The 22nd Annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Underway

by Kent Schalleberger on 1 Mar 2002 The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta starts today, with 300 boats in 17 classes from 31 countries.

Wind are expected to be moderate (12-18 kts) from the northeast, and gradually building. Seas moderate.

While the event is primarily sponsored by Heineken Beer of Holland, it is hosted by the St. Maarten Yacht Club. The
majority of vessels participating are keel boats but multihulls are welcomed as well.

In addition to the regular regatta, there is the Scotiabank Tallship Race & Parade, the Caribbean Big Boat Series and a
special 12 Meter Exhibition class.

The biggest classes of boats are the bareboats, with over 120 entries.

The Big Boat class is also drawing a lot of attention.

Roy Disney's Pyewacket, a Reichel-Pugh 75 from California, will have Olympic sailor Robbie Haines aboard. Other vessels in
the class include: James Muldoon's Santa Cruz 72 Donnybrook, Bill Alcott's Santa Cruz 70 Equation, Trey Fitzgibbons'
Meritan 65 Mischievous, Simon Handley's Canadian 12 meter Geronimo and Tom Hill's Andrews 70 Titan.

Longtime St. Maarten racer (and Olympic sailor) Paul Dielemans will be helming the Custom 49 Fine Fleur.

Famed French multihull racer Laurent Bourgnon will be on Orange, a Custom 46 catamaran. (He has won the Route du Rhum
twice, and set numerous world sailing speed records).

There are two changes in the regatta format from last year.

The longest race, the Around the Island race, was formerly held on the last day. It is now the first race on Friday, which
allows the regatta and awards ceremony to finish earlier on Sunday.

The other change concerns the Open Class.

The Open Class is an informal, 'non-serious' class to attract the less competitive vessels which might not otherwise enter
the regatta. The basic aim is to allow more people on a wider variety of cruising craft to take part in the St. Maarten
Heineken Regatta----without the hassle of a formal CSA rating certificate, etc.

Here's how it works: before the first race, a participating vessel be given a simplified CSA rating based upon the
numerical data supplied to the race committee. After each race, that rating will be adjusted based on performance.

Over forty print and electronic journalists from around the world are covering the event. Between four and eight thousand
people are expected to attend the final awards and mega-party, which features the well-known reggae band Steel Pulse.

The regatta website at www.heinekenregatta.com has daily race results in real time, class divisions, boat & rating data and the
results of previous regattas.

For more information and/or a wide variety of additional photos suitable for magazine/web use, please contact: