St Martin
The Brigade Nautique
in St Martin is once again the proud owner of
a working speedboat. The 32-foot, 225hp vessel had been up on chocks since
November 2003 for major repairs, but is now back in
the water. As a consequence, the Brigade can resume high-speed patrols around
the French side. The team works with Customs, Border Police, Gendarmes, SNSM
and Nature Reserve officials to ensure vessels are in order, safe and being
used for their intended purpose. The Brigade was created in 1992 and is six-strong
on the island.
St Martin
St Martin’s windsurfing wonderkid Julien Quintel ripped apart the opposition at the World Junior
Formula Windsurfing Championships, held in
England. ‘Juju’ won all
fourteen races to top the 40-strong 11-meter class. The victory bested
third-place finishes in 2003 and 2004. This is the last time Quintel will complete in the under-19 category.
Grenada
The
Grenada Yacht Club introduced the Laddie McIntyre
Award at the 6th Summer Regatta, to honour Charles ‘Laddie’ McIntyre, who passed away recently. Charles
was a founding member of the GYC.
“He was known by most people
in Grenada
and was the embodiment of determination and true grit, so it is important for
the public to know that there is now an annual award to recognise these
important and needed human qualities and that sailing can help foster and
develop them,” stated Darryl Brathwaite
Commodore of the GYC.
The first winner of the Award,
presented by Laddie’s son Michael McIntyre and
daughter Anne McIntyre Campbell, was Jason Fletcher on
Apero for his ‘dogged
determination’ in bouncing back from ‘a hopelessly humongous
mistake’ in one race!
For more on the history of the
Grenada Yacht Club, or for other results from the Sixth Annual Summer Regatta,
see their website at www.grenadayachtclub.com.
St
Lucia
With
the 20th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers just over a month away (docklines are due to be slipped in
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
on November 20th), entries are already being put on a waiting list.
A staggering 225 boats have already registered to take part in the westward
jaunt to St Lucia, which
finishes up in a blaze of round-the-clock merriment at
Rodney Bay.
Of the 225, 26 are from Beneteau, 21 from Hallberg Rassy and 19 from Jeanneau. The fleet comprises sailors from 21 different
countries.
The 2,700 mile passage is expected
to take 18 to 21 days and is the largest trans-oceanic sailing event in the
world.
Grenada Net extended to
Tobago
Grenada’s Net, broadcast Monday to Saturday at 7.30am on VHF 68 is
now available all the way down to Tobago.
The increased coverage was put together by Island Water World’s
Jonathan Fisher, who does the weather reports, and Leroy Baptiste
(‘Stevens One’), an Electronics Engineer and Communications
specialist. Baptiste proposed installing a repeater
to link up with the antenna at Grand Etang, extending
coverage way beyond the VHF range and allowing cruisers in Bequia, Tobago Cays
and Tobago to pick up the weather broadcast.
Baptiste and Allan Otway (‘Alpha
Hotel’ or ‘Alpha Henry’) installed the unit and cruisers
should now be able to tune in.
Guadeloupe
5th Triskell
Cup will take place on the 11th, 12th and 13th
November in Guadeloupe. Now boasting some 75
entries from Antigua, Martinique, Barbados, St Martin and France, the event is
open to monohulls, multihulls
and a new class – boats over 50 feet. www.triskellcup.com
Discovery Bay debate
Is the Discovery at Marigot Bay project damaging local coral reef
in St Lucia?
“No,” is the riposte from John Verity, Managing Director of owners
Doubloon International, hitting back at accusations to the contrary from
US Academic Dr
Timothy Foresman.
The latter
alleges in a series of e-mails to press and Government on
St Lucia that run-off from the Discovery
development is silting up an area of coral 1/2 mile south of
Marigot Bay.
But the survey and analysis most likely finger the Roseau River as the culprit, Verity suggests,
calling run-off from Marigot
Bay ‘miniscule’ in comparison to sediment
dumped by the Roseau
and Culdesac rivers.
Discovery
argues that geotextile filter membranes have been
installed at the site to limit silt run-off from the project into
Marigot
Bay – a measure included in the
original Planning Approval application.
Puerto Rico
hosts kayak marathon
Guayama
Bay, Puerto Rico,
was the venue for the first leg of the Caribbean Marathon Kayak Cup, held
August 28. Some 40 paddlers made the trip to the island’s south coast to
enjoy a gruelling 25km race that finished with a 6km upwind slog.
St Maarten’s paddlers performed best overall – two
first places, two second and a fourth. In the Master Class, for competitors
aged 40 and over, Frits Bus beat Bruno Therond into
second. Anthony Durand won the Senior Class, for those aged up to 39.
In the Surfski discipline, Jaime Ponce won the Master Class from
Juan Pablo Piscione; Krishna Auguira
won the Senior Surfski event, in which 17-year-old
Joel Nankman finished fourth.
The second leg
of the series has just been completed – another 25km marathon, albeit
downwind, from St Barths to Oyster Pond in St Martin.
Race three takes place in the Dominican Republic
on November 5, with the wrap-up paddle back in Puerto Rico
on November 20.
The four-race
series is sanctioned by the International Canoe Federation.
