Fresh Faces and Familiar Favorites Find Winner’s Circle at 2009 IGY Commodore’s Cup
 St. Maarten, N.A. (March 5, 2009) – Tom Leweck flashed a big thumb’s up. The well-known “Curmudgeon,” the founder of the widely read yacht-racing newsletter, Scuttlebutt, was taking a break after the first of three races today in the third annual IGY Commodore’s Cup, the tune-up series to the 2009 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Leweck, serving in the after guard aboard Damon Juizot’s Swan 53, Katrina, was in an upbeat mode after registering a third place in the highly competitive Racing A class.
“So far,” he said. “So good.”
As it turned out, things were about to get even better aboard Katrina, which went on to score two straight firsts in the next two windward/leeward races to earn the top prize in Racing A in the IGY Commodore’s Cup, sailed in moderate east-southeasterly winds of 10-12 knots off Simpson Bay. Katrina, having recently sailed into St. Maarten after a long and sometimes rugged delivery from her home waters of Southern California, was one of a handful of boats making their Caribbean debut. The well-sailed 53-footer, with a top crew including former Latitude 38 racing editor Rob Moore, joined several familiar boats and sailors with well-established local pedigrees in the event, sponsored by Island Global Yachting.
 Among the winning, returning veterans to St. Maarten was Puerto Rican sailor Sergio Sagramoso, who earned top honors in the Racing C class, edging out yet another well-known island sailor, Antiguan Carlo Falcone aboard Caccia alla Volpe. Sagramoso’s new Lazy Dog, a Beneteau First 44.7, is a replacement for his older 40-foot Beneteau of the same name. Clearly, the talented skipper and his crew have picked up precisely where they left off.
In Racing D, the Kattack Racing crew dominated the action with three straight victories. The team had originally scheduled a charter aboard a Ker 46, which was damaged in a delivery prior to the event. So the resilient Kattack sailors chartered a 40-footer from Ondeck yacht charters, and made the quick and necessary adjustments that led to an exemplary performance.
Other winners today included the Swan 42, Arethusa, in Racing B; and the Melges 24, Coors-Light Sailing Team, in Racing E. Altogether, a fleet of 52 yachts gathered in the clear waters off St. Maarten to contest the IGY Commodore’s Cup, a separate day of racing for the flat-out racing yachts prior to the three-day St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, which begins on Friday, March 6th.
In other news, due to a weekend forecast of strong northerly winds and accompanying heavy swells, the organizers of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, in collaboration with the St. Maarten Maritime Police, have announced a schedule change to the on-the-water racing on Saturday and Sunday. The change will not affect any of the shore-side activities in Marigot previously scheduled for Saturday. Sunday’s award ceremonies and parties will also proceed as previously scheduled.
Friday’s schedule of racing, which includes the traditional around-the-island race, and all post-race parties and activities, also remain unchanged.
On Saturday and Sunday, due to the anticipated ground swell in Marigot Bay, race officials will post new courses that begin and end off Simpson Bay. The amended race courses will be posted at the St. Maarten Yacht Club by 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday, March 7th, race results, jury hearings, and all previously scheduled parties, press conferences, and entertainment, will take place in Marigot, the island’s French-side capital, as previously planned.
The event organizers apologize for any inconvenience. The changes in the racing schedule have been instrumented for safety reasons and the protection of participating sailors and boats. A northerly swell of 15-feet or is forecast to descend on Marigot, making anchoring and safe shore-side landings untenable.
For full information on Budget Marine Match Racing, the IGY Commodore’s Cup and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, as well as entry lists, entry forms and much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.
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