Registration open for Gill Commodore's Cup at St. Maarten

Bill Alcott’s 65-foot Equation during the Gill Commodores Cup at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta © St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

What could be better than racing for three days with over 2000 of the world's best sailors? How about racing for four days! The St.Maarten Heineken Regatta is proud to announce that their pre-event, the Gill Commodore's Cup, is accepting entries in all boat categories (excluding Lottery Class). This pre-event, which has been running for almost a decade, used to be open to Spinnaker boats only, but for the 35th edition of the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta, organizers are enthusiastically inviting all regatta entries to take part in this great warm up race. The Gill Commodore's Cup takes place on March 5th 2015, and will maintain individual results, allowing sailors to practice and perfect their racing without influencing their main event results.

The Commodore's Cup has been sponsored by Gill for the past 6 years and adds another dimension to the already multifaceted St.Maarten Heineken Regatta. David Pritchard, who has been a hands on title sponsor, expressed "We are delighted! Even more Serious Fun to be had on the waters off St Maarten. Most racers will be able to sail in the Gill Commodore's Cup as a warm up race day opportunity and also shake down their competition!

Two starting lines for the fleet and a couple of races are planned. Gill is giving away cool new gear for awards and one crew will receive technical UV 50+ shirts in a special prize.

We will also have a nice collection of St. Maarten Heineken Regatta branded Gill technical UV gear for sale during the entire 35th St.Maarten Heineken Regatta."

The choice to open up the event to the entire fleet came as a logical step for regatta organizers. Regatta Director, Michele Korteweg, was asked why the decision was made to change the format of the event from Spinnaker only to all classes and she enthusiastically replied "The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta was always kept to 3 days to accommodate those sailors that couldn't afford to take a whole week off from work. They could fly in on Thursday and be back on Monday, missing only 3 days of work rather than 5. However, we've noticed that more participants bring their boats to St. Maarten one or two weeks in advance or charter a boat for the whole week.

The demand for more racing became obvious and therefore it was a natural progression to open up the Gill Commodore's Cup to all classes. This way people who go out practicing anyway on the Thursday can now do this in an official race, without it influencing their overall result of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. They get to enjoy the competition, without having to worry too much on how it affects their results. However, Gill is sponsoring some nice prizes again this year, so I'm certain people will try hard to get on the podium. We are very enthusiastic by this development, it just makes sense to offer more racing to everyone. If the participants are here and want to sail, we have to accommodate them."

In addition to opening up the pre-event to all regatta sailors the Organizers were quick to add they also plan to introduce an extra race on the Sunday, depending on weather conditions.

"Now the sailors have the prospect of enjoying 6 races, rather than just 4. By keeping the Gill Commodore's Cup optional we are hoping to accommodate even more sailors. Those who can only be in St. Maarten for a couple of days can still enjoy the 3 days of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, but those who might not have considered coming before because it wasn't worth the expense for 3 days of racing, might decide to participate now that there is more racing to enjoy. We are excited to see what the response will be from our participants and hope to see many more boats out racing on Thursday!" stated Korteweg.

With so much additional racing planned for 2015, participants will most certainly have an action filled regatta. In addition to the top notch racing that is offered at this event, regatta participants will be treated to nightly concerts with international musicians, and have the chance to enjoy one of the world's most beautiful places on earth, the host island of St.Maarten. Crystal clear waters and pristine beaches will be the backdrop for this 35th edition of the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta and regatta organizers are promising more exciting racing, heart pumping music and ice cold Heinekens.

For full information on the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, including results, photos, videos, party and band information, and much, much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.