There are countless ways to enjoy the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. From beach cats and bareboats to Grand Prix racers and multihulls, this annual Caribbean festival of yachting has a niche for every sailor. For a couple of special crews aboard the Farr 49, Synergy, and the Beneteau Oceanis 473, Team Goldendog, the event provides another opportunity. It gives them the chance to race for a grander purpose, and to use the regatta to raise funds for great causes. Take Team Synergy, the all-woman team based in Curacao, which came together for the first time last October for a regatta in Bonaire. Team leader Lea de Haas said the 14-member crew “had much to learn” about the 49-footer, which was built in 1974. “Everything was new,” she said. “We hadn’t trained before and it was challenging learning a boat with several headsails and an asymmetric spinnaker. Luckily, the winds were light. But the group was so enthusiastic and no job was too big for anyone. It was in Bonaire that we became a team. And we had such a great time and learned so much, that we decided to do the 2008 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.” But de Haas says Team Synergy’s goals go beyond their personal aims. “The idea was to do the Heineken for our own fun but also to raise money for a group of very young teenage girls in Curacao who are pregnant, homeless and out of school. Kai di Bruder Pius is an organization that takes care of these girls by giving them a place to live and assisting in their education so they can learn a profession and take care of their child.”

One member of the Team Synergy crew works at Brider Pius, which is totally dependent on donations and volunteers. The Nagico Marine Insurance Company has helped out with a new headsail for Synergy. Other sponsors include Premier Management Partners, HBN Law, DAE, the Curacao Tourist Bureau, Swissport, and the MCB Bank. For more information, or to make a donation, contact Charlotte Hartmans van de Rijdt at the following email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Another sailor who uses the regatta as a launching pad for good deeds is Connecticut yachtsman Jeffrey Sochrin, who this year will be sailing his fifth Heineken. Sochrin competes in the bareboat class with his mates from the Milford Yacht Club, and he always calls his entry Team Goldendog. Of course, there’s a story behind the name.

“It started with a pretty simple notion,” Sochrin said. “We wanted to sail competitively, but with a cause. I’d always wanted a Golden Retriever and I ended up rescuing and adopting a dog back in the States. So it seemed kind of natural to try and identify homeless animals and find them a good home. And it just kind of took off from there.” Last year, Sochrin’s Beneteau was covered with stickers from the 27 sponsors who now back Team Goldendog (for more on the program, check out their website at www.teamgoldendog.org). In addition to working with the Yankee Golden Retriever Association, they always try to address the problem of stray animals on St. Maarten, an island Sochrin and friends have come to respect and love. Specifically, they contribute to a program that neuters and spades dogs and cats. “We’ve met a lot of great people here,” said Sochrin. “And this whole thing has taken off in ways I couldn’t have imagined.” Of course, you don’t need to have a cause to sail in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, other than the desire to have some “serious fun.” This year’s event, the 28th, is just over a month away, on March 7-9, and the entry list is growing every day. Will you be there? For more information, entry lists, entry forms and much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

Herb McCormick