Folks have asked, why are you still there? Why are you still in Saint Maarten, you can go anywhere you like but you spent months there already. Its be cause of the parties of course. First it was the Cruisers Party from CruisersOutpost.com – had a great time last year and again this year, then the ultimate Beer Can Regatta – aka, the Heineken party disguised as a boat race was shortly to follow.

Fun times at the 2017 Heineken Regatta held in St. Maarten this year!  We were planning on anchoring around the same area we were last year (right by the start/finish line), but the weather was not cooperating and the seas would have beaten us up.   The Gill’s Commodore’s Cup, the first race on Thursday, Matt and I decided to take Sweet N Low, our dinghy out to the start which sounds all fine and dandy until you get lost in the 1-2 meter seas (for the American followers that is 3-6′) which is HUGE when you are in a dinghy.  But, we braved the waves, the seas, the swamp a$$ in order to be front and center of the race which was truly spectacular.  We lasted a little over an hour before it got “uncomfortable” and headed back to the boat to prepare for the first regatta party at Port de Plaisance (PDP) marina which was loads of fun ($1 beer and $2 vodka drinks), dj, dancing, and ran into some new friends

Emily and Tim from “Play”, the Ogre and Princess from Contrary Mary, and Sugar Shack

Then the ladies had some fun at a photo booth (Princess, Emily, and the Easter bunny)

Hank and Cathy Schmit from Avocation (who run Offshore Passage Opportunities)

On Friday, the first official race day of the Heinken Regatta the boats are to sail around the island and we decided to take the big boat out as the dinghy was just too small for the weather conditions.  We loaded our friends from Contrary Mary, several coolers of cold beverages and took Sugar Shack out into the middle of the race!  Matt expertly navigated out the way of the racers while maintaining a great position to see the start of each of the different races.  Once most were across the start line we headed to the first marker (by Rue Baile Longue) to watch the boats jockey for position to make the best tack.  Just as we were approaching the marker, we heard on the live broadcast and caught a glimpse of the 40′ Nautitech catamaran that t-boned a small 30′ monohull, Solstice.  Luckily nobody was hurt, but Solstice had to “retire” from the race but they were able to race again the next.  Super exciting to be anchored at such a pivotal  point in the race.

These two photos were taken by Tim Wright Photoaction.com and found on the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Instagram account – he captured the collision and impact on Solstice.

And another unfortunate event, the Green Dragon was de masted. Boats are pushed to their limits during this competitive race and it doesn’t always work out for the best.

Before, on the way out

After the carbon decided it had enough

Spinnaker on the loose

Racing action.

Friday nights part was in Philipsburg  which is a long bus ride so we opted out of these festivities and stayed in Simpson Bay instead.  Here is the official Heineken Regatta’s Facebook page with tons of photos from the parties and races.

Sugar Shack outpacing the racers with our twin Volvo 50 engines

This is one of the gunboats–either Flow or Momentum

And this beauty is Morticia, first time racing and she won her class!!

Saturday, race day 2, we hosted 6 friends (Contrary Mary and 4 friends from Toe Jam).  We took Sugar Shack out to the start and bobbed around watching the windward/leeward races between all the different classes.  Matt of course jockeying to stay out of the race course while trying to get the best vantage point.  Of course we had to be the first boat to cross the finish – even if we were not entered into the race 🙂  We feasted like kings and queens with the Ogre’s mouth watering ribs, smoke salmon and cream cheese pinwheel crepes, bruschetta and fresh baked cookies.  Our intention was to head to Kimsha Beach to attend the regatta party, but we ended up staying on our boat, enjoying spritzers, beer, and fabulous stories!

Sunday, the final day of the race was a “recovery” day and we watched the boat races from our anchorage which is far enough away to be comfortable on the boat, but close enough to see them finishing.

All in all the Heineken Regatta 2017 was exhilarating!  It is always a spectacular site to behold!