Racing Heineken Regatta
12 March 2015 | St Maarten
Linda
The island of St Martin/St Maarten is actually TWO countries -- half Dutch and half French, so it is an interesting mixture of tourist development and posh cafes. The large lagoon called Simpson Bay is entered by a draw bridge which opens at selected times each day and watching the parade of megayachts and cruising boats enter and depart is quite entertaining.
After clearing customs and entering the drawbridge into the lagoon, we anchored near to Time Bandit. Domini had a berth at one of the marinas which made it easier to leave each day for the regatta.
The 6 of us raced the 3 day regatta in what was called the "Lottery" class, designed for cruising type boats -- perfect for a yacht which had all the heavy gear from crossing the ocean! Thanks to Stuart's excellent skippership, Julian and Lynn helming, and the rest of us working hard to trim sails, we took a third place the first day, and then second place on the next 2 days, for an overall winning FIRST PLACE for the regatta in our class. The wind was quite strong and waves high, so we all came back each day completely salt water logged. However, the wind and water are warm which is so different from racing boats off the southern CA coast.
Now that the regatta is finished, we are doing some maintenance and fix up projects on Purrrfect because St Martin is duty free and a good place to secure parts etc. Dave will stay on board working on projects while Linda takes a quick flight for 5 days up to an industry meeting in Orlando Florida.