On a strange, squally day where it rained early and often—and in many divisions, both skill and luck, sometimes in heavy doses, played a major role in the final results—the 31st running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta came to a close this afternoon following a single, extremely taxing point-to-point race from Marigot to Simpson Bay.
Racing sailors know it as Moving Day, the midpoint in a regatta when the time has come to make a move, either to solidify your place in the standings or, for boats that have not yet sailed to their potential, to elevate your position in the fleet. And on Day 2 in the 31st running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, with a pair of contests conducted for the CSA racing classes 1-6, the opportunity to move up—or down—was at hand.
The 31st edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta kicked off in surprising style today as nearly 200 boats in 18 classes set sail anticipating both serious fun and, of course, serious competition. While most everyone enjoyed a good time and tight racing, they also encountered seriously challenging conditions thanks to squally skies, fluky breeze, and more than one or two windless holes on the racecourse.
The classic yacht season kicks off again with a schedule that promises to be bigger and more exciting than ever before: Officine Panerai presents the 2011 season of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the leading international regatta circuit reserved for classic and vintage yachts, in which over 500 classic sailboats, including many of the most beautiful watercrafts in the world, will challenge each other in water courses that have made yachting history.
The Dubois Cup is an exciting regatta that brings together many Dubois designed yachts, owners, crew industry associates and media alike. There are currently eight yachts confirmed Including three of Dubois’ prominent launches from the last year. Superyacht Kokomo (58.4m) sailing yacht Twizzle (57.5m) and yacht Zefira (49.7m
With just under 12 weeks until the first Trophy regatta of the season the 2011 Audi MedCup Circuit is taking final shape and is set to feature no fewer than 11 brand new build boats across the well established TP52 Series Class and the new Soto 40 class.
Nestlé Nespresso S.A and Wally Yachts, the world leader in yachting innovation, have announced the second edition of the Nespresso Cup, the international regatta exclusively for the Wally Class, taking place in Portofino in May 2011. The announcement was made together with Luca Bassani Antivari, President and Founder of Wally, and Nespresso Cup Ambassador and sailing legend Francesco de Angelis at the Yacht Club Italiano’s press conference which presented this season’s regattas.
Following a spectacular 2010 event, founding sponsor Hodgdon Yachts is pleased to announce the 2011 Shipyard Cup will be held 12-14 August in beautiful Boothbay Harbor. The cup will again be run under Bucket Protocol rating rules. Race applications and other details will be emailed to those that pre-register and those that participated last year.
The giant America’s Cup-winning trimaran arrived in the Bay today aboard the freighter M.V. Star Isfjord after a 7,900-mile passage from Valencia, Spain, via the Panama Canal. The ship carrying USA 17 trimaran passed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge at 0530 PST and berthed alongside San Francisco’s Pier 80 at 0650.