Art competitions, beach clean-ups and behind-the-scene tours are a few of the ways Caribbean regatta organizers are reaching out and teaching island school children about the sport of competitive sailing. The benefit? A better understanding by the students of how international sailing events affect their community as well as an opportunity for the students to…
Sint Maarten has been the centre for multihull racing in the Caribbean going back many years. It began with the big Spronk catamarans that ran day trips to St. Barths and Anguilla racing each other to get to the prime anchoring spots first and it continued with the infamous Caribbean Offshore Regatta. In more recent…
In the November issue (Professionalization of Sailing Events in the Caribbean) of All At Sea Robbie Ferron states that a number of new regattas taking place in the Caribbean are well sponsored events where professionalism and profit is now more important than any earlier Corinthian ideals. Whereas this may be true in certain events this…
Green is the new blue when it comes to marine conservation in the Caribbean. Marina operators, regatta officials and charter yacht organizations are all doing their part to preserve and protect the region’s seas and its surroundings. Why? Firstly, visitor demand. Martin Oliver, general manager of St. Croix’s Tamarind Reef Resort’s Green Cay Marina, the…
From a distance, from my perspective grinding winches during a Heineken Regatta years ago, Anguilla didn’t look like much. Quiet, gently sloping and lacking the drama of the hump-backed mountains of St. Martin off our starboard beam as we sliced the surface of the Anguilla Channel on a broad reach. But then I got a…
It is not easy to get sailors to come and compete in any regatta that you might want to organize. Ask Larry Ellison, the Americas Cup organizer who has thrown millions at this year’s Americas cup and he has hardly attracted participation that is proportional to the amount of money spent. Many of us in…
This year’s 33rd running of the annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta concluded in spectacular style, with scores of racing boats flying down the coast of St. Maarten on the final race from Marigot to Simpson Bay. It was classic Caribbean sailing, fueled by the pumping trade winds and conducted on turquoise seas flecked with whitecaps….
In a stunning preview of coming attractions, forty-five boats in four spinnaker-flying divisions set sail in the sparkling waters of St. Maarten to race in the Gill Commodore’s Cup, the tune-up event to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The traditional warm-up series is sponsored by Gill, the regatta’s official technical apparel supplier. On a day…
With a flawless performance from start to finish, 24-year-old Virgin Islands sailor Taylor Canfield did not lose a race en route to a dominating victory in the fifth running of the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup sailed February 26th. Canfield and his stellar crew—four-time Canadian Olympian Richard Clarke, and accomplished Caribbean sailor Mark Plaxton—went undefeated…
In absolutely perfect Caribbean racing conditions, with steady trades pumping out of the east at anywhere from 12 to 25 knots, a solid fleet just shy of 200 boats—including a record-setting twenty catamarans and trimarans—set sail in early March in the waters off St. Maarten for the 32nd annual running of the sudsy St. Maarten…
Every edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta – the three-day festival of yacht racing, music and nearly non-stop parties that occurs annually on the first weekend of March – takes on its own personality, and this year’s was no exception.
Top prize—the St. Maarten Cup—for the regatta’s Most Worthy Performance Overall went to Mark Plaxton’s Melges 32, Team INTAC, with an all-star island crew including Peter Holmberg, Maurice Kurg, Ben Beer, among many other fine
On a strange, squally day where it rained early and often—and in many divisions, both skill and luck, sometimes in heavy doses, played a major role in the final results
Thirty years ago it was possible to plan the Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta on the back of a beer mat. Today, to run a successful regatta requires a team of dedicated professionals working year round.
The handful of regattas which are older than many of their young competitors command a special affection. In the case of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, there was also something to celebrate: a 30th anniversary year.
Reed and team at this opening event of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, managed to hold off not only similar designs such as a J/120 and a couple of A40s, but also five other First 40.7s
With all eight entries now confirmed, this year’s Budget Marine Match Racing Cup at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is set to establish itself firmly on the ladder as one of key match racing events in the Caribbean.
Meet Robbie Ferron, the man who prefers working behind the scenes but has greatly impacted St. Maarten’s marine industry and Heineken Regatta. Discover his incredible journey from South Africa to the Caribbean.
The focus leading up to the 25th annual St Maarten Heineken Regatta might have been on the people and boats who’ve passed into local folklore, but come the start, it was Mother Nature who’d stolen the spotlight. Not even one of Robbie Ferron’s rousing speeches or a last-minute call from Mirian Leffers-Ebbers’ could coax a…
Fatty Goodlander takes us on a humorous look at the world of sailboat racing. Are you a member of Racers Anonymous. Maybe you need help as well.
