LIQUID IS BOAT OF THE REGATTA
GREAT BAY – For the next two days, the line between the crews that are in it for the fun and the very serious ones may be marginal, but in the 12th edition of the Gill Commodore Cup, a dry run on the day before the 37th St Maarten Heineken Regatta, a few boats were able to get their names in the books.
Yesterday’s sailing was another record breaking event that involved 89 boats competing in 38 categories. With winds gusting between 18 and 20 knots, everyone took advantage of the downwind courses but as expected, sailing into the wind turned out to be very challenging for some.
At the usual press conference held before the handing out of awards, a special moment was taken to acknowledge the passing of two professional photographers. Bob Grieser and Brian McBriarthy will certainly be missed.
Liquid, a J/122 from Antigua & Barbuda racing in the CSA 3 class, emerged as the ‘Boat of the Regatta’ after securing two 3rd places and a 1st. Occupying the number two spot was Team Boston followed by El Ocaso.
Race results
Bareboat -3 -KHS&S Contractors, United Region Boys and Baltics
BB-2 Salish Sisters, Barrenagai Bay Buccaneers and Francesca
BB-3 Trem Sailing, Texas 2 Step and Cracker Jack
Multi Hull 2 and La Novia, Agalina.
MH-1 Morticia and Bobby Dazzler
Offshore Multi Hull- Fujin, the only boat to finish the race in that category.
Melges 24, the super fast class of boats
Gill Race Team, GFA Caraibes and Team Island Water World
CSDA 5- Whistler, Solstice and Touch 2 PLay Racing
CSA 4- Le’Esperance, Micron 69 and Defiant
CSA 2- Taz, Lazy Dog and Purple Rain
CSA 1- Scarlet Oyster, Fortunata and Partisan Racing.
Ocean Class- Ambersail, CHallenger and SFS Team.
Maxi Class- Zampano, Sapphire and Spirit of Juno
Now with that warm up race over, the 165 boats that registered for the regatta will be facing unpredictable conditions starting today with the Around The Island Race. Its rather ironic that its the 37th regatta around the 37 square mile island.
In this case, it will be nautical miles and erasing the 1 hour, 30 minutes and 19 seconds set by Lloyd Thornburg and his crew aboard Phaedo3 in March of 2016 can be considered a possibility but hardly a probability.
There are a few things that will make the 37th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta more unique than ever. One is the presence of former Dutch National Hockey Team players and Olympic Gold medalists Kim Lammers and Sophie Polkamp who will be aboard the boat ‘Something Hot’.
Number two is Brad Kendell the very first double amputee to compete in the regatta who also happens to have won a Silver medal at the Rio Games. Kendell, a member of the KHS&S Contractors crew is already making waves due to the fact that the boat was the first to cross the line in the BB 3 category twice.
When the boats in the various classes line up under starters this morning, team work will be the key, gusting winds will be an asset and there will be no room for errors, mistakes in these events are often costly.
