The Heinekin Regatta

Nauticat at the Heinekin Regatta, march 2008

Nauticat competed in the Heinekin Regatta in St Martin this year. We entered in the cruising multihull division which had a total of 11 entries. The competition was Rocketeer, a well sailed and very fast Atlantic 55 cat, a 2 time previous winner. Baradazog, an Outremer 55 and the fastest boat in the division. A very well sailed and prepared Nautitech 43 cat. A lagoon 57, a Lagoon 440 and a Lagoon 38 also competed. A moorings 43 was also chartered for the regatta and a Lavezi 40 . The smallest boat was a very nice open Geminga 28 cat that was very quick. We were the slowest boat and I had a decent rating, unlike last year where I owed time to 44 ft cats.
I had a crew of 6, Mike Nusbaum from Victoria, Dennie Toolan from St Croix, Isabelle Peloquin from Montreal, Anita McKinley from Seattle, and Edith Gelin from Parksville
The first race was a windward , leeward coarse starting in Simpson Bay and finishing in Philipsburgh. The winds were 20 to 25 k with gusts to 30k. We placed 6th in that race and were very happy with our finish. A lot better than last year when we finished last in every race.
The second day was a race from Simpson Bay around to Margot on the French side. The winds were 18 to 24k. It was a nice beat, a good run and a long beat up the French shore with a downwind finish. We did well on the last beat and managed to catch some of the faster boats and had a good finish. We placed 3rd in that race.
The 3rd day was from Marigot back to Simpson Bay. The winds were between 10 and 25k. After a good start, I over stood the layline to the windward mark and dropped from 5th to 8th place. The downwind leg was light and I rounded the leeward mark in 9th. However it was a nice beat up the Dutch shore and we short tacked on every headder and picked up a few more boats to finish 5th across the line and correct into 3rd place again. Anita wore herself out grinding the headsail but never complained and did a fabulous job. We finished the regatta in 3rd for our division, first going to the very well sailed Nautiteh 43 and 2nd to the very fast Outremer 55.
This was a very big improvement from last year where we were DFL for our division and the whole regatta. The boat was a lot faster and we sailed it smarter and better. Everyone had a good time and a lot of fun. Edith and Isabelle had never raced before so this was a new experience for them. The crew work was good as we had a few days of practise before the regatta.