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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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HomePuerto RicoCulebraRecord Participation at 2nd Annual Heineken Culebra Intl Regatta

Record Participation at 2nd Annual Heineken Culebra Intl Regatta

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Doubling its yacht participation, dubbed by a title sponsor and drawing the attention of hot racing yachts from the U.S. mainland, the 2 nd annual Heineken Culebra International Regatta, held March 17 to 19 out of Culebra, Puerto Rico, is now firmly a ‘must do’ event on the northern Caribbean spring racing calendar.

It is this event’s prominent position as the second leg of the Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle (C.O.R.T.) Series that drew Great Lakes sailor, Dave West, to enter his Farr 39.5, Chippewa. “The racing was excellent,” said West, who was enjoying his first Caribbean campaign. However, “we’re a big boat, new to the Caribbean handicap system and the race committee wasn’t sure where to put us. We ended up in a class with most boats 10-foot smaller or more in size. So, all we could do was try to hit the wind shifts, pretend we were the only boat as there was no other boat to beat on tactics, and get in phase with the windward-leeward courses. In the end, we scored four bullets in six races and won the Spinnaker Racing A class. We’re pretty proud of that.”

It was an Olson 30, namely Antigua’s James Dobbs’ Lost Horizon II and St. Maarten’s Frits Bus’ Melges 24, Carib Nautifit, that ended second and third, respectively, in the highly competitive Spinnaker Racing A class.

Seventy-two yachts with skippers hailing from the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, BVI, St. Maarten and Antigua, competed in this event that was marked by a novel diversity of yachts. Not only were their production racing yachts, both monohull and multihulls, competing on windward-leeward courses south of Punto Soldado, but there were one-design J/24s and IC/24s as well as native boats called chalanas sailing in the eastern bay bordering the uninhabited island of Culebrita.

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Puerto Rico’s Tony Mari, Jr., handily won Spinnaker Racing B with a nearly flawless finish of five bullets in six races aboard his J/80, Ex Mero Motu. St. Croix’s Morgan Dale, aboard his Tartan 10, Sorceress, was hot on Mari’s heels, while St. Thomas’ John Foster’s Kirby 25, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, rounded out third.

“We keep tuning up and moving up on the scoreboard,” says Foster, who’s newly rebuilt yacht made its debut at the St. Croix International Regatta.

Fresh from a class win at this year’s St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, Puerto Rico’s Sergio Sagramoso, drove his Beneteau First 40.7 Lazy Dog to an easy win in the Racer Cruiser class. The BVI’s Peter Haycraft, aboard his Sirena 38, Pipedream, bested fellow islander Pat Nolan for second, while Nolan’s J/33 Boomerang, finished third.

While St. Croix’s Tony Sanpere’s won the Performance Cruising class aboard his Soverel 27, Cayenita, Sanpere was les than pleased with the racing. “I hate windward-leewards,” he said. “I’ve done them in too many regattas. This is why I went back to the Performance Cruising class, to have round-the-island races. We didn’t do any of that this year, like last.”

Puerto Rican sailor, Enrique Figueroa, four-time Hobie 16 national champion and four-time Olympian, won the Beach Cat class by a huge spread over a fleet of 10 other Hobie 16s from Puerto Rico. “This is our only chance to come to the island and race. The competition was excellent and more than last year,” Figueroa said.

Puerto Rico’s Hobie 16 sailors used this event as a tune-up for the Central American Caribbean (C.A.C.) Games this summer in Cartagena, Colombia, as did sailors in the island-strong J/24 class, which was won by Urayo, with Puerto Rico’s Gilberto Rivera at the helm.

Former Puerto Rican J/24 sailor, Efrain ‘Fraito’ Lugo, jumped into another class this year by sailing his newly converted IC/24. “The competition was very tough,” said Lugo, who placed second in the class to winner, the BVI’s Mark Plaxton, on Intact.

Finally, in the Jib & Main Class, Sultan, a J/30 skippered by Puerto Rico’s Carlos Colon led, while in the chalanas class, it was Jose Felix’s Son of Wind who won the prize.

 

RESULTS

 

SPINNAKER RACING A

1. Chippewa, Dave West, Farr 39.5, Wisconsin, USA (10)

2. Lost Horizon II, James Dobbs, Olson 30, Antigua (17)

3. Carib Nautifit, Frits Bus, Melges 24, St. Maarten (22)

4. Mistress Quickly, Guy Eldridge, Melges 24, BVI (23)

5. Kosa Loka, Kike Gonzalez, Olson 30, Puerto Rico (34)

6. Three Fulca, Andy DeJesus, Olson 30, Puerto Rico (42)

6. Crew Clothing, Peter Tarn, Melges 24, BVI (42)

8. Don Q Limon, Enrique Torruella, Melges 24, Puerto Rico (45)

9. Guilt Tripp, Lufo Martinez, Tripp 26, Puerto Rico (50)

10. Affinity, Jack Desmond, Swan 48, USA (66)

 

SPINNAKER RACING B

1. Ex Mero Motu, Tony Mari, Jr., J/80, Puerto Rico (7)

2. Sorceress, Morgan Dale, Tartan 10, St. Croix, USVI (15)

3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, John Foster, Kirby 25, St. Thomas, USVI (18)

4. Magnificent 7, Paul Davis, J/27, St. Thomas, USVI (27)

5. Sun Bum II, Angel Ayala, J/80, Puerto Rico (29)

6. Ghost, David Flaherty, Etchel 22, St. Thomas, USVI (30)

7. Malolo, Jaime Font, J/80, Puerto Rico (42)

 

RACER CRUISER

1. Lazy Dog, Sergio Sagramoso, Beneteau 40.7, Puerto Rico (7)

2. Pipe Dream, Peter Haycraft, Sirena 38, BVI (11)

3. Boomerang, Pat Nolan, J/33, BVI (18)

4. Evolution, Arturo Guzman, Beneteau 30, Puerto Rico (26)

5. Tempest, John Haracivit, Beneteau 38, St. Thomas, USVI (29)

 

PERFORMANCE CRUISER

1. Cayennita, Tony Sanpere, Soverel 27, St. Croix, USVI (8)

2. Three Harkons, Christopher Lloyd, Beneteau 45, BVI (12)

3. Enjambre, Felix Gonzalez, J/29, Puerto Rico (19)

4. Shamrock, Thomas Mullen, J/120, New Hampshire, USA (22)

5. Poco A Poco, Agustin Rodriguez, Pearson 30, Puerto Rico (31)

6. Adelante, Rodolfo Serra, C&C 30, Puerto Rico (39)

 

BEACH CAT

1. Suzuki/Red Bull, Enrique Figueroa, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (8)

2. Heineken, Francisco Figueroa, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (20)

3. Spookie Monkey, Pedrin Colon, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (22.5)

4. Padrastro, Gabriel Vazciece, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (25.5)

5. Dr. Lightning, Jorge Torres, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (27)

6. HF Mortgage, Fabiola Mustafa, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (46)

7. Wave Magnet, Doug DeRue, Nacra 5.8, St. Croix, USVI (49)

8. Krusty, Carlos Gonzalez, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (51)

9. Inabon, Alfredo Figueroa, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (52)

10. Junko, Dennys Junko, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (53)

11. Sunset, Jose Rivera, Hobie 16, Puerto Rico (53)

J/24

1. Urayo, Gilberto Rivera, Puerto Rico (10)

2. KQ LO, Jose Fullana, Puerto Rico (15)

3. Compinche, Gerardo Fernand, Puerto Rico (19)

4. Sandados-Cemex, Leopoldo Loria, Puerto Rico (30)

5. Colibri, Eduardo Ortiz, Puerto Rico (35)

6. Glory Daze, Chuck Pessler, Puerto Rico (40)

 

IC/24

1. Intac, Mark Plaxton, BVI (32)

2. Orion, Fraito Lugo, Puerto Rico (34)

3. Fiona, Colin Rathburn, BVI (38)

4. Brand New Secondhand, Chris Curreri, St. Thomas, USVI (39)

5. Black Pearl, Mike Masters, BVI (40)

6. Green Boat, Carlos Aguilar, St. Thomas, USVI (41)

7. Conch Querer, Andrew Walters, BVI (45)

8. Catimba, Ricardo Barreto, Puerto Rico (62)

9. Round a Bout, Bruce Merced, St. Thomas, USVI (74)

 

JIB & MAIN

1. Sultan, Carlos Colon, J/30, Puerto Rico (8.5)

2. Nemesis, Edwin Cruz, Hunter 43, Puerto Rico (16.5)

3. Dottie II, Pearson 33, Chuck McLaughlin, Puerto Rico (19.8)

4. Eolo, Edgar Diaz, J/30, Puerto Rico (24)

5. Rafaga, Ipolito Fernandez, Puerto Rico (45)

5. Caminante 3, William Carrion, Beneteau 43, Puerto Rico (45)

7. Rikki Tikki Tavi, Emilio Torres, J/130, Puerto Rico (57)

8. Ventajero, Domingo Garcia, Jeanneau 51, Puerto Rico (60)

9. Gracela, Eric Tulla, Swan 65, Puerto Rico (66)

10. Blue Max, Juan Requena, C&C 44, Puerto Rico (77)

11. Valkyrie, Keith Lehman, Morgan 40, Puerto Rico (79)

12. Ayala, Edwin Pullen, Moorings 51, Puerto Rico (82)

 

CHALANAS

1. Son of Wind, Jose Felix (6)

2. Mellenium, Ismael Biret (14)

3. Jetzy, Santos Munoz (21)

4. La Roca, Juan Echeveria (23)

5. Malas Manas, (27)

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Carol_Bareuther
Carol_Bareuther
Carol M. Bareuther, RD, is a St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands based marine writer and registered dietitian.
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