Saint Martin Heineken Regatta - Day One

'Crash Test Dummies' Shake Up 20th Heineken Regatta

The 20th annual Sint Maarten/Saint Martin Heineken Regatta, with 256 entrants, is now the largest regatta ever in the Caribbean. The participants raced in 17 classes under the CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association) rating rule, and represented 22 different countries.

While Heineken Beer is the primary sponsor, the Sint Maarten Yacht Club actually hosts the event.

The big winner in racing fleet was 'Crash Test Dummies' of Trinidad. It beat 'Twisted Lizard' (USA) by two minutes on corrected.

"We were thinking about a port tack start," said an exuberant 'dummy' crew member afterwards, "and then our tactician Paul Dielemans spotted a hole opening up. We jumped on it, and had one of our best starts ever. This allowed us to get clean air and control our competition on the first beat, and by the time we got to the weather mark... we were already feeling good."

Dielemans agreed their performance was solid. "We didn't sail into any holes, and our crew work was good. Also, the boat was perfectly prepared, which is always a big plus."

'Crash Test Dummies' was built by Soca Boats of Trinidad, designed by Glen Henderson of the United States and helmed by sailmaker Doug Fisher.

Last year (steered by Paul Amon of Trinidad) it easily won Tobago Sailing Week and the Barbados Regatta, and placed third overall in both the Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (CORT) series and during Antigua Sailing Week. It also won the prestigious Caribbean overall 'Travelers Trophy.'

This year had Paul Amon aboard again, as well as Sint Maarten sailing legend Paul Dielemans. (Dielemans has won the Heineken twice, Antigua Sailing Week once, and represented the Netherland Antilles in the Olympics.)

The second place in racing fleet went to 'Twisted Lizard,' a Mumms 30 owned by Mike Lathrop. Unfortunately, she had her shore- stored carbon fiber mast run over and severely crushed by a shipyard crane a few days before the event, but managed to repair it just in time.

"We launched her the day before the regatta," said Ellen Sanpere, "and hoped for the best. Winning our class was, well, very satisfying after all our trouble..."

Weather conditions were near perfect for the first day of the Heineken, with sunny skies, flat seas and a 7 to 14 knot breeze.

The Big Boat class was won by the Carrol Marine 60 'Highland Fling' owned by Irvine Laidlaw. 'Ulysses', a Swan 60 owned by Bruno Proveze, was second. Bill Alcott's Santa Cruz 70 'Equation' came third.

The largest group was the bareboat fleet with 118 entrants.

Another record was broken when the 162 foot, 360 ton schooner 'Blue Gold' entered the 'open' or fun class in the Heineken. This is the largest vessel to ever to enter the Heineken.

The Open (or 'fun') Class finished Sam Jang, BeMine, and Blue.

The multihull racing class was a pleasant surprise with an old 44 foot Dick Newick warhorse named 'Ninth Charm' showing up among the top finishers.(However, at press time final results for this class was not finalized.)

Multihull cruising was 'Witchcraft', 'Trois Quatorze' and 'Ti Lagoon'.

The beach cats were 'New England Cat' (Richard Bliss), 'Worrell Brothers Restaurant' and 'Team Tybee Island'.

Provisional results Class by class:

Racing I:         Crash Test Dummies
                  Twister
                  Reet Petite

Racing II:        Twisted Lizard
                  Rehab
                  Girobank/Biolab

Big Boats:        Highland Fling
                  Ulysses
                  Equation

Cruising/Racing I   Harrier
                    Anthem
                    Xcargo

Cruising/Racing II  Flechette
                    Nikki
                    Alibi

Cruising/Racing III Scarlet-Oger
                    Nash Star
                    Goodwood Investments

Cruising I        Javelin
                  Pacific
                  Lady S

Cruising II       Budget Nautique
                  Pocho
                  Pretty Woman

Bareboat I        Fijnhout
                  Zeus
                  Veronese
   
Bareboat II       Juluca
                  Dotec Tihulpen
                  Kalalou   

Bareboat III      Team Cape May
                  Z.V. Westergo
                  Vlaminck  

Multihull Cruising  Witchcraft
                    Trois Quatorze
                    Ti Lagoon 

Beach Cats        New England Cat
                  Worrell Brothers Restaurant
                  Team Tybee Island 

More Information: www.heinekenregatta.com