St Maarten Heineken Regatta - Big wind on Day 2

by Rachel Jaspersen on 8 Mar 2015

Gunboat class - St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Rachel Jaspersen

In the 2015 St Maarten Heineken Regatta reinforced trade winds kicked in again this morning with 20+ knots of breeze on the starting line just outside Cole Bay, enough to launch Gunboat 62 Elvis to victory twice. New York-based owner Jason Carroll held on for an overall victory in the first race and a slim handicap win in the second race despite several major gear issues resulting from the big wind.

Gunboat class - St. Maarten Heineken Regatta © Rachel Jaspersen

Elvis had a slow start to the first race, though they quickly overhauled the fleet on the first beat of the 19-mile course. They held their lead on the long reach, extending slightly over Tribe on the run to a crowded finish in Simpson Bay, with an easy win on handicap.

Second Race saw Elvis again stretch their legs with solid boat speed and strong tactical calls up the beat, but it all went wrong after they rounded Tintamaare. 'We had a small issue when we went to the big kite, so we switched to the code zero so we could put a quick fix on,' said trimmer Sam Rogers, who looks after the massive downwind sails. The crew swarmed over the holed spinnaker with repair materials, but despite an incredible fix and just ten minutes from tear to repair, Tribe had their opening, and they pounced. 'We saw them go bare-headed and knew there was something going on, but we had a little too much going on ourselves to think much about it,' said Tribe trimmer and former Olympic sailor Carrie Howe.

Gunboat class - St. Maarten Heineken Regatta © Rachel Jaspersen

Tribe was pushing for every fraction of a knot of boat speed, running into some problems of their own. 'These waves will certainly find any weaknesses you have on the boat, and we’ve got a few repairs to make this afternoon,' said Howe. Tribe may have passed her fellow Gunboat 62 on the course, but the slower-rated Elvis had the last laugh when the handicap results came in; her corrected time was nearly 4 minutes ahead of Tribe’s, giving her two ‘bullets’ on the day.

While the two leaders showed great speed as well as breakages and boat handling issues, the trailing group sailed more conservatively. Yesterday’s winner Coco De Mer didn’t break a single thing despite the impressive loads on their Gunboat 66. 'Those were two great races, and everyone on the crew had the time of their lives,' said bow person Chandler Collins. Coco’s two third-place finishes land her in third place, just one point out of the lead.

Gunboat class - St. Maarten Heineken Regatta © Rachel Jaspersen

Toccata struggled on the course, first with their positioning, and then their reliability. 'We got stuck on the left on the first beat, falling into some huge holes in the island’s wind shadow,' said trimmer Chris Bailet. 'There was a good shift but it was easy to get trapped in there.' Toccata crossed the line fifth in the first race, and after an exciting start to the second race, retired to deal with gear issues.

A single race on Sunday will decide the winner and podium for the Gunboat fleet, and with the leaders tied and Coco De Mer just one point back, it’s truly anyone’s game when the gun goes off at 10am.

Series results - Multihull 1 - Gunboat