With the 2008 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta on the Books, Organizers Look Ahead to the 29th Running of the Great Celebration of Caribbean Sailing and Partying

St. Maarten, N.A. (March 10) – The sensational 28th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta finished in fine fashion last evening with the traditional prize-giving ceremony on Kim Sha Beach followed by musical entertainment by Grammy-winning recording artist Shaggy, who had an overflowing throng of thousands of sailors and islanders dancing by the sea.

As race organizers and the dozens of volunteers who helped make the regatta a tremendous success took a deep breath after the four-day marathon of sailing and parties, plans were already being set in motion for the 29th running of the annual event, which is scheduled for March 5-8, 2009.

Steering committee chairman and event co-founder Robbie Ferron, with assistance from a host of St. Maarten officials, handed out prizes to the top boats in the regatta’s 21 divisions, with special awards presented to the regatta’s outstanding performers. The CBBS Cups, presented to the high scorers in the Caribbean Big Boat Series, went to Sam Fleet’s Swan 601, Aquarius, in the Racing category and to Peter Harrison’s Farr 115, Sojana, in the Racing/Cruising class.

TP 52 Panthera, SeaCart 30 True Look, and a Pair of J/Boats Among Big Winners at 28th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

St. Maarten, N.A. (February 9) – The 28th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta wrapped up today, in similar fashion to the way it began: With clear skies and a steady breeze offering ideal conditions for a record-setting fleet of competitors. And after the series’ final race, a point-to-point contest from Marigot, on the island’s French side, to Philipsburg on the Dutch side, an impressive array of winners emerged.

In the animal kingdom, the term “Panthera” is synonymous with a mighty species of “cats that roar.” It proved to be a fitting title in the big-boat Spinnaker 1 division as well, where the UK-based TP 52, owner Benny Kelly’s Panthera, capped a strong effort by conquering an impressive fleet of competitors, particularly the canting-keel, turbo-charged Cookson 50, Privateer. Panthera went undefeated in the five-race series for the spinnaker classes, with Privateer wracking up five straight seconds.

Tight Racing Across Board Sets Up Grand Finale for 28th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Marigot, St. Maarten (February 8) – With two great days of racing down, and one huge Sunday still to go, the cream is rising to the top in one of the windiest, wildest St. Maarten Heineken Regattas to date. After Saturday’s racing, in some classes, a clear front-runner has been established. In others, the final outcome is far from certain.

The seven divisions of high-level, spinnaker flying race boats had a busy day Saturday, with three races contested in winds that started out in the mid-twenty-knot range, but gradually eased into the teens as the day progressed. The first two races were windward/leeward, around-the-buoys contests of Simpson Bay. After lunch, the Magnificent Seven reconvened for a point-to-point, 20-mile distance race to Marigot on the French side of St. Maarten. The other classes—including three Multihull fleets, the six bareboat divisions, and the Open and Exhibition classes—each enjoyed a single race to the lively French town.

Multihulls Lead the Way, Chippewa Off the Warpath in Wild Opening Session of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten (February 7) – On roiling, turquoise seas flecked with whitecaps, a record fleet of 284 entrants – fueled by steady easterly Caribbean trade winds of 25-knots and more – set sail today to begin the 28th annual running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. And as the day progressed, there were more than a few surprises throughout the sizable fleet.
Perhaps the biggest surprise occurred relatively early in the action, when Clay Deutsch’s Swan 68, Chippewa, a seasoned campaigner in major East Coast events and throughout the Caribbean – and a defending champion in the Heineken Regatta, having won its class in 2007 – was forced to the rear of the Spinnaker 2 division after losing its lone headsail halyard.

47 Boats in 7 Classes Kick Off Heineken Action in Second Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup 

St. Maarten, N.A. March 6 – The sailing was spirited, the images memorable. There was Elandra, the Beneteau First 40.7, wiping out at the leeward mark and struggling with a spinnaker takedown as many of her competitors slipped past. And MAD IV, the Grand Soleil 50, suffering the same mishap with her kite flailing away at the masthead. And no one who saw it will forget the sight of the Melges 24, French Connection, in a near knockdown with her big red asymmetric spinnaker in the water as her crew scrambled to windward to try and get her back upright. 

But no crew had more of a handful than the team aboard the J/109, Vrijgezeilig, which faced not one but two fire drills: a spinnaker that exploded into three sections and, worse, a man-overboard situation when an unfortunate crewman went into the drink after yet another broach. That incident had a happy ending, as the soaked sailor was recovered a minute later and Vrijgezeilig resumed racing.  

In other words, the weathermen said it would blow today, and blow it did. 

Ideal Sailing Conditions Await Record Fleet for the 28th Running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

St. Maarten, N.A. February 5 – The race committee, event organizers and islanders – as well as the dozens and dozens of volunteers who help pull it all together – are ready. The party venues are set, the tents have been erected, and the musicians are tuning up. The icy green bottles of Heineken are waiting in the coolers, and folks are getting thirsty. There’s only one thing left to do. 

Go sailing. 

The 28^th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is about to commence, with a record-setting fleet of 281 boats registered to compete. The wind gods, it appears, are smiling on the racers, with ideal Caribbean sailing conditions – east-northeast tradewinds hovering in the mid-20-knot range – forecast for the opening days of the event. 

“It’s great to have a record number, it shows we’re doing something right,” said Robbie Ferron, the chairman of the regatta’s steering committee. “But our emphasis has never been about getting bigger, only better. And I like to think we’re doing that as well.” 

For the second straight year, the action will commence on Thursday as seven classes of flat-out, spinnaker-flying race boats gather on the racecourse for the Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup. Fifty-eight yachts have registered for the Commodore’s Cup, a three-race series that is scored separately than the main event. The three-day St. Maarten Heineken Regatta then begins on Friday, March 7. 

Today, a number of boats took advantage of the clear skies, bright sunshine and brisk breeze to hoist sail and continue preparations. A pair of boats in the spinnaker racing classes – the Swan 70, Blue Pearl, and the Ker 11.3, Minnie the Moocher – sailed several long tacks to windward before hoisting kites and practicing jibes. One of the five Gunboats set to race in their own separate division – the 62-footer, Looking for Elvis – spent much of the afternoon working on upwind technique. Meanwhile, the crew of the CM 60, Venomous, bent on a new carbon-fiber mainsail. 

Click here for the party schedule of 2008!

Sunday 2nd March 2008

The Sint Maarten Yacht Club will hold the annual Heineken Warm Up Race as usual on the Sunday before the Annual Heineken Regatta. This year the race will take place on Sunday the 2nd of March. The race will start at 10 am in Simpson Bay and the skippers meeting, where the courses will be announced will be at 6pm at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club on Saturday 1st March. The race will run along the South Coast of St. Maarten and will be a moderate length Sunday course. All boats that are eligible to sail the Heineken Regatta are welcome to participate. There is no entry fee for the boats participating in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta warm up race.

Robbie Ferron

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.”

On Saturday the 2^nd of February many enthusiastic children ages 4 – 14 years old and their parents and teachers visited the Sint Maarten Yacht Club in Simpson Bay, because of the prize giving of the 9^th annual Kids art competition organized by the Sint Maarten yacht club and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. A few weeks before the prize giving all the school children on the Dutch side of the island received the assignment for this competition,whose goal is to involve the local school children in the regatta, and help them to come in touch with sailing and the event. The Thursday before the prize giving the judges Petra Gilders (Sint Maarten Yacht Club), Ruby Bute, Antoine Chapon and Lucia Trifan (all artists), selected the prize winners. There were four different age groups with 1st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place prize winners. The first prize winners of each category are Nadja van den Boogert from the Sister Marie Laurence School (4 – 5 years old), Samantha Heemskerk from the CIA (6 – 8 years old) Steven Cloose from the Sister Regina School (9 – 11 years old), and Sophia and Maike from the Sister Magda Primary School (boat project). The Prins Willem Alexander School won the 1^st prize for their class project, with a huge boat made out of recycled materials, the Hillside Christian Elementary school and the Sundial school won two prizes. The organization would like to thank all the companies on the island who were willing to sponsor such wonderful prizes for the participating children: Ama Jewelers, Aquamania, Bayside Riding Club, the Butterfly Farm, Pizza Galley, Rhino Safari, Sint Maarten Yacht Club Youth Sailing program, St. Maarten Park and van Dorp bookstores. At the end of the prize giving, many children left the yacht club with a big smile on their faces and the organization was completely satisfied with another successful event. For more information or for next years Kids art competition, contact the regatta office at 544-2079.

St. Maarten N.A., January 23, 2008

Heineken St. Maarten N.V., in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, is proud to announce the top musical performance for the largest sailing event in the Caribbean, the 28^th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The headline performance for the outdoor beach concert, scheduled to conclude the St Maarten Heineken Regatta on Sunday, March 9^th 2008, is Mister Lover Lover himself, Shaggy! Shaggy (born Orville Richard Burrell, October 22, 1968, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican Americanreggae singer whose distinctive sub-baritone voice has made him an international supstar..

After one decade, six albums, two of them multi-platinum, five number 1 hits, and eleven top ten singles world wide, Grammy award winning Big Yard recording artist Shaggy is on the grind. Making music that celebrates his Caribbean culture, Shaggy is an ambassador for Reggae and Dancehall music, and he is also considered Jamaica’s only living Diamond-plus selling artist.

In the early 1990’s, Shaggy entered the scene with “Oh Carolina”, and the album “Boombastic” solidified Shaggy as a dancehall hit-maker, winning the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. When “Hotshot” dropped in 2000, it became a best-selling album and sold over 13 million albums worldwide. It topped the charts in the US, UK, Germany and Australia simultaneously. Hotshot rocketed to the top of the charts with two phenomenal singles, “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel”.  Shaggy's 2005 effort Clothes Drop had serious radio-play in Jamaica and Japan, and it propelled the dancehall singer's career all the way to 2007 with the release of the "Church Heathen" single. That tune took the dancehall world by storm, re-established the singer's footing in the U.K., and began to make a big impact in the States closing off 2007. The album “Intoxication”, his worldwide comeback hit, samples hot crossover material — "What's Love" with Akon, "Bonafide Girl" with Rik Rok , "Mad Mad World" with Collie Buddz and  "Wear di Crown" with Mischieve,  and boldly declares itself "Big Yard Music". With Intoxication, Shaggy has once again found that perfect balance of slick and streetwise.  To date, Shaggy has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.

The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has it all: outstanding sailing in blue Caribbean seas, world-class parties and entertainment, and an island venue that can’t be beat. If you asked the event’s most competitive sailors what, if anything, was missing, there really could be only one answer. More racing..
Race organizers listened, and last year they added a fourth day of competition, the Budget Marine Commodore’s Cup, to the traditional three-day event. It isn’t for everyone, noted race chairman Robbie Ferron. “It’s for the flat-out racers in the spinnaker classes,” he said. “The rest of the fleet can enjoy the regatta over the usual three-day schedule.” Still, according to Ferron, the first running of the Commodore’s Cup was an instant, unqualified success. “It was just one of the greatest days,” he said. “We had spectacular 15-17 knot tradewind conditions, a very competitive fleet, and three windward/leeward races in one day. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.” So, not surprisingly, they’re doing it again. The second annual Commodore’s Cup will kick off the 28^th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta on Thursday, March 6^th. Last year’s Cup attracted 58 entries racing in seven dedicated spinnaker classes. In the Bigboat 1 class, the big winner was the Volvo 70, ABN AMRO ONE. Antigua’s Carlo Valcone did well, winning the Spinnaker 3 division on his 44-foot Caccia alla Volpe. Another well-known Caribbean campaigner who scored a spot in the winner’s circle was Puerto Rico’s Sergio Sargramoso, who topped the Spinnaker 5 class aboard his Beneteau 40.7, Lazy Dog. Other winners in 2007 included Clay Deutsch’s Swan 68, Chippewa, from the USA, in Bigboat 2, and St. Maarten sailor Ian Hope-Ross’s Beneteau First 36.7, Kick ‘em Jenny, in Spinnaker 7. Both boats are among the early entrants for 2008 and will be looking to defend the titles they earned last year. 

 
Picture from left to right: Kim van Loo (Manager Shipwreck shops), Heather Tackling (Director Heineken Regatta), Marisa Brandy (Office Manager Nature Foundation Sint Maarten) John Leone (Director Heineken St Maarten) and Mandy Renkens (Event & Promotions Manager Heineken St Maarten).

The Nature Foundation of Sint Maarten and the St. Martin Réserve Naturelle were delighted to each receive a much needed donation from Heineken St. Maarten this week, to put towards their conservation programs on both side of the islands. The funds were raised through the sale of white ‘serious clean fun’ bracelets during the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta 2007. “During the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, we wanted to raise the exposure concerning the importance of keeping our island and it’s waters clean”, says Heineken St. Maarten Managing Director John Leone, the green “Meet You There” bracelets we donated last year were very well received, so we decided to repeat this mechanism again this year. This year we contributed white “Serious Clean Fun” bracelets”.  “We were very happy that we were able to generate over $3000.00 to share between the 2 foundations.”

Hailing from the tropical island of Barbados, and crowned the undisputed “Queen of Soca” by fans worldwide, the British born Alison Hinds is set to release her power and passion on Marigot, St. Martin, Saturday March 8, 2008 during the 28th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The intoxicating musical movement known as SOCA (popular dance music of the SOuthern CAribbean) is rapidly gaining popularity among music lovers around the globe. It is a sexy and uplifting music known for its infectious rhythms and spirited spicy lyrics that inspires jubilant audience participation albeit with waving hands and flags to swaying hips, all in a ritualistic celebration that exemplifies life today in the Caribbean. ALISON HINDS is poised to become a major force in the eruption of innovative urban-influenced Caribbean-based artists such as fellow-Bajan popstar Rihanna, Sean Paul, and Shaggy, who are changing the face of music worldwide Alison will be performing hits off the August 2007 release of her first solo album SOCA QUEEN, an upbeat collection of original songs which captures Alison Hinds’ passionate sensual vocals, infectious driving rhythms and spirited lyrics.

The 29th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta 2009 will take place on March 5 - 8.

Forget foreign navies, the St Maarten Heineken regatta is to get its own fleet of high performance Gunboats and other than high–tech construction there won’t be a weapon in sight. As many as six Gunboat catamarans will inject a shot of adrenaline into the multihull division of the 2008 Heineken regatta. The boats, built in Cape Town, South Africa, and sailed to the Caribbean on their own keel, are gaining worldwide popularity as an alternative to a performance monohull. Gunboat company founder Peter Johnstone had no doubt when he chose the Heineken Regatta to showcase his spectacular boats. "Gunboat is developing a premier owner based class and we have selected the best venues and events in the world because our owner's demand that.

Plan for the 28th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

6 to 9 March 2008 !