Organizing the same St. Maarten Heineken Regatta year after year can be challenging, especially after 35 years. It is up to the regatta organizers to listen to their competitors as well as spectators to be able to continually improve the event as a whole.  There are currently plenty of changes to the competing, logistics and safety rules, all of which were well thought-out  with the competitors in mind and the race committee has been putting in additional hours to come up with a variety of options depending on weather. The old adage of quality over quantity still rings true at this one of a kind regatta.

St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - Photo by Tim Wright

Regatta organizers announced earlier this month that the ever popular Gill Commodore’s Cup would now be open to all regatta participants (except Lottery class).  With that in mind and to help accommodate the 200 plus entries that the event receives each year, the opening of Registration has been brought forward by a day to Tuesday 3rd March and will run for 2 1/2 days until lunchtime on Thursday. All of this information, including the new opening hours of Registration, can be found in the Notice of Race which is available via the regatta website.

For those who take care of their crews scheduling, your regatta just got a lot less complicated. Race committee has chosen to keep things simple this year and all starts and finishes will be in one location, Simpson Bay.  What does this mean for participants? Simplified logistics! Berthing arrangements as well as hotel reservations just got a lot easier, as crew and vessel can remain at the same location every evening. On Saturday, March 7th, racing will not end in Marigot, French St.Martin like in previous years, rather in Simpson Bay.

St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - Photo by Bob Greiser/Outside Images

There are also new Official Safety Rules that will be implemented on all racing days. These rules can be found on the registration website. All sailors are urged to download the new Safety Rules and to review them to make sure that you and your boat comply.

The host island, St.Maarten, is known for its diversity in culture and people, and the regatta is no different.  Although it is offering diversity in another form, racing!  With a continued effort to make racing better, more exciting and competitive, the race committee has confirmed that weather permitting, they might be able to offer two races on Sunday for some classes rather than one, allowing competitors as many racing opportunities as possible.  What does this mean for the competitors? If entered in both the Gill Commodore’s Cup and the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta, the potential is there, weather permitting, to complete at least six races over the course of four days!

Now that the sailing logistics have been fine tuned, and safety has been put under the microscope, there is only one thing left to do…Race!  So mark your calendars for March 5 to 8, 2015, and prepare yourself for some SERIOUS FUN!