Press Clip 2007 - Heineken Regatta

Press Clip 2007

The Fun was Serious!

With the 2007 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta on the Books, Organizers Look Ahead to the 28th Running of the Great Festival of Caribbean Sailing (and Partying).

The 27^th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta concluded in fine fashion last evening with a prize-giving ceremony on Kim Sha Beach followed by musical entertainment by the band Orange Grove and the offspring of reggae legend Bob Marley-sons Damian Marley and Stephen Marley-who captivated the crowd of thousands of sailors and islanders with a set that included stirring renditions of many of their father's most memorable songs.

With Style and Finesse...

With Style and Finesse, Bernie Evans-Wong's Cal 40, Huey Too, is Named Boat of the Regatta as the 27th Running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Wraps Up in Spectacular Fashion.

The 27^th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta concluded today in spectacular fashion as more than 200 boats in 20 divisions enjoyed classic Caribbean sailing conditions to wrap up a most memorable running of the annual event.
Highlights of the regatta included the dominating performance of the Volvo 70, abn-reach-finish-big ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson's world-beating yacht, which put on a sailing clinic while regularly registering speeds of better than 20-knots; the addition of a first-ever fourth day of racing for the top race boats, which turned out to be a resounding success; and a Boat of the Regatta award to a design that was first introduced some 40 years ago.
With three straight wins to capture the Non-Spinnaker 2 class, veteran campaigner Bernie Evans-Wong's Cal 40, Huey Too, was named Boat of the Regatta for the 2007 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Evans-Wong, from Antigua, was sailing the venerable design first introduced by designer Bill Lapworth in 1967. The boat was an immediate success in the classic Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, and four decades along, Evans-Wong sailed it to perfection to win his class, and the prestigious prize for 2007.

Let it Blow!

In Big Breeze and Rolling Seas, the Fleet Faces Challenging Conditions En Route to Marigot in the 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

They said it would blow, and blow it did. As early as last Monday, forecasters peering into their long-range crystal balls predicted that the conditions for the 27^th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta would peak for Saturday's racing, with winds hovering around 25-knots and more. Meteorology, of course, is often an inexact science, but this time the weathermen were spot on. When the figurative dust had settled this afternoon and the crews aboard the final boats to arrive had set their anchors off the French port of Marigot, they did so after a fine, challenging and memorable day of yacht racing.

It was the sort of day that sailmakers love, for there was no lack of carnage in the sail inventories-particularly the downwind sails for the seven spinnaker divisions-of many of the 239-boats competing in the event. Tom Hill's 75-foot Titan 12 shredded a spinnaker in spectacular fashion while trying to reach up to a mark off Simpson Bay. A cloud of headsail aboard Lord Irving Laidlaw's Swan 112, Highland Breeze, came floating down to the sea after a halyard parted as the boat cleaved to windward.

There were other, more dramatic incidents on the race course today, too. A crewmember off the Olson 30, Lost Horizons 2, racing in the Spinnaker 6 class, went overboard and was recovered by the team of the Dehler 34, Budget Marine, racing in the Spinnaker 7 division. There were also reports, unconfirmed at the deadline for this release, that a sailor on a Spinnaker 3 class yacht lost a finger in a sail-handling maneuver gone very wrong.

Clash of the Titans!

ABN AMRO ONE Leads Titan 12 and 237 Other Boats Around the Island in Ideal St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Conditions

The clear, azure waters surrounding the green peaks of the island of St. Maarten were dotted with sails of all sizes, colors and descriptions today when racing began for all 20 classes comprising the mammoth 239-boat fleet that has gathered here for the 27th running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Sailing under sunny blue skies and fueled by ideal trade-wind breezes, the racers enjoyed perfect Caribbean conditions for the challenging around-the-island race that's a perennial feature of the annual event.

In what had anxiously been billed as the "Clash of the Titans," spectators and sailors alike were treated today to the duel between the powerful canting-keeled Volvo 70, ABN AMRO ONE, and Tom Hill's lean red rocket, the 75-foot Titan 12, in the 5-boat Bigboats 1 class. Titan 12 was forced to withdraw from Thursday's opening action with a damaged forestay when seven classes of all-out racing yachts set sail to contest the event's inaugural Commodore's Cup sponsored by Budget Marine.

The First-ever Commodore's Cup

The 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Sets Sail for 58 Boats in Seven Classes Competing for the First-ever Commodore's Cup

The 27th edition of the annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta got underway today when 58 boats in seven classes took to the waters off Simpson Bay to contest the inaugural running of the Commodore's Cup by Budget Marine. It was the first time in the regatta's colorful history that racing took place on Thursday with a special series to accommodate those racers in the competitive spinnaker divisions. The entire fleet will begin competition on Friday.

The first boat to finish in the first race for the Commodore's Cup was, fittingly, the Volvo 70 ABN AMRO ONE, the winner of the recent around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. However, the marquis match-up of ABN and Tom Hill's Reichel/Pugh-designed 75-footer, Titan 12, failed to materialize when Titan lost its headstay and was forced to withdraw from racing just minutes before the start.

More than 100 Bareboats

With More than 100 Bareboats on the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Starting Line, Racing in Paradise is Open to One and All.

One of the fantastic things about the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta that’s been proven time and time again—and which the crews of over 100 boats will be demonstrating when racing for the 27th edition of the event begins this week—is that you don’t need to own your own boat to go yacht racing in paradise. All that’s required is a willing crew, a plane ticket, and a chartered bareboat. And on the many islands of the Caribbean, there’s no lack of opportunities to charter fast, comfortable sailboats.
“It’s easy,” said race chairman and co-founder Robbie Ferron, a point underscored by the fact that this running of the regatta has attracted 105 bareboat entrants who will compete in six separate bareboat-only divisions. He added that the level of competition in the bareboat classes is often every bit as competitive as in the all-out racing divisions. “It varies across the board, of course,” said Ferron, “but there are some really, really good boats with some top sailors. Then again, everyone’s serious about the event, but for some of the other charterers the serious part is having fun.”

Final Preparations Underway

Final Preparations Underway as Competitors Ramp Up for Thursday's Start of the 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

Dodging the occasional rain squall while checking off items on their respective to-do lists, the captains and crews of several of the 258 boats registered to compete in this weekend's 27th running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta were in various stages of preparation today. Ready or not, especially for the flat-out race boats that begin competition on Thursday, March 1, the games are about to begin.

Press Release #12 - February 27

Final Preparations Underway as Competitors Ramp Up for Thursday's Start of the 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Twenty Classes, 256 Entries

Two Volvo Ocean Race Winners: The 27th Annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Begins Thursday!

The preliminary numbers are in, and they are impressive. The 27th annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta begins this Thursday, and race officials have divided the 256 entrants into 20 preliminary classes that promise to deliver close, competitive racing across the entire fleet. “It’s all we could hope for,” said race chairman and co-founder Robbie Ferron, as he perused the entry list. “The numbers are there, which is great, but we’ve never been after volume, just quality. And we’re certainly getting that.”

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has always attracted terrific boats and world-class sailors, but it’s not every year that entrants get the opportunity to share a race course and swap tacks with not one, but two winners of ocean racing’s most coveted prize. But that will be the case with the 2007 Heineken, which has attracted the victor of the 2006 Volvo Ocean Race, New Zealand’s Mike “Moose” Sanderson, and his invincible Volvo 70, ABN AMRO ONE. Sanderson and his able crew will be assisted by another Volvo champion, American John Kostecki, who skippered illbruck to the winner’s circle in the 2002 round-the-world race.

Press Release 10 Anticipation is rizing

Anticipation Heightens as 27th Heineken Regatta Draws Near!

There's a ritual that happens every year around this time in the Caribbean. Sailors from near and far anxiously visit the Heineken Regatta website to review the entry list and see which interesting boats will be on the starting lines, and who they'll be competing against in their respective classes. For this 27th annual festival of sailing, the entry list is as strong, and intriguing, as ever before.

Shurwayne Winchester

Heineken St. Maarten announces Shurwayne Winchester and the Top local bands and DJ’s to perform at the 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Heineken St. Maarten in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, announces one more international artist to the 27th ST. Maarten Heineken Regatta line-up. This will complement the well-rounded list of the top local bands and DJ's to perform at this year's St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

Shurwayne Winchester will be the top Soca act for the Front de la Mer party in Marigot on Saturday March 3rd. Shurwayne, who is blessed with a great singer's voice, was born in Tobago on February 8th, 1974. He entered the world of Soca in 1999, his performance garnered rave reviews and was deemed "Most Dynamic" by the press that year. That same year he released his album "Rumor Riddims" which stayed on the top of the charts for seven months.

Something’s Brewing!

The 2007 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Promises Spectacular Sailing

The 27th edition of the incomparable St. Maarten Heineken Regatta-renowned in the sailing world for its unbeatable combination of fast-paced action at sea and world-class parties ashore-is now just weeks away. And a sneak peak at the early entry list suggests that the emerging fleet will be as strong, and diverse, as ever.

As always, the Heineken Regatta is attracting an international field of competitors all anxious to test their skills in the challenging blue waters of the Caribbean. Veteran U.S. campaigner James Muldoon and the crew of his Santa Cruz 72, Donnybrook, will no doubt be swapping plenty of tacks with French skipper Rivet Gaetan aboard his Andrews 70, Renegade. The upper end of the fleet has also attracted Belgium's Anders Johnson on the Swan 70, Blue Pearl; American Jim Swartz on the Swan 601, Moneypenney; and Trey Fitzgibbons aboard his Meritan 65, Mischievous. Perhaps they should all beware of Scott Bradford and his team of knowledgeable Caribbean sailors aboard the Reichel/Pugh-designed Titan 12, who will base their tactical calls on vast reserves of local knowledge.

Ziggi and Orange Grove to perform at the 27th Regatta

St Maarten Heineken Regatta announcesZiggi and Orange Grove to perform at the 27th Regatta

Heineken St. Maarten today announces two more musical additions to the lineup for the 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, Ziggi from Statia will headline the performances in Philipsburg the 2nd of March 2007 and the St. Maarten-rooted band Orange Grove will perform on the main stage on Kim Sha Beach on the night of the final Party, Sunday March 4th. They will be opening for the Headline act, Damian Marley & Stephen Marley.

Heineken St. Maarten in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Yacht club strives every year to keep a high standard of musical performances. Ziggi’s & Orange Grove’s growing fame - especially in the Netherlands – certainly meets this requirement.

Reggae/Dancehall artist Ziggi , a.k.a. Ziggaman, was born in the Netherlands in March 8th 1981. Ziggi later left for the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, his father’s motherland. In Statia, the young Ricardo Blijden grew up with his grandparents who gave him the nickname Ziggi, a name that he has kept ever since.

Damian Marley and Stephen Marley

St. Maarten Heineken Regatta announces Damian Marley and Stephen Marley to perform at 27th Regatta.

Heineken, known for presenting trend setting musical performances around the globe, is proud to announce the headline performance of Damian Marley and Stephen Marley, for the final night of this years 27th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Heineken St. Maarten, in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, is proud to present the globally acclaimed Marley brothers as part of the celebration for its world-renown St.Maarten Heineken Regatta. This Regatta boasts the distinguished title of the largest sailing race in the Caribbean. The outdoor concert event is scheduled to conclude the festivities on Sunday, March 4th 2007 on the white sands of Kim Sha Beach.

Budget Marine sponsors commendores cup

Budget Marine sponsors commendores cup, added day to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

In 2007 the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta will be held for the 27th time. Every year the regatta organization aims for improvement and evolvement of the regatta. Over the years the increase in the amount of participating boats has been astounding and the regatta has grown out to be the biggest regatta in the Caribbean.

Mike Sanderson to skipper ABN Amro One

Mike Sanderson to skipper ABN Amro One in 27th St.Maarten Heineken Regatta

In the upcoming 27th edition of the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta ABN Amro One “Black Betty” will be skippered by Mike Sanderson this week named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2006. Mike Sanderson, who headed up a two boat campaign sponsored by ABN AMRO, one of the world’s leading banks, earlier this year won one of the worlds most renowned events in the sailing calendar; the ‘Volvo Ocean Race’ with a crew of some of the very best sailors in the world.

Hot Participation in 27th St.Maarten Heineken Regatta

While the Caribbean awaits the arrival of an annual influx of boats, word of plans to participate in the Heineken Regatta continues to come in. This year the regatta will be known for the participation of ABN AMRO 1, the sensational machine that won the Volvo Ocean in grand style and brought great exposure to the largest Dutch International Bank that supported it.
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Extra day of racing added

CHIPPIE powered by UTS joins St.Maarten Heineken Regatta

SIMPSON BAY—the 27th edition of the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta will feature an extra day of racing. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club yesterday. Organizers of the Caribbean’s largest regatta also announced that CHIPPIE powered by UTS has been added to the list of many businesses that sponsor the “Serious Fun” event.

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