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A14 LOCAL
Friday 9 February 2018

38th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

Pillar of Island Strength Prepares to Welcome International Fleet

side entertainment from com/register/
the “Regatta Village” lo- For free concierge service,
cated at Princess Port de contact regatta@heinek-
Plaisance Resort and Ca- enregatta.com, +1 721 544
sino and the Yacht Club at 2079
Port de Plaisance (across
from race host St. Maarten For up-to-date information
Yacht Club. regarding lodging, mari-
For access to press releas- nas, charter options and
es, material, editorial free beyond, visit http://heinek-
photos and/or press boat enregatta.com/
sign up, please fill out the To register for the 2018 event,
Media Accreditation form visit http://regattaguru.
at https://heinekenregatta. com/heineken/100237q

ST. MAARTEN (February 7, Headlining the regatta’s larger than what we com-
2018) – The St. Maarten concert series this year will peted in last year. We’re
Heineken Regatta has be Grammy Award-win- very competitive, but at
been a Caribbean favorite ning musician Shaggy, who the same time we sail for
for almost four decades, has offered to perform for a fun.”
and this year’s 38th edition, highly reduced fee to sup- Rob Butler and his Cana-
scheduled for March 1-4, port the fundraising efforts. dian team on the Reflex 38
will prove no exception to He will be joined by other Touch2Play Racing raced
the rule. Already, 75 boats notable talent, including in the St. Maarten Heineken
representing 22 countries Carnival legends Destra Regatta for the first time last
have registered to race in and 3 Cylinder. year and will be returning
the island of St. Maarten’s this year. “I’ve done a lot
first major event since Hur- The Competition of regattas in my lifetime
ricane Irma passed through The world-class St. Maarten all over the world, and it’s
in September. With three Heineken Regatta is known pretty hard to match the St.
weeks to go, organizers for attracting a largely in- Maarten Heineken Regat-
have ensured that the par- ternational fleet of maxi, ta,” said Butler whose team
ties and entertainment will monohull and multihull took second in its class last
continue to be legendary boats. This year’s roster is year.
as they complement four comprised of teams com- “When it comes to sailing,
days of serious on-the-wa- ing mostly from North Amer- there are not many places
ter competition. ica, South America, Europe that can rival the Carib-
and Australia. bean, and St. Maarten, in
“We have been saying that Sir Richard Matthews will particular, is just a fun place
the best way to support our skipper his 42-foot Judel to sail. With all the different
island is to come to it, and Vrolijk designed Power of classes and the ability to
by the looks of the entry list, Love to represent one of charter race boats onsite,
which is growing daily, that ten UK-based teams com- it is no surprise there are so
is exactly what the sailors peting. many boats that enter ev-
are doing,” said Regatta “People keep coming back ery year. That, on top of the
Race Director Paul Miller, to the St. Maarten Heineken amazing parties and the
adding that the 38th edi- Regatta, because it’s good incredible entertainment
tion will aim to raise funds for competition and a great they bring in, makes it a
dedicated marine, human- place to race,” said Mat- pretty spectacular event.”
itarian and environmental thews who first raced in the The regatta, kicks off Thurs-
efforts through the K1 Bri- event over 25 years ago. day, March 1 with the
tannia Foundation, the St. His team won its class last separately scored Gill’s
Maarten Nature Founda- year, racing his Humphreys Commodores Cup. On
tion, the St. Maarten Sea 39 Oystercatcher XXX1. Friday, the fleet embarks
Rescue Foundation and “We’ve done quite a lot of on the event’s 26-nauti-
the St. Maarten Yacht Club sailing in the Caribbean, cal mile Around the Island
Regatta Foundation. “We and I have had 31 race Race before taking on a
hope to act as an example boats under the Oyster- series of windward-leeward
of strength and solidary, catcher name, but this year races on Saturday and a
and help raise awareness we will be racing a new single coastal race on Sun-
as we continue the rebuild- boat coming down from day. Each day of racing
ing of the island.” America, which is slightly is rounded out with shore-