SIMPSON BAY--One of the first multihulls seen in St. Maarten, Tryst, is the first boat to enter the Caribbean Multihull Challenge – St Maarten. This iconic boat represents the core message of what the organizers of the event wish to communicate: Multihulls are here to stay; they are always developing; they provide incredible user satisfaction and they will continue to surprise! After distributing the Notice of Race and opening the entry system, organizers already welcomed six entries and are looking forward to seeing many more for the February 8 to 10, 2019 Challenge.
Tryst, built in 1968, belonged to the Turner brothers and was located in a bay on the French side known as Le Galion. Le Galion has a narrow entrance between two reefs which makes it a relatively uninviting destination for most vessels, excluding Multihulls. Built from plywood, this lighter boat sailed quicker and met the owner’s expectations over many years. Tryst, in original design apart from a couple of soft shackles, 3 winches and a full roach mainsail, got salvaged after Hurricane Gonzalo and was rebuilt by Arthur Banting and Bernard Stoutenbeek, who became the new owners and enjoyed sailing her weekends while racing a Melges 24 in Regattas.
“When I first came to the island in 1981, we spent a lot of time at Le Galion, at Pat Turner’s beach bar. In 1984 my father salvaged a slightly newer Dick Newick Trimaran and we raced against Tryst for a number of years. Some of my favorite memories were sailing with my father as a young boy over the weekend. Now I own a trimaran myself, the one and only Tryst.” Says Bernard ‘Appie’ Stoutenbeek.
Appie took on the task of fixing Tryst after Hurricane Irma; and barely got her ready in time for the 38th St Maarten Heineken Regatta. She raced crewed by several youth sailors and won the Best Youth Sailing Team trophy, but most importantly, she raced again after all these years!
“I am really amped and exited to see the Sint Maarten Yacht Club getting another regatta going and especially a true multihull challenge! This will really add to the St Maarten/Caribbean Sailing scene package and hopefully bring some of the old multihulls that once raced these waters back to St Maarten, like the old Spronk and Dick Newick design's! I secretly hope we find ourselves in a Multihull Classic class but regardless of details I am sure we are going to have another great event to add onto the seasons racing calendar and can’t wait to participate with the old girl!” continues Appie.
Planning and preparations are well underway for the Caribbean Multihull Regatta. For more information, for the official Notice of Race, and to the register for the racing, go to: www.smyc.com/caribbean-multihull-challenge
(Photo by Pat Turner)
