PHILIPSBURG:--- The entry list is expanding with each passing day and there's still time to ensure a spot on the starting line at the 34th Annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The race will take place March 6-9, 2014 in the fresh Caribbean breeze and turquoise waters for which competition and camaraderie has become so well known.
The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is an annual competition that has become a world-wide and one-of-a-kind sailing event with exciting entertainment, musical performances and parties that have attracted thousands of sailors and enthusiasts to the island over the years. The actual competition consists of round-the-buoys contests and point-to-point destination races against the backdrop of St. Maarten's breathtaking coastal views.
An international fleet of more than 100 boats - from flash one-design racers like the Melges 24s to Lord Irvine Laidlaw's state-of-the-art Grand Prix 52-footer, Highland Fling XII - have already registered for this year's running of the Regatta. These boats will be joined by a growing roster of slick, quick catamarans, including a quartet of luxury dual-purpose Gunboats that have already filed their online entrance forms, and Nils Erickson's always dangerous Formula 40, Soma.
Each year an incredibly diverse collection of boats and competitors from around the world descend on the island for the racing and parties, and judging from the first 100 entries, that trend will continue in 2014.
Some are young and eager; some are veterans with scores of miles under their keels. They all have one thing in common, they are bound for St. Maarten, and ready for action, and you can join them. There's always room for those who love sailing at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.
For more information on St. Maarten visit the official site of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau at www.VacationStMaarten.com.
