RACING
ST MAARTEN HEINEKEN REGATTA KICKS OFF THE CARIBBEAN INSHORE SEASON. DAVID HARDING MET TEAMS WHO’D MADE REMARKABLE VOYAGES TO TAKE PART
The Caribbean regatta season is something of a pilgrimage to the sun, drawing competitors from across North America as well as across the Atlantic. Those coming from northern Europe or the Mediterranean often cross in the ARC rally or RORC Transatlantic Race. Then, after competing in your chosen events, and perhaps enjoying some cruising downtime in the islands, you have a choice of sailing or shipping the boat back for the European summer.
The St Maarten Heineken Regatta (SMHR) is the first big inshore regatta of the Caribbean season, after the offshore RORC Caribbean 600, and was the first time many new arrivals to the Caribbean this year had lined up against one another. Adopting the slogan ‘serious fun’, the event lays on competitive racing over four days, each ending with a seriously loud party.
FROM TWO TO FOUR
Given the timing and the geography, it’s no surprise to find a fair few boats completing the RORC’s Transatlantic Race before heading north to Antigua for the RORC Caribbean 600 and then enjoying a fast fetch across to St Maarten, 90-odd miles to the north-west, a week later.
One boat to compete in all three events in 2023 was Kate Cope’s Jeanneau Sun Fast 3200, Purple Mist. Kate and her co-skipper, Claire Dresser, made headlines this year as the first two-handed female crew to complete the RORC Transatlantic. The boat is well known in racing circles in the UK, Cope being heavily involved in the double-handed offshore series. She started sailing relatively late in life, and moved from a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i to the 3200 in time for the AZAB in 2019.
After many more short-handed events around the UK over the following years, Cope sailed to Lanzarote in 2022 for the start of the RORC Transatlantic. Once across Biscay, she hopped around the Spanish coast in short legs by day, staying in shallow water in the hope of avoiding attack by orcas. Purple Mist succeeded in evading the whales, while other boats that ventured further offshore at the same time did attract the orcas’ attention.
After an enjoyable double-handed Transatlantic and Caribbean 600, Cope and Dresser were joined by two more crew, Suzie Anthony and Claire’s daughter, Emily, for the St Maarten Heineken – an event they entered ‘just for fun’. Kate had never done any crewed around the cans racing, so even sailing four-up was a new experience – and a challenging one on a boat that’s geared towards being sailed short-handed. In double-handed offshore racing each of the two crew is effectively sailing solo most of the time, while in St Maa
