The super fast trimaran representing the Island of St Maarten has won the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race in grand style. Crossing the finish line at 2.30am yesterday Larus Roc St.Maarten won the multihull division, fastest elapsed time and the multihull division on handicap.

With their elapsed time of 36 hours and 54 minutes they narrowly missed out on a race record that stands at 36 hours for multihulls and this was mostly due to light air.

The race which is in its centennial year had a very strong competitors field with some 130 boats taking part. Amongst these boats were Titan 12 that took1st in Class in the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta this year and Captivity, formerly known as Sagamore, also not unknown in St.Maarten waters.

First monohull to finish the Marblehead Halifax race was also Titan 12, timing 36 hours and 59 minutes, only 5 minutes more than Larus Roc. Titan is a Puerto Rican based boat so it has been a clean sweep for the Caribbean.

"It was and is a proud moment to be flying the St Maarten flag and the flags of all of our sponsors in Halifax after a very successful race", said Ian Martin, who also mentioned that now that all of the boats are in and we have had a look at the quality of some of the boats we beat we are a very happy and proud crew.

During the light of the tip of Nova Scotia Larus Roc St.Maarten sailed through a pod of whales and were very pleased not to hit any although a spectacular sight it was.

Before the start Larus Roc St Maarten was based in Boston outside of the prestigious Rowes Wharf complex and in front of the Boston Ferry terminal.

The trimaran's presence caused a lot of interest and the boat spent time sailing up and down the harbour promoting the Island on her tour of the USA.

On the finish line the boat was met not only by the race officials but also by Sandy MacDonald, a former resident of St.Maarten with the intention of taking them to the nearest establishment for a well deserved drink to celebrate their victory.

The two trophies added to those already won in the Marion Bermuda Race and the Marion race record means that in her two races so far Larus Roc St. Maarten has won every trophy available to her on the tour.

Final race for the program is the Around Long Island Race (www.alir.org), which starts on the 28th of July out of Brooklyn, New York

Larus Roc St Maarten is supported by the St Maarten government, Bobby's Marina, Budget Marine, Island Water World, Food Express and Island 92.
Please also visit www.larusroc.com for more pictures.

© Copyright 2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 caribbeanracing.com