The cream of the Caribbean racing crop will be descending on St Maarten this weekend (June 26/27) to compete in the annual North Sails Regatta, the Caribbean One Design Keelboat Championship. Fourteen top calibre teams from throughout the Caribbean will be racing in the fleet of one design Jeanneau Sun Fast 20s. In the case of most Caribbean regattas the likely winners can be counted on one hand, but this event could prove a little more difficult to predict; for this year’s North Sails Regatta another hand and perhaps even a foot may be needed.

The top four finishers last year are returning this year and are all in contention. Last year’s winners, the Hirst brothers hailing from the British Virgin Islands, will be looking to keep their crown while Mike Green from St Lucia will planning to reverse their tiebreak win last year and plant the crown firmly on his own head. However Chris Rosenberg from the USVI is also in the running having placed third last year, a mere point behind the Hirsts and Green.]

Efrain “Fraito” Lugo from Puerto Rico competes for the first time this year and will be an interesting addition to the mix. Not only does he have an unmatched record in winning Caribbean regattas, he also has vast small boat experience in the likes of the Melges 24 and the J/24 and a polished, regular crew. Most recently he was the overall winner at the Coors Light Sundance regatta in Puerto Rico and won the J/24 class at the International Rolex Regatta.

Also competing in this event for the first time is the USVI’s John Holmberg, a master when light winds and tactics are in play. He recently won the IC/24 class at the BVI Spring Regatta sailing against the Hirst brothers amongst others in light winds. He has collected five International Rolex Regatta class wins over the years as well as a Prindle 19 US national championship and a bronze medal in the Pan Am games.

Eight teams from St Maarten competed for four slots open to local teams last weekend. Shifty winds kept the race committee and competitors on their toes where big advantages were gained on single tacks and the leader board changed with every race. After eight close races Frits Bus took the first place spot with Bernard Sillem in second.

Frits Bus is unable to compete this weekend so Bernard Sillem will go forward as first qualifier. The other teams representing St. Maarten/St Martin this weekend will be Simon Manley, Luc Knol and Shag Morton/TeamFKG. Garth Steyn and Vassil Beyazov, both from St Maarten, are last minute entries to fill slots left by Paul Amon from Trinidad and Luc Poupon from St Barths who are now unable to attend.

The 2004 North Sails Regatta teams:

1. Robbie Hirst, British Virgin Islands
2. Mike Green, St Lucia
3. John Holmberg, St Thomas, USVI
4. Chris Rosenberg, St Thomas, USVI
5. Karl James, Antigua
6. Efrain “Fraito” Lugo, Puerto Rico
7. Carlos Skov, St Croix, USVI
8. Claude Thellier, Guadeloupe
9. Bernard Sillem, St Martin
10. Simon Manley, St Martin
11. Luc Knol, St Maarten
12. Shag Morton, St Maarten
13. Garth Steyn, St Maarten
14. Vassil Beyazov, St Maarten

Green, Hirst and James have participated in the Olympics while both Lugo and Holmberg have placed well in the Pan American games. Guadeloupe’s Claude Thellier has excelled in the Hobie class at world championship level.

Robbie Hirst will be sailing with his brother Mike and Andrew Waters. Karl James will sail the regatta with Ashley Rhodes and Shaun Malone, two excellent Laser sailors from Antigua; this combination has won the Antigua team racing event for the past three years. John Holmberg will sail with Carl Williams and Rob Upson.

The regatta is sailed in the Simpson Bay lagoon on the leeward side of St Maarten with a start line conveniently incorporated into local watering hole Harry’s Bar. Wind speed and direction is constantly changing and so a perfect combination of spotting the shifts and close quarters boat handling with seven other identical boats is the name of the game.

“Sailing speed is therefore of relatively less consequence in these conditions and tactical savvy is at a premium,” said event organizer Robbie Ferron. “This is why Mike Green, a previous winner, is usually a favourite because of his shrewd response to wind shifts and aggressive tactics that bring him to the front of the pack again and again.”

“In 2003 the event was sailed in heavy winds which dramatically changed the nature of the tactics and which ended up with the top four (Green, Hirst, Rosenberg and James) leaving the rest of the fleet standing . If lighter winds are experienced the game will change dramatically and each of the top sailors will have a greater chance of being bumped by the back enders who in this racing are never very far back.”

The boats are supplied by Lagoon Sailboat Rental. Racing can be easily viewed from Harry’s Bar. “The close proximity of the race course, the short courses and the close competition at the highest level of sailing makes this a great spectator event,” concluded Ferron.

North Sails Caraibe, event sponsor:

The loft was founded in 1986 by Andrew Dove the current Manager. The loft has been part of the North Sails group for fifteen years. Most of the staff have worked for North Sails since then.

Tony Elise heads the production of sails on site. With the collaboration of North Sails Cape Town a large number of sails are built for the local traditional boat market of Yoles, Gommiers and Saintoise. Additionally the island keelboat fleet is largely equipped with sails from the loft.

Cruising boats in the Caribbean, particularly the catamaran fleet, have for a long time been convinced by the quality and attention to detail of North Sails built in this loft.

North Sails Caraibe has over the last decade supplied a large number of racing and cruising maxis with sails. These boats benefit from this loft’s unique quality of being an active player in a global structure, supplying personal attention service whilst offering the greatest technology available.

© Copyright 2001/2002 caribbeanracing.com

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