SIMPSON BAY — Boats in three fleets — CSA, Diam 24, and Sun Fast 20 — competed against one another on Simpson Bay in the Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s (SMYC) Keelboat Race Day 2 on Sunday. The racing is part of the Keelboat Season Championship sponsored by Grant Thornton, Race Officer Paul Henriquez got the day off with a windward-leeward, up-down-up-down-finish course.
The breeze was lighter than is typical this time of year, but there was enough to get everyone around. The easterly wind shifted in both velocity and direction all morning, which put a premium on boatspeed and made decision-making a top priority. In total, four races were completed and it came down to the final contest to determine the winner in the Diam 24 and CSA classes.
In the Diam 24s, Buzz Race Team took third place with 8 points, Anomaly came in second with 4 points, and Merlin captured first with 4 points — winning the tiebreak by getting a first in the final race. Similarly, in the CSA Class, the J/105 More Zessin’ took fourth place with 12 points, Melges 24 Budget Marine grabbed third with 9 points, Melges 24 Caribes Diesel got second with 4 points, and Team Island Water World stood atop the podium with 4 points — also winning the tiebreak with a first in the final race. In the CSA 1 class it was a close battle between Carib Diesel , helmed by Emilien LeNormand and Team IWW.
Both scored 2 wins and 2 seconds with every race a close finish making it for the sailors a very excited event. Budget Marine was sailed by the sailing instructors of the YC with Sam on the helm but all of them for first time on the Melges and they just finished preparations to race 1 hour before the start. In the Sun Fast 20 Class, FKG came in second place, and Green Mamba took first place. Next up on the Keelboat Championship Series calendar is the Heineken Regatta Warm Up (Race Day 3) on Sunday, March 1.
