Morning Glory clinches it

Dick Johnson reports on the finale of St Maarten Heineken Regatta

Sunday, the final day at the St Maarten Heineken Regatta, turned out to be the classic Caribbean day: 15 to 18 knots with the occasional gust, blue skies reflected in the blue sea and the occasional fluffy white cloud to add a little contrast. The race was to be from Marigot, still reeling under the onslaught of last night's party, a scenic tour of the Anguilla channel and then round the corner again past the end of the airport's runway, finally coming to the finish in Simpson's Bay from a mark up by Phillipsburg.

Spinnaker 1 came to the line with Morning Glory leading, clearly wanting to claim the pin end. She bore off along the transit with Titan 12 astern and as the clock ticked down, these two took the start, Rosebud too well placed. Pyewacket was left floundering, buried in the pack at the Committee Boat end - if you can bury a boat that has a mast so tall. Chippewa had yet another excellent start, on top of Pyewacket.

After two minutes Morning Glory tacked and Hasso Plattner at the wheel must have been pleased to see that he was going to cross Pyewacket by about three boat lengths. Pyewacket and Titan 12 stayed on starboard heading offshore, while Morning Glory followed standard local knowledge and went inshore to pick up the lift there just north of Marigot. Morning Glory led Pyewacket and Titan 12 from then on, coming back under spinnaker, gybing down the Anguilla Channel, just an hour after the start.

Observers might have seen the two maxZ86s about 500m apart, doing probably 15 knots, Titan 12 well back about another 1000m, but between Pyewacket and Titan 12 was a flash of green, the sails of CNS Tiger, a Hobie Tiger from the Beachcat class, sailed by Franc Valentin and his crew. Franc's boat probably cost him the same in thousands as the maxZ86s cost in millions and they were flying!

Not surprisingly Morning Glory won on the water and by three minutes and 20 seconds from - Rosebud the very quick TP52, this is clearly a breakthrough boat - or is the handicap helping?

Next came - Titan 12; Tom Hill peeping over the wheel with a big grin on his face as he had triumphed over Pyewacket again, this time by 45 seconds or so.

And, for the record, Franc Valentin won the Beachcat class by almost ten minutes.

Overall in Spinnaker 1, the big winner was Hasso Plattner in Morning Glory, from Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud and Pyewacket, despite Roy Disney's absence in third by a point from Titan 12.

A very depleted multihull class came to their start, three mast breakages having taken it's toll of the division. The little Newick 36 Tryst, sailing with an old mainsail after their fancy racing one succumbed to the windy first day, was having a good first leg inshore, though the bigger boats in the class, Rocketeer and Profligate were doing their thing further offshore. At the end though, the very fast Free Air Racing Team from St Croix, better known as Charis T, was second to Triple Jack, with Tryst in 3rd.

Overall it was a Caribbean clean-up in the Multihull racing class, with Triple Jack from Tortola winning, Free Air Racing team from St Croix in second and Tryst from St maarten in third.

Partying hard seems to suit the - how shall we put this? - mature crew of the Swan 45OD Vim. At breakfast on the Waterfront in Marigot they were discussing their dancing exploits at last night's party and drinking copious quantities of black coffee. Then on the race course they lifted themselves off the bottom of the pack to finish over a minute ahead of Storm who finished second on the water to Flirt, but ended up on the bottom of the pile. Winner was Plenty with Bandit second, a familiar paring. Flirt was third. Another breakfaster, Andy Beadsworth from Flirt, was not so happy with the boat's placings, but was very happy with the regatta, its organisation and the parties. He admitted to not partying too hard so far, well he is working here as a professional tactician after all, but threatened to cut loose this evening. Overall Flirt was third, Bandit second, Plenty first - hardly surprising.

For once, White Wings, the classic shaped W72 belonging to Donald Tofias sailing in Spinnaker 2, had a cracking start. She port tacked the fleet - which it has to be said were a little tardy - and headed inshore in fine style, looking lovely in the sunshine. But as usual, she came out less glamourously after the WinScore program had done it's stuff, only beating Gabor Bona's crew of happy Hungarians in the Javelin 57 Extra Dry. Unsurprisingly, Robert Mulderig's Starr Trail took the class overall with straight bullets.

With the leaders in Spinnaker 4 tied on points, it was all to play for today. Milt Baehr's Igoodia and Bill Jacobson's Vanish were equal on six points and both managed shockers of starts. Vanish was late at the pin end, while Igoodia was buried at the committee boat. But, being the big boat in the class, Igoodia was able to dig herself out and go on to win. Vanish almost did that in the pack, coming eighth and dumping her overall position from equal first to third behind Disco Inferno in second, Igoodia on top.

In Spinnaker 5 and 6 it was change for one and more of the same for an other. In 5, Budget Marine, sailed by Tony Maidment and crewed by Antiguan locals and yachting business workers - including Jess , who I promised I'd mention - plummeted from the top to finish fifth, but still Bernie Evan Wong couldn't win, the lead being taken by Finn, Diederik Demesel. In Class 6, it was more of the same as Tim Kimpton's Guardian Star came home in front by minutes. They even won yesterday after their main halyard broke and they sailed the last half of the last leg under headsail only. That's Trinis for you. Expect to see tham all face down on the beach later.

St Maarten's annual inter-island war between Antigua's Hugh Bailey and local man Bobby Velasquez was fought to a standstill again - and with the same outcome. Antigua 3, St Maarten 0. Bobby had a good start today, leading Hugh off the line well ahead of the rest of the class, and trying to keep a close cover on his opponent. But once the troops went over the top, Antigua's heavy artillery went into action and despite a valiant rearguard action, Velasquez' troops were overrun, losing by 53 seconds. As usual, both these boats came in over 15 minutes before the 3rd placer. Amazing how a little competition gives you an edge. You can guess the overall top two for yourself, Kent Richards' romantically named Elevator Service filled the remaining podium position.

You remember the Open class? They start with a handicap from a self-completed form and then a handicapping committee juggles the figures depending on you day's position. The final race was won by St Nik, Phil Frosts Bavaria 40 with SamSam another 40 in third, but overall, thanks to the handicap trickery, the overall winner was Nick Malley's Pumpkin, a C&C 27, with Goeie Mie, Tom Deegenaars Beneteau 43.5 in second and Piet Postma sailing a Van der Stadt 418 in third. The whole idea of this class is just a bit of sailing fun, with NO STRESS. Tell that to the crew of one of the Bavarias who came and bent the ear of long-suffering CSA measurer Dick Stoute for 20 minutes and still didn't get the idea.

Competition in the Bareboat classes has been intense throughout the regatta. Bareboat 1 piled in to the start today in a fashion that had hardened race officers closing their eyes and bracing themselves for the crunch - which never came. The Class was won in three straight races by Douggie Brookes, but the Charity collectors, Heart For Kids, who support the local orphanage took a well deserved second.

In Bareboat 2 the top places have been handed back and forth between three boats, and eventually it was Team Teerenstra who triumphed over Easy Tiger and Nirvana.

In Bareboat 5, the competition has been so tight that the Most Worthy Performance of the regatta award went to the winner, Hans-Joachim Richter sailing Vague a l'ame. This award is made by the organisers not on a scoring basis, but by examining the class results to see who has won the toughest class in which to compete. In Bareboat 5, there was only minutes from front to back of a 17 boat division.

As I write this report in the Race Organisation's shipping container office parked at Kim Sha beach, the prize giving is under way with regatta founder Robby Ferron in full flow. He is using the bands' full PA system, but like all Dutchmen, he hardly needs amplification. After the huge haul of trophies is handed out, the party begins in earnest. Three local bands, then the Black Eyed Peas to finish the night's festivities - and still about eight kilometres of Heineken to drink. Serious Fun indeed!

As the competitors begin to leave St Maarten for home, the organisation is already planning next year, the 25th anniversary of this great regatta that has grown from a handful of local boats into one of the top International regattas. St Maarten hosts boats as diverse as the maxZ86 maxis and live-aboard cruisers and next year the plan is for more boats, more people, more variety and more serious fun.

See you there!


Results

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Nat.	TCF	Finished	Elapsed	Corrected
	Spinnaker 1
1	Morning Glory	Plattner, Hasso	USA	1.470A	11:30:14	02:30:14	03:40:51
2	Rosebud	Sturgeon, Roger	USA	1.143A	12:15:38	03:15:38	03:43:37
3	Titan 12	Hill, Tom	PR	1.333A	11:48:25	02:48:25	03:44:30
4	Pyewacket	Disney, Roy E	USA	1.470A	11:33:15	02:33:15	03:45:17
5	Chippewa	Deutsch, Clay	USA	1.112S	12:32:51	03:32:51	03:56:41
6	Equation	Alcott, Bill	USA	1.260S	12:09:05	03:09:05	03:58:15
7	Donnybrook	Muldoon, James P.	USA	1.235A	12:18:54	03:18:54	04:05:38
8	Venom	Saunders, Derek	UK	1.233A	12:19:27	03:19:27	04:05:55
9	Mischievous	Fitzgibbons, Trey	USA	1.175S	12:29:36	03:29:36	04:06:17
10	Spirit	Oliphant, Hamish	UK	1.256A	DNF	10
	Spinaker 2
1	Starr Trail	Mulderig, Robert	BER	1.103S	13:03:41	03:33:41	03:55:42
2	DutchSailingTeam.Com	Formula 1 Sailing	UK	1.092S	13:09:07	03:39:07	03:59:17
3	Spirit of Isis	Formula 1 Sailing	UK	1.092S	13:11:17	03:41:17	04:01:38
4	Spirit of Mertice	Formula 1 Sailing	UK	1.120S	13:06:32	03:36:32	04:02:31
5	White Wings	Tofias, Donald	USA	1.134S	13:17:18	03:47:18	04:17:45
6	Extra Dry	Bona, Gabor	HUN	1.141S	13:34:58	04:04:58	04:39:30
	Spinnaker 3
1	Plenty	Roepers, Alex	USA	1.020A	13:24:22	03:44:22	03:48:51
2	Bandit	Fisher, Andrew	USA	1.020A	13:26:37	03:46:37	03:51:09
3	Flirt	Matthews, Richard	UK	1.103S	13:13:32	03:33:32	03:55:32
4	VIM	Martin, Jack	USA	1.020A	13:31:38	03:51:38	03:56:16
5	Storm	Crouch, Les	USA	1.061A	13:23:48	03:43:48	03:57:27
	Spinnaker 4
1	Igoodia	Baehr, Milt	IVB	0.924S	12:14:10	02:24:10	02:13:13
2	Disco Inferno	Abbiss, Matt	UK	0.969S	12:11:01	02:21:01	02:16:39
3	So Far	Hillman, Larry	USA	0.910S	12:21:20	02:31:20	02:17:43
4	Kracker Jack	Bailey, Jonathan	UK	0.914S	12:22:35	02:32:35	02:19:28
5	Synergy	Vaughan III, Carl	SXM	0.926S	12:20:47	02:30:47	02:19:38
6	AEG Dect Telefoons	Straten, Edwin van der	NED	0.956S	12:16:12	02:26:12	02:19:46
7	Sky	Reiher, Jim	USA	0.988S	12:11:57	02:21:57	02:20:15
8	Vanish	Jacobson, Bill	USA	0.970S	12:15:12	02:25:12	02:20:51
9	1st Home	Sherrard, Martin V	USA	0.910S	12:25:00	02:35:00	02:21:03
10	Lady B	Madden, Jack	USA	0.992S	12:12:19	02:22:19	02:21:11
	Spinnaker 5
	Finn	Demesel, Diederik	BEL	0.863S	12:36:22	02:36:22	02:14:57
2	Huey Too	Evan-Wong, Bernie	ANT	0.844S	12:42:09	02:42:09	02:16:51
3	Tempest	Haracivet, John	USV	0.848S	12:44:38	02:44:38	02:19:37
4	Vanille	Herve, Phillippe	FRA	0.827S	12:49:50	02:49:50	02:20:27
5	Budget Marine	Maidment, Tony	ANT	0.819S	12:51:37	02:51:37	02:20:33
6	Natural Magic	Cook, David	UK	0.881S	12:43:19	02:43:19	02:23:53
7	Streaker	Mair, Sandy	ANT	0.803S	12:59:58	02:59:58	02:24:31
8	Caribella	Robb, Gordon	SXM	0.805S	13:07:37	03:07:37	02:31:02
9	Gargle Blaster	Knaggs, Stuart	SXM	0.778S	13:16:51	03:16:51	02:33:09
10	Budget Nautique	Greenwood, Mike	SXM	0.783S	13:19:55	03:19:55	02:36:32
	Spinnaker 6
1	Guardian Star	Kimpton, Tim	TRI	0.891S	12:37:51	02:27:51	02:11:44
2	EIB-Marina Bas du Fort	Homo, Sylvain	GDP	0.877S	12:44:10	02:34:10	02:15:12
3	Lost Horizon	Dobbs, James	USV	0.862S	12:46:52	02:36:52	02:15:13
4	2 Contact Carib 2	Bus, Frits	SXM	0.872A	12:46:43	02:36:43	02:16:39
5	Steps Womenswear	Wel, Frans van der	NED	0.898A	12:50:38	02:40:38	02:24:15
6	Sam Jang	Rouault, Didier	STM	0.803S	13:12:07	03:02:07	02:26:14
7	SOCA FOR SALE	Eynde, Jan van der	SXM	0.890A	13:00:21	02:50:21	02:31:37
8	Ven dan vwel	Daunar, Yves-Michel	STM	0.951S	DNF	8
	Open
	St. Nik	Frost, Phil	AUS	0.6	14:15:53	02:25:53	01:27:32
2	Rapsody	Huge, Christian	GDP	0.765	13:47:35	01:57:35	01:29:57
3	Samsam	Bosscher, G. N	NED	0.725	13:57:27	02:07:27	01:32:24
4	Aeson	Postma, Piet	NED	0.76	13:52:06	02:02:06	01:32:48
5	Goeie Mie	Deegenaars, Ton	NED	0.804	13:46:01	01:56:01	01:33:17
6	Pumkin	Maley, Nick	ANT	0.703	14:03:39	02:13:39	01:33:57
7	Jendabi	Lang, Andy	USA	0.725	14:02:59	02:12:59	01:36:25
8	BayWolf	Ross, Cynthia	USA	0.8	13:51:30	02:01:30	01:37:12
9	Hägar	Zwart, Sipke	NED	0.809	13:51:42	02:01:42	01:38:27
10	Youbilette	Faure, Michel	STM	0.7	14:10:41	02:20:41	01:38:29
	Bareboat 1
1	Team Arawaks	Schavemans, Michel	NED	0.872	13:27:49	02:47:49	02:26:20
2	Heart for Kids	Thierry, Adrian	NED	0.872	13:30:18	02:50:18	02:28:30
3	Island Flyer	Brookes, Douglas	SXM	0.872	13:33:16	02:53:16	02:31:05
4	Venture II	Baartmans, Cees-Jan	NED	0.872	13:33:51	02:53:51	02:31:36
5	De Wilgen Vastgoed	van Duuren, Klaas	NED	0.872	13:33:59	02:53:59	02:31:43
	Bareboat 2
1	Easy Tiger	Walsh, Daniel	USA	0.889	13:38:02	02:48:02	02:29:23
2	Team Teerenstra	van Bergen, L. W.	NED	0.893	13:38:09	02:48:09	02:30:09
3	Florex	Mulder, Tom	NED	0.891	13:40:45	02:50:45	02:32:08
4	Nirvana	Brassard, Francois	CAN	0.899	13:41:53	02:51:53	02:34:31
5	Hasta Luego	Funk	GER	0.92	13:38:10	02:48:10	02:34:43
	Bareboat 3
1	Wishing Star	Goedhart, Chris	SXM	0.85	13:50:48	02:50:48	02:25:11
2	BVI Yacht Charters 1	Duranty, Mark	USA	0.858	13:50:19	02:50:19	02:26:08
3	Guadeloupe Sailing Team	Quere, Philippe	GDP	0.848	13:56:14	02:56:14	02:29:27
4	Team Goldendog	Sochrin, Jeff	USA	0.848	13:58:09	02:58:09	02:31:04
5	Team West River	Ogden, Bruce	USA	0.85	13:59:02	02:59:02	02:32:11
	Bareboat 4
1	Seabiscuit	Nolan, Pat	TOR	0.831	14:06:22	02:56:22	02:26:34
2	SG Aschaffenburg	Sommer, Peter	GER	0.828	14:11:42	03:01:42	02:30:27
3	Navis Bibens	Wesselman, Rob	NED	0.828	14:15:54	03:05:54	02:33:56
4	DiffManagement.com	Burger, Erik den	NED	0.828	14:16:32	03:06:32	02:34:27
5	Cinamon	Carrigan, Donald	USA	0.828	14:22:24	03:12:24	02:39:18
	Bareboat 5
1	Vague a l'Ame	Richter, Hans-Joachim	GER	0.815	14:23:15	03:03:15	02:29:21
2	Aproache Spanish II	Caracena, Pablo	ESP	0.815	14:23:38	03:03:38	02:29:40
3	Leapfrog II	Camp, Martin	AHO	0.821J	14:26:14	03:06:14	02:32:54
4	Foxy 2	Kort, Marc de	NED	0.815	14:29:15	03:09:15	02:34:14
5	Sikkens Bonsink	Beetstra, Gerke	SXM	0.814	14:31:33	03:11:33	02:35:55
	Bareboat 6
1	Boudoux	Brown, Malcolm	USA	0.795	14:43:20	03:13:20	02:33:42
2	Cybele	Lorette, Scott	USA	0.795	14:47:42	03:17:42	02:37:10
3	Absolut pleasure	Ligthart, Leo	SXM	0.794	14:48:21	03:18:21	02:37:29
4	Mexx	Sesink, Natasja	NED	0.789	14:51:11	03:21:11	02:38:44
5	Kine Kine	Kobayashi, Hironori	JPN	0.794	14:54:38	03:24:38	02:42:29
	Beach cats
1	CNS Tiger	Valentin, Franc	STM	0.917	11:06:53	01:46:53	01:38:01
2	Quicksilver Eye Wear	Marchais, Pascal	GDP	0.855	11:25:25	02:05:25	01:47:14
3	Krahe	Krahe, Birgit	STM	0.855	11:31:13	02:11:13	01:52:11
4	Regala	Marroquin	FRA	0.855	11:45:55	02:25:55	02:04:46
5	Arrows	Brans, Rogier	SXM	0.971	11:35:19	02:15:19	02:11:24
	Multihull cruising
1	Fantastic Lady II	Mouillac, Dominique	NED	0.87	13:40:11	02:00:11	01:44:34
2	Ma Poule	Travadel, J.L.	FRA	0.85	13:43:14	02:03:14	01:44:45
3	Mighty Oak	Chene, Dominique	NED	0.87	13:43:53	02:03:53	01:47:47
4	www.badda-bing.nl	Smulders, S.	NED	0.9	13:40:22	02:00:22	01:48:20
5	Manana	King, Stephen	USA	0.9	13:41:54	02:01:54	01:49:43
	Multihull racing
1	Triple Jack	Wooldridge, Richard	TOR	1.085	12:54:03	03:44:03	04:03:06
2	Free Air Racing Team	Westerman, Llewellyn	STC	1.105	13:02:36	03:52:36	04:17:01
3	Tryst	Turner, Patrick	STM	1.004	13:26:14	04:16:14	04:17:15
4	La Vie en Rose	Fusi, John C	USA	0.95	13:49:56	04:39:56	04:25:56
5	Rocketeer	Winters, Ken	USA	1.12	13:24:42	04:14:42	04:45:16
	Non-spinnaker 1
	Yocahu	Rose, Jeffrey	USA	0.931P	14:45:49	04:25:49	04:07:29
2	Island Water World Express	Martin, Ian	SXM	0.965P	14:40:59	04:20:59	04:11:51
3	Ciao Bella	Forderer, Tim	SXM	1.078P	14:15:04	03:55:04	04:13:24
4	Volador	Titus / Higgenson, Bill	USA	1.053P	14:22:21	04:02:21	04:15:12
5	Jomani	Dymock, Craig	UK	0.955J	14:53:38	04:33:38	04:21:19
	Non-spinnaker 2
1	Hugo	Bailey, Hugh	ANT	0.863T	13:05:39	02:35:39	02:14:20
2	L'Esperance	Velasquez, Bobby	SXM	0.876P	13:04:21	02:34:21	02:15:13
3	Kohoutek	Cijntje, Jose	SXM	0.779P	13:43:41	03:13:41	02:30:53
4	Elevator Service	Richards, Kent	USA	0.848P	13:30:07	03:00:07	02:32:44
5	Weather Eye Yachts.com	Walton, Allan	CAN	0.856J	13:30:47	03:00:47	02:34:45