2016 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - Ready for lift off!

by Heineken Regatta on 2 Mar 2016 2016 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta - The Sint Maarten Yacht Club is buzzing with life as competitors arrive for the 36th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Registration opens today, with an estimated 2000 sailors from 32 different countries participating and many thousand more visitors arriving in St. Maarten for the legendary party atmosphere.

World Class sailors and passionate Corinthian sailors will be racing in a huge variety of boats from beach cats to super maxis, and all manner of boats in between, including the largest number of multihulls racing at any major Caribbean regatta.

Wednesday March 2 - The shore side entertainment programme kicks off with Team Brunel @ The Meet and Greet. Volvo Ocean 65, Team Brunel, will be racing at this year's regatta. Members of the team, that finished second in the 2015 Volvo Ocean Race, will be available for a Question and Answer opportunity at the Sint Maarten YC from 1700.

Thursday March 3 - Racing for the Gill Commodore's Cup starts the on the water action. The stand-alone event is proving ever popular as the curtain raiser for the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, well over 70 yachts are expected to be racing. The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Welcome Party will be held from 1700 at Port de Plaisance with top DJs spinning the tunes until late.

Friday March 4 - Racing starts for the 36th Edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta with a Round the Island Race. At 1700 Party at Boardwalk, Phillipsburg includes a new Boardwalk Market. Musical entertainment is provided by the best of St. Maarten's Bands and DJs.

Saturday March 5 - The second day of racing at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta features four separate race courses with most of the racing taking place south of St. Maarten. The scheduled finish for the last race is The Heineken Finish in Simpson Bay. The party action moves to Kim Sha Beach with Mixmaster Pauly, Honeypot, Orange Grove, Ziggy Recado and Rock City.

Sunday March 6 - The final day of racing at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has just one race scheduled for all classes. The final party at Kim Sha Beach kicks off from midday. The Prize-giving Ceremony starts at 1800 and the party goes on well into the night with The Cut Creator, DJ Outkast, The Cornerstone, Youth Waves Band and the big act of the regatta, multi-award winning rapper, Akon.