Uneven winds make for difficult sailing at annual St. Maarten Regatta

Steady winds are typical of late winter weather in the eastern Caribbean, making this the best time for sailing. But that wasn't the case last weekend in St. Maarten.

A field of 184 vessels took to the ocean for the 31st annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - one of the premiere sailing events of the region - only to find the winds uncooperative. With wind gusts of only 10 knots at their highest, the competition was challenging, even for the most experienced of crews. But the challenge made for some very close races.

Peter Peake's Peake Yacht Services Storm, a Reichel Pugh 43, won the CSA 1R class, edging out Mike Broughton's Jazz, a Cookson 50 Canting Keel out of Australia. Both vessels tied for first place with six points each, but Peake won the title after winning the fourth and final race of the class. Richard Matthews' Oystercatcher XXVII came in third with 12 points.

The CSA 1C class was won by the Cayman Islands' Team Selene, a Swan 80 captained by Wendy Schmidt, with seven points in their four races. Great Britain's Nikata and captain Matt Hardy were second with 12 points, followed by Italy's POS, captained by Daniel Stump, with 13.

The British Virgin Islands' Mark Plaxton, aboard his Melges 32, Team INTAC/Crowley, took the CSA 2 class by winning all four races for a score of four points. He was followed by two Melges 24 One Design vessels out of the Netherlands: Andrea Scarabelli's Budget Marine/GILL, which finished second with 12 points, and Frits Bus and Peter Houtzager's Coors Light in third with 14.

Fred Smithers, aboard his Swan 77, La Forza Del Destino, took the CSA 3 class with eight points. Doug Mitchell's FRERS 80 MAXI, Kialoa V, came in second with 10 points.

The CSA 4 class went to Great Britain's Phillippe Falle aboard his Beneteau First 50, Hydrocarbon Logic, with six points. Jack Desmond's Affinity was second with 13 points, followed by Germany's Stefan Lehnart aboard Passion 4 C.

William Coates' Otra Vez, a J-122 from the U.S., win the CSA 5 class with 13 points. Willem Wester's Antilope, and Dig van der Slikke's Curaçao Marine D-Trip, both Grand Soliel 43's, finished second and third respectively. The USVI's Lawrence Aqui finished 14th in the 15-boat class aboard his Durfour 40, Wild T'ing, with 47.5 points.

France's Phillipe Herve, aboard his Beneteau First 300 Spirit, Vanille won the CSA 6 class. Other CSA class winners were: (CSA 7) Robert Velasquez aboard L'Esperance with four points - the BVI's Klaas Van Duuren, aboard De Wilgen Vastgoed, finished second with five; and Tanner Jones won the CSA 8 class aboard Blue Peter with four points, followed by the BVI's Sandy Mair, aboard Streaker, with eight points.

Team Hamburg, with captain Eggert Schuett, won the Bareboat 1 class with six points. Brand Boot and captain Ernst Jan van der Wal won the Bareboat 2 Cyclades 50 class; Something Hot, captained by Marieke Poulie, won the Bareboat 3 Sun Odyssey 44i class; Hans Robert Nitsche's KH+P Sea You Later won the Bareboat 4 class; and Phillipe Firmin's Yapado won the Bareboat 5 class.

Multihull class winners included Patrick Turner's Team Kahunas (1R class), Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo (1C class) and VPM Bestsail's Nikiforov (Multihull 2).

The Lottery Class went to Ekber Levent aboard Tzigane.

The local regatta season is about to get into full swing with the second annual Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta, the second leg of the Caribbean Ocean Racing Circuit (CORC) scheduled for March 18-20, followed by the 38th annual International Rolex Regatta on March 25-27 at St. Thomas, and the 40th annual BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival on March 28-April 3. The St. Croix Yacht Club's Hospice Regatta got the CORC series started on Feb. 11-13.

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