Getting into Sequence at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta!!
Simpson Bay — The fleet are already jumping the gun and getting their race on during an intense training day for the 42nd St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, which officially starts Thursday, March 3, 2022. Teams eager to get out on the water descended into Port de Plaisance in the early hours to tend to registration, and not to miss any critical moments to prepare their sailors for the intense competition. The playful banter and friendly competitive chatter could already be heard at registration, where teams sized up their rivals and made predictions for how the week of racing would play out. “Fujimo looks mean,” says Shahid Hamid, skipper of Swan 58 OMII, on fellow CSA 3 competitor. “They will be our toughest competition. We are looking for first place, so we spent the last 4-5 days training hard. Last time we did Heineken Regatta we didn’t train enough, this time we are here to compete.” Shahin has even sweetened the deal, incentivizing his team with a ski trip to ensure they bring on the heat!!
Other teams have not had the luxury of a week of training. Team Arabella’s Cape 31 sport boat splashed for the first time today, having just arrived in a container straight from Cape Town. “Last time we sailed as a group was March 2020 in Cape Town with the Cape 31 class series. We were so impressed by the Cape 31 fleet that we ordered our own!” They will line up against a serious sport boat fleet with all of the Caribbean’s Melges 24 & 32 teams, plus highly competitive RP 37, Taz, in CSA 5.
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