Heineken Regatta March 5-7 2004 Sint Maarten/Saint Martin by Randy Needham

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My Heineken Regatta experience (Written primarily on the plane ride home) One word:  INCREDIBLE I guess this is sort of a rags-to-riches story. As I write this remembrance I am stunned, shocked, amazed, flabbergasted at my experience.  I sailed on a SUPER fast boat, a maxi-yacht.  There were 258 boats registered for this regatta ... including about a dozen maxi-yachts.  Ours (Titan XII) was third-fastest and I believe third-largest (at 75 feet). I got roped into this thing because I normally sail on a new Swan 56 (which is itself quite fast and luxurious).  That came about because I signed on in late 2000 to sail on a mid-40's sized Baltic which was bigger and faster than the large-30's sized Baltic I had spent three excellent seasons with ... When I signed on to the larger Baltic I didn't know the owner had put the downpayment on his new Swan.

So last year (2003) on the Swan, in out first two regattas we finished last.  Dead last.  DFL.  Our owner fired half the crew, and another quarter quit (we were an all-amateur crew but he fired them anyway).  I was one of the few survivors.  The replacements were largely professionals (and a few of their friends, who are amateurs, but SUPER-competent).  That’s when I started sailing with pros.  Well, it's turned out that those pros seem to like me just fine (I'm now the navigator on the Swan, and apparently I push buttons pretty well).  In this photo of Titan I’m the fellow in white hanging on to the back of the boat.  Titan rates PHRF -132 compared to the Swan's -24. This particular crowd of pros mostly hail from Newport, RI (I privately call them the Newport Mafia).  They DO stick together, and watch out for their own.  The Swan is mostly their #2 (or #3) ride, behind Titan.  Well, turns out that Titan's last navigator hurt his knee or something, so one of these pro's with whom I've sailed (CT Olander) called me a in very late February and asked me if I wanted to go to St. Maarten for the Heineken Regatta.  I thought about it for about 5 milliseconds, an answered, "yes ... if I can get out of work.  Give me two hours to get back to you” (this was six days before the regatta was to begin.) I checked with my boss (waited for a good moment) ... he grumbled ... but said OK.  I called CT back and reported that I was good to go (I needed to skip work on Wed for travel, Thurs for practice, Fri for racing (racing was also Sat & Sun), and Monday boat work and travel).  CT told me that he would email me travel details in a day or so. The next day I received my e-ticket via email from the boat's travel agency.  Until I got the e-ticket I was reluctant to believe.  I REALLY was going to the Caribbean, to navigate on a maxi-yacht, my travel paid for.  NICE!