Getting spanked at the pre-Heineken Regatta: and loving it

WHERE ELSE can you watch world class match racing (champions like Peter Holmberg and Gavin Brady!) while leaning on a patio bar at a yacht club, sipping a cold Heinie, beneath a balmy bluebird sky ... ?

Today’s Budget Marine Match Racing Regatta took place just off the St Martin Yacht Club, in ridiculously tetchy waters mined with mooring cans, kayakers, jet skies, and mega yachts queuing for the drawbridge that opens every other hour. Conditions made for great entertainment - and a few lessons, for spectators and participants alike!

For me, the thrill was watching the action up-close-and-personal on the press boat, with the infamous Bobbie G, Herb McCormick, Rob the video guy and Mario, ace driver. We zoomed around the ever-changing course (the wind shifty and temperamental) sometimes adding to the fray of obstacles – oops – admiring the strategy and skills of the sailors.

Racing teeny three-man Jeanneau SunFast 20s (they look like stubby toy boats, and organizers warned more than once “they sink very easily”!) they took deft handling and tactics to make the racing dynamic and fast-paced! Eight competitors from around the world did a single round robin, then went directly into the finals, with Colin Rathburn (BVI) and Simon Shaw (UK) duking it out for third and fourth (respectively).

No surprise: it was Peter Holmberg and Gavin Brady vying for top honors. Peter has won this regatta in each of its first two years; nearly succumbing to Gavin’s challenge last year. This year Gavin prevailed (read Herb’s play-by-play here) meaning BOTH of these pro sailors are sure to return next year, to grapple it out again.

But the star of the show for me was Erik van Poelgeest – aka Young Grasshopper. Just 23 years old, match racing for only two years, he put in a respectable performance, finishing sixth out of eight. His enthusiasm, even when he got hammered, was delightful, and I cheered loudly when he won his last race. It takes some cajones to come out and get spanked by the big boys, but Erik recognized the regatta as an unparalleled learning experience ... which was welcomed by Peter, Gavin, and the like. “It’s a great, casual event: I love it!” said a not-sounding-so-defeated Peter ... ‘Just more “serious fun” from the people at Heineken and St. Martin. Read more about it in my upcoming SAILING article.

Heading to the beach & signing off ~ Betsy Crowfoot, for SAILING magazine

PHOTOS: match racing right off the yacht club patio; the Rev Bobbie G at work; fustercluck at the ww mark