Heineken Regatta

When we arrived in St. Martin everywhere you looked you saw signs about the Heineken Regatta.  Rick's eyes lit up, a chance to play with the big boys.  Racing, something he had not done in some time.  We started looking into what this regatta was like and checking with people to see if Rick could get a ride.  Rick had met Robbie, owner of Budget Marine, when we were in Trinidad and we found out he was running the Regatta.  Rick asked if he knew of someone that needed crew and he emailed Hans in Antigua and the next thing we knew Rick was now racing with Hans on a boat called Budget Nautique.  It was a 30 foot Kelt with a crew of six.

Since Rick was going to race, I decided I would try and volunteer my services for the regatta.  I met with Gail who was heading up the registration committee and offer my help.  I then spent the next week working on the Heineken Regatta.  I worked with the registration committee and when they found out I understood (ha! ha!) computers, they asked if I would run the computer scoring system for the regatta.   Check out www.heinekenregatta.com for additional pictures.

Rick has not raced since Race Week on Block Island several years ago and was looking forward to it.  Since I had never been to Race Week, it was all new for me.   They had two days of registration, three days of races and parties every night.   I am not sure how some of the young guys got up in the morning.  In some cases, I am not sure they went to sleep.

Below is a picture story of race week as we saw it.

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Rick was able to capture these pictures of boats in the class in front of them

There were 250 boats in the race - just like rush hour back home - NOT

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After the races the harbor gets crowded as the boats anchor and each fly flags. 

Note the unique design of the boom on this boat.

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The crew of Budget Nautique (Rick was taking the picture).  They came in first in their division and class

Me at work.  The judges were checking on results.

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The crew receiving their awards for first place in Cruising Class.  They won all three races

Rick with the large bottle of Heineken.  No he did not drink it alone

As you can see we had a great time at the Regatta.  We would consider doing it again maybe here or on another island.  We met some great people and both Rick and I have been asked to return.  

Now on to another adventure.

 

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