.
Sure enough, racing day comes early as promised. Crews who have been
A crew can be anywhere from a few sailors to a dozen or more
John Leone, General Manager, Heineken St. Marteen
THE VOKID OF HEIHEKEH
