Heineken Regatta set to begin!

The palm trees are hunched and the sea obscured by the furious wind and rain. Thankfully I’d declined to race Commodore’s Cup, and while my sympathies are with those sailors today, I hope the storm gives its’ all and doesn’t hold back – and has nothing left for the next three days!

The Heineken Regatta boasts it is “serious fun” – the place to be whether you are a hard core racer, non-spin cruiser, party boat, or anything in between. So I’ve decided to test the waters and experience all three, in my three days of racing here. And my lineup is incredible!

Friday I’ll race aboard FAT CAT, an 80-foot Morelli/Miller designed luxury catamaran, on the long (32-mile) race around the island. FAT CAT is owned by a very smiley man named John (Winter?), with the legendary T. Randy West as sailing master, and they warmly invited me aboard without any hesitation at last night’s Heineken Regatta ‘Welcome Sailors Party’ at St. Martin YC. Well that’s a welcome indeed!

Earlier in the week, as I was staring at the bulletin board trying to make sense of the teensy print of the scratch sheets (my reading glasses were still in my luggage) a lovely lady offered to help find what I was looking for. But I didn’t know what I was looking for, I explained, and once she grasped my challenge she – Lea deHaas – invited me to sail aboard SYNERGY.

Lea’s Frers 49 SYNERGY is a well-know boat down here: racing with an all-women crew (TEAM WAVE: Women Against Violence Everywhere) they have won their class in the Newport-Bermuda Race and are frequently found on the podium, collecting their share of silver ‘jewelry’ in races throughout the Caribbean. I am thrilled to be sailing with Lea and the gals (including Val Doan on the helm and Denise Holmberg as tactician) on Saturday’s (26-mile) race from Simpson Bay to Marigot (with a few offshore zigzags in between)!

Sunday, my new friends from TEAM LYNCH MOB say, I’m, ‘Saving the best for last ...’ In truth, I’m afraid these party pros from The Lynch Mob might destroy me: so indeed I saved NADARA - a cruising class 50’ Beneteau helmed by Eric Lynch – for the final day of racing; just in case I cannot get out of bed the following morning ...

Eric and crew found me at the YC last night and I received a raucous welcome. These kids were just warming up, I fear, but I’m looking forward to the short (16-mile) boomerang course from Marigot to Simpson Bay – where Wyclef Jean will be performing(!) at the party afterwards.

Check back for updates (if I’m conscious) and be sure to visit the Heineken Regatta website daily for news and results, images, and video

For now, I'm holed up in my enclave at the Blue Pelican (a lovely villa which is upscale, serene and walking distance to St Martin Yacht Club and Simpson Bay) watching for a break in the rain, so I can venture out to Hilma's Windsor Castle for some johnnycakes ...

-- Betsy Crowfoot, for SAILING magazine