Sailing - Saint Barth Participates in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

From March 4 to 8, the 46th edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta took place in the waters off Saint Martin and Sint Maarten, an event known for the diversity of its fleet. This year featured no fewer than 14 categories: CSA, Melges 24, Multihull, Sunfast20…
During the four days of racing, the winds blew, offering spectacular weather conditions and thrilling races. While the fleet encountered strong winds on the third day, the fourth day proved that it could do even better, with gusts of over 35 knots recorded on the course, giving the sailors a real taste of the challenging conditions.

In the CSA6 category, among the eight boats entered, Raphaël Magras’s Maëlia (X-Yachts 34) competed. For its 13th participation, Maëlia’s crew remained the same as in previous editions. Alongside owner Raphaël Magras were his children Anthony and Rudy, his grandson Mathéo Magras, as well as Bruno Gréaux, David Aubin, Gilles Questel, Quentin De Rosny, and Mathieu de Monti. “The conditions were really tough with winds over 25 knots and gusts up to 35 during squalls,” recalls Rudy Magras. “Many boats dropped out, and one even broke its mast. We had a few technical issues that set us back a bit, but we managed to fix them. We held our own until the end against larger boats, which have an advantage in strong winds. But we didn’t manage to make it to the podium this year.” Maëlia finished in 5th place in their category after 8 races.

Diam 24
Two other sailors from Saint-Barth also took part in the sailing festival on the neighboring island: Markku Härmälä and David Guiheneuc on Look Up in the Diam 24 category.
Hailing from the Caribbean as well as mainland France, eleven Diam 24s battled for victory, delivering non-stop action for both sailors and fans. Several teams remained at the top of the standings throughout the races. Hailing from Saint-Malo, the defending champions aboard Pyratz Gourmet Sailing dominated the early races, while Clippers Ship, Anomaly, and Look Up kept the pressure on. With strong finishes across the 10 races, the Saint-Barthélemy duo of Markku Härmälä and David Guiheneuc (Look-Up) finished 4th.