Continuing on at the end of April,


Antigua SailingWeek has a “Club Class”, similar to the StMaarten Heineken Regatta’s Island Time class. These classes use the CSA Variable Simplified rating, with self-declared measurements and ratings adjusted daily depending on performance. This results in tighter racing as the week progresses, withmore opportunities for all teams to experience the thrill of a podiumposition.


Itinerary 2: Made for Maxis and Multis While the Caribbean is a second home for many cruisers, with most of them now being multihulls, the region is also extending its warm hospitality to maxi racers. The 10th Anniversary RORC


Transatlantic Race will kick off January 2024. In recent years it has seen incredible growth since moving the start date from November to January. The RORC Transatlantic is the racer’s transatlantic choice and RORC’s enthusiasm in the Caribbean region has sparked the interest of more maxis year over year. The InternationalMaxi Association


(IMA) took notice and established the IMA CaribbeanMaxi Challenge in 2022. The trophy goes to the team scoring best two out of three of the Caribbean’smost competitive events: RORC Caribbean 600, StMaarten Heineken Regatta and Les Voiles de St Barth. The Volvo 70 I Love Poland, a Caribbean racing regular, was the inaugural trophy winner, though the maxis Deep Blue and Leopard 3 have contested in the past.


Top: the Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta’s Round The Island Race is serious fun. Above: the St Barths Bucket is the premier event for superyachts in the western hemisphere


The St Barth’s Bucket is in a


league of its own with a minimum LOA requirement of 100ft. St Barth’s is first-in-class, known for its luxurious amenities and entertainment offered to visitors. Even if you might not be lucky enough to receive an invitation to race, it is worth the trip during a regatta to experience just how grand the island’s hospitality can be. While such elite events can appear to be exclusive, the Bucket, among most regattas in 2023, supported their local youth sailing clubs. Multihulls have also found a


special place in the Caribbean with the Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) launched in 2019, kicking off the multihull racing season at the start of February. In 2023 the event expanded with the launch of the CMC Rally for Cruisers where cruising catamarans sail in a fun-


filled three-day cruising event from Sint Maarten to Anguilla, then to French Saint-Martin and back to Simpson Bay. In 2024 the event continues to grow with a fourth day of racing added to the regatta. The regattas on St Maarten, St


Barth’s, and the Virgin Islands all use their islands’ unique geography, plus neighbouring rocks and other islands to offer a multitude of long coastal courses that stray from the traditional windward-leeward format. These events attract multihull cruisers and maxis alike for the long courses and ability to stretch their legs between marks — where nature- made marks are most favoured.


Itinerary 3: The American Diehards Lest we forget our compatriots from the United States who, despite a deceptively shorter journey “as the


SEAHORSE 59


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LAURENS MOREL


CORY SILKEN/ST BARTH’S BUCKET


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