Peter Holmberg To Seek Third Title in
2012 Budget Marine Match Racing Cup:
Kick-off to the 32nd St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

Simpson Bay, St. Maarten (January 9, 2012) – Virgin Islands sailing legend Peter Holmberg—the only Caribbean sailor to win both an Olympic Medal and the America’s Cup—will return to one of his favorite sailing venues next month to compete in the fourth running of the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup. The annual event, scheduled this year for February 28, will serve as the official kick-off to the 32nd edition of the world-renowned St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, which begins on March 2.

Holmberg, who won the first two editions of the innovative Budget Marine Match Racing series, was denied a third trip to the winner’s circle last year when he was upset in the finals by New Zealand ace Gavin Brady. The memory remains fresh in his mind. “I will definitely go in to the Budget Marine event looking for a win,” he said. “Last year Gavin got the better of us in the finals, so I would like to erase that memory if I can.”

Eight teams of sailors will once again gather in St. Maarten to compete for the $8,000 purse: $5,000 for the winning team; $2,000 for the runner-up; and $1,000 for the third-place finishers. But Holmberg said that the prize money was only a small part of the attraction in competing for the Budget Marine Cup.

“The racing is held in the Simpson Bay Lagoon to promote spectating, so we are often racing in between moored boats and marinas,” he said. “This can make the racing quite tricky, but that’s all in the spirit of the event. St. Maarten itself is a very friendly island, which always makes for a fun time visiting.”

Holmberg will also be racing in the “main event” later that week—the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta—aboard the new Reichel-Pugh IRC 52, Highland Fling.

Thus far there are two confirmed entrants joining Holmberg for the Budget Marine Cup. One of them, Colin Rathbun of the British Virgin Islands, is a veteran of the regatta, and will be looking to better his third-place showing in last year’s contest.

“After falling in love with match racing, I’m all about bringing more of it to the Caribbean and the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup does just that,” he said. “It’s tight, close-water sailing with some of the best in the world, all flown in to sail the big boats in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. I can’t wait to do it again this year.”

The third confirmed entrant in the eight-boat fleet is American David Storrs, a 67-year-old American from the East Coast with extensive experience racing on Long Island Sound. David is currently ranked 20th among U.S. sailors in the International Sailing Federation list of top match racers.

Sailed in identical Jeanneau SunFast 20s with three-person teams, after an initial ten-flight round-robin series, the field is narrowed to a final four that compete for the prize money and bragging rights as one of the top match racers in the Caribbean. And opportunities are still available for teams looking to mix it up against living legend Peter Holmberg.

“Anyone who is an accomplished match racer, male or female, who would like to enjoy match and fleet racing, perhaps win a pile of cash, and enjoy some of the finest regatta parties in the Caribbean should email the regatta office (director@heinekenregatta.com) and submit their sailing CV for consideration,” said Regatta Director Heather Tackling. “The cost of participation is only $100 though a refundable deposit of $500 is required to confirm the slot.”

In other words, are you ready to challenge an Olympian and America’s Cup winner? Here’s your chance!

For full information on the 2012 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, including entry information, the Notice of Race, photos, videos, party and band information, and much, much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

Budget Marine 43rd Spice Island Billfish Tournament
GRAND SLAM GRENADA  25 - 29th January 2012

The anticipation is building in the lead up to the 43rd Spice Island Billfish Tournament - the 2nd to be title sponsored by Budget Marine. The 2011 event was widely regarded as one of our best ever with 52 boats, 247 anglers and 95 releases - of course everyone involved is working hard to raise the bar even higher in 2012. The signs are favourable that the normally great fishing may be even better next year - the last two tournaments on the Southern Caribbean Billfish Circuit (St Lucia and Martinique) were held in October 2011 and experienced better billfish action than they had the previous year - SIBT chairman Richard McIntyre is hopeful that this trend will continue in Grenada.

The SIBT committee has been working hard to ensure that the quality of organisation, prizes and entertainment will at least match and hopefully exceed that attained during the 2011 tournament. For example Budget Marine have sponsored a brand new 9 Foot Ultra Light AB Model dinghy with a 9.8 HP Tohatsu 2 Stroke Outboard engine - retail value - EC$14,000.00 (US$ 5243) for the first boat to register a Grand Slam in the 2012 tournament (a Grand Slam is the capture of a Blue Marlin, a White Marlin and a Sailfish in the same day on the same boat). The committee have already received online entries from St Vincent, St Lucia and even New York - some of which have never fished SIBT before and others not for a very long time - hence they are hopeful of a very good turnout.

Mr. McIntyre expressed his sincere gratitude to all sponsors and especially to Budget Marine and the other major sponsors: The Beacon Insurance Co. Ltd, Carib Beer, Grenada Board of Tourism, Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina and the Government of Grenada; without whom the event could not continue.

He also thanked the Grenada Yacht Club, long time home of the tournament, for the continued use of their facilities and AllyDay Creative Projects - the events marketing representative since 2009.

SIBT remains a qualifying tournament in the IGFA Offshore championship (the winning team in Grenada is invited to fish a tournament of champions held in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico). It is also the first event in the Southern Caribbean Billfish Circuit (SCBC) which organises the tournaments of Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago (2), Barbados, St Lucia and Martinique into a championship with prizes for the overall winner based on their best 3 scores from the individual tournaments.

Boats can pre-register online at www.sibtgrenada.com - actual registration day is Wednesday 25th January at the Grenada Yacht Club.
Live tournament updates will be available on Facebook - Spice Island Billfish Tournament Grenada


Call Kira Francis on (473) 435 3842 or (473) 533 8454 for more information.

'DOUBLE HEADER IV' WINS TOP BOAT AT 2011 WAHOO WIND-UP SPONSORED BY BUDGET MARINE

Husband and wife reeled in the two largest wahoo at the Virgin Islands’ Game Fishing Club’s (VIGFC) annual Wahoo Wind-Up, sponsored by Budget Marine and held Sunday November 6. Chris Berry caught a 34.3-pound wahoo aboard the 36-foot Calypso, Double Header IV, to earn Top Angler, while his wife, Angela, reeled in a 33.0-pound wahoo to win the Second Largest Wahoo and Top Female Angler prizes.

“We caught all of our fish before Noon, then nothing,” says Chris Berry.

Calm seas and sunny skies made for great fishing weather, something that Angela Berry especially enjoyed. “This was my third fishing tournament,” she says. “I loved it! It was especially fun to catch a big wahoo.”

Double Header IV owner and captain, Jonathan Gatcliffe, reeled in the third largest wahoo, a 31.6-pounder.

A total of 8 wahoo collectively weighing 198.9-pounds also earned Double Header IV the Top Boat prize for the third year in a row.

“We were three couples going out for a fun day of fishing,” says Gatcliffe. “But of course we had our strategy too. We headed over to the C-FAD north of Christiansen to get a bunch of small fish to give us numbers, and then north trolling across the South Drop to go get the big ones.”

Cash prizes were awarded to the anglers who caught the 10 largest wahoo.

Marc Mosca aboard Double Header IV caught the 4th largest, a 29.9-pounder; Ernest Quetel fishing from Rambo caught the 5th largest, a 27.7-pounder; the 6th largest or 26.62-pounder was reeled in by Al Spouthworth on Islander; 7th largest, a 25.2-pounder, was caught by Derek Quetel on Rambo; Jane Townsend on Double Header IV caught the 8th largest weighing 24.7-pounds, the 9th largest weighed 24.5-pounds caught by Chris Berry on Double Header IV, and Kevin Haddox on Mixed Bag rounded out the top 10 with a 24.2-pounder.

A fleet of 12 boats with 46 anglers caught a total of 18 wahoo collectively weighing 384.3-pounds. Personal from the Department of Planning & Natural Resources Fish & Wildlife Department, headed by director Roy Pemberton, Jr., conducted the official weigh-in.

“We had a great tournament and we invited everyone to come out and fish with us in future tournaments,” says tournament director, Paul Meyer.

The Virgin Islands’ Game Fishing Club’s Wahoo Wind-Up was sponsored by Budget Marine.

For more information about the VIGFC, visit: www.vigfc.com

- Carol Bareuther, RD -

St. Maarten's 7th Soualiga Challenge again a success

Congratulations to all participants who took part in the 2011 Soualiga Challenge, racing from St. Barths to St Maarten on Sunday 16 October. 

The 25 km race is part of the 2011 Caribbean Surfski Tour, which also includes the Karekura Challenga on the 30th of October in Guadeloupe. 

Now in its seventh year, the Soualiga Challenge has gained the reputation of being a tough race. Being a crossing -- a point to point race -- there is of course no guarantee of the paddle being a downwind event. When there is a south-easterly wind blowing, the course is an exhilarating sleigh ride but, it can also be a long, hot slog in flat conditions or a battle for survival if the wind swings to the northeast. One thing is sure, each year it is a race to remember.

The Challenge usually attracts a competitive field of about 40 local, regional and international paddlers, but this year due to worldwide economic constraints the field was a little less occupied. Nonetheless, it was as competitive as ever. 

18 participants started off the line in St. Barths, of whom Guadeloupe’s Frank Fifils won, in an improved time of 1:54:18 hour. Local Senior Stuart Knaggs came in 3rd place overall, with an improved personal time of 2:12:45. St Maarten junior Jolyon Ferron (16) improved from placing ninth last year, but was unlucky to get weed & rope wrapped around his skeg during the last stretch into the finish while duelling David Baptiste from Guadeloupe, who finished as first Junior and 4th overall. Jolyon came in as 2nd junior, and 5th overall.

“I was faced with a decision to capsize and get the weed off or stay in the boat. I made the wrong decision and stayed on board,” lamented Jolyon. “Too bad, but overall I was faster this year and conditions were better.”

 

After the racing, all participants, supporters, volunteers and friends celebrated with a lunch at the Captain Oliver's restaurant, embracing the great atmosphere of the day. 

Budget Marine wishes all paddlers the best of luck in the upcoming event!

Find out more about the Caribbean Surfski Tour on www.caribbeansurfski.com.

St. Maarten Youth Sailor to Compete in Qatar

Aruba Rembrandt Regatta

In about a week the third edition of the Aruba Rembrandt Regatta will start. On Friday 12, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 of August, dozens of sailing competitions will be sailed in the waters of Eagle Beach. Participants compete in different classes: the small ‘optimists’, windsurfers and kitesurfers, sunfish and beachcats but also large sailing yachts from Aruba and from abroad have registered.

The regatta will not only be a great competition for the sailors, on Eagle Beach there will also be a lot going on. As of this year, Aruba Beach Tennis organizes its ranking tournament at the regatta location at Eagle Beach. In the evenings there will be live performances, DJ’s, parties, beach tennis and kitesurf shows. Main sponsor Café Rembrandt will take care of the catering from 10 am.

 On Friday 12, the traditional ‘Around Aruba’ race will be sailed. In this race, that starts at 8 am, the yachts battle for the Mount Gay Challenge Cup that is awarded for the fastest yacht. The first yachts will finish around 1 pm, last year the last yacht finished at 9.30pm. In the evening the regatta will be opened and the awards for the Around Aruba Race will be given.

On Saturday 13, 16 sailing competitions and the beach tennis competition will take place between 9:30am and 5 pm. After the competition there will be the Polar Happy Hour, a live performance by Acoustic Soul and, weather permitting, kite surfing demonstrations. The Sunday program will be similar, spectacular races, great beach tennis, and of course the relaxed atmosphere of the regatta village. In the evening the regatta will be closed with the awards ceremony in which the Budget Marine Overall Cup will be awarded and the closing dinner for participants, sponsors and volunteers.

The success of the Aruba Rembrandt Regatta, the largest sailing event of Aruba, demonstrates that the Aruban sailing sport is growing. The initiative of SYWA, training the youngest in optimists, the regular competitions of the Sunfish Club, Beach Cats, windsurfers and kitesurfers culminate in this annual event. The Aruban private sector shows its appreciation of the event through their sponsoring. About 40 volunteers, amongst which Boatplatoon Carib of the Dutch Marines, make it all possible.

The racing courses of the sailing competition have been designed so that spectators can follow the thrill of the races from the shadow of the tents in the regatta village. Participants can register on Thursday August 11, between 4 pm and 7 pm, in Café Rembrandt. For the full program, visit the website http://aruba-regatta.com

Photos:
1.  Sponsors of the Aruba Regatta: Café Rembrandt, Budget Marine, Polar, Brickell Bay, Compra, Mount Gay, Fatum, Now, Power Systems
2. Tranquilo from Aruba with captain Anthony Haeghedoorn
3. Casse tete V from Curacao with captain Jos Schoonen

Melody Makes History at the
Budget Marine Challenge

WILLEMSTAD- Melody once again won the seventh annual Budget Marine Challenge. Her crew brought home the perpetual trophy for the second time. This is the first time ever that the same boat has won the trophy twice!

Having won the trophy in 2008, Melody came back to claim it again in 2011.  Second place in the Racing/Cruising Class went to Venus Callipyge, followed by Gipsy Girly in third.  In the Racing class, D-Trip took first place.  Chamba came second and Dash placed third.

Held in Spanish Water, the seventh annual Budget Marine Challenge was sailed in great weather characterized by strong winds.

The event distinguished itself with a couple of unusual twists: the first race started downwind on the Spanish Waters. This brings an extra challenge to avoid crossing the starting line early.

The second part of the event featured a “Fuikbaai” start. After lunch, the participating boats went on anchor. All crew were to remain below deck, and at the sound of the starting signal, each boat had to up-anchor and hoist the sails as fast as possible. This requires good teamwork, as any wrong maneuver can slow down the process.

All-in-all, everyone enjoyed this fun and exciting event.

Gavin Brady Defeats Peter Holmberg in Classic Final Race to Win 2011 Budget Marine Match Racing Cup

In come-from-behind fashion on the deciding race of the 2011 Budget Marine Match Racing Cup, New Zealand ace Gavin Brady defeated Virgin Island legend Peter Holmberg today to claim top honors—and the $5,000 prize for first place in the ISAF Grade 5 match-racing event—in the lead-up to this week’s St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Brady’s 2-0 victory in the best of three finals during this third running of the Budget Marine Cup avenged his loss to Holmberg in 2010.

Holmberg, who earned $3,000 for his second-place effort, had won both previous editions of the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup. But Brady, and his all-star crew of Chris Larson and Marc Plaxton, clearly had his number today. In the earlier finals to determine third and fourth place, Colin Rathbun’s Team BVI dispatched veteran U.K. match racer Simon Shaw and his squad, also by a 2-nil score, to earn the $2,000 check for third.

Brady, Holmberg, Rathbun and Shaw advanced to the Final Four in the eight-team field after an earlier round-robin on Simpson Bay conducted in often fluky, shifty winds ranging from 6-8 knots to the mid-teens. Brady was undefeated in the initial ten-flight round-robin series, sailed in Jeanneau SunFast 20s. The other four teams in the series were skippered by Russian sailors Eugeny Nikiforov and Peter Kochnev, Brit Marc Fitzgerald and young, rising star Erik van Poelgeest of Holland, currently serving an internship here in St. Maarten.

However, the day belonged to Brady and his crew. “It was just one of those days, you can’t ask for more,” he said. “It was shifty, it was tricky, it was all about sailing. Our goal today was just to get faster and faster because if you get to the finals you want to be confident in your speed so you can focus on the wind shifts because the breeze dies down and it does get tricky.”

From the outset of today’s racing, it seemed inevitable that Holmberg and Brady would be the last men standing, which is precisely how it unfolded. “We raced Peter last year (in the finals) and were ahead in both races,” Brady said. “I don’t think we were quite as quick last year. I don’t know why (we were faster this year), because Peter’s quick.”

The first race of today’s finals was practically over before it started; Holmberg was flagged by the umpires for a pre-start infraction and was never able to recover.

“Pete likes to be very aggressive in the last thirty seconds before the start,” said Brady. “Our goal was to actually be behind him in the final approach to the line so we could control the tempo of the start. We did that with him in all of our starts today, we were always the boat coming from behind. You can control the whole atmosphere and it worked out really well. We pushed him into a position (where he fouled us) and our tactician, Marc Plaxton, did a great job calling the shifts and we stretched it out.”

Brady’s winning effort to close out the finals was an altogether different affair, with multiple penalties and a couple of lead changes. In fact, Brady’s team was slightly behind Holmberg at the last weather mark, but managed to overtake Holmberg and crew on the final run.

“It was the same thing as the first race in the finals,” said Brady. “We were the back boat and we dictated the tempo again but Pete did a slightly better job of identifying what our game plan was and he came out of that start slightly ahead. But Chris and Marc were patient, and again it came down to boat speed. There were a lot of penalties, there was a lot going on. But you wouldn’t see a better match race anywhere, in Malaysia at the World Championships…anywhere. That race was as good as it gets.”

“My hat goes off to our judges,” said Budget Marine’s Robbie Ferron. “You can’t have an event like this without a fantastic race committee and judges. They did a great job.”

And once it was over, Brady put the entire day in fine perspective. “The most important thing was being in the finals again with Peter,” he said. “Both of us have come through the America’s Cup and spent our lives doing this. Now we’re out of the Cup and we’re a couple of the older guys in the sport. But we’re still racing against each other and still having a beer at the end of the day. It was a good feeling to be back at it two years in a row. And tonight we’ll be going out and having a few rums and enjoying the rest of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.”

Lastly, one had to ask: Will Brady be back next year to defend his title?

“I enjoy this regatta very much,” he said. “Sometimes you fly to Europe with a team of six guys and you do six races. We came today and did nine races. And we’re in St. Maarten, which is beautiful. So I think that’s a no-brainer.”

For complete results of the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup, including photos and video, as well as information on the GILL Commodores Cup and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

Budget Marine Match Racing 3rd Edition

February 21st 2011-Simpson Bay , St.Maarten-On Tuesday the1st of March the Budget Marine Match Racing Cup will take place where $10,000 inprize money can be won by somebody sailing their boat past just one other boat. Match racing is the sport where two boats race against each other like in the Americas Cup although that contest is now more dominated by technology than sailboat racing skills.
     
Here in Sint Maarten the sailors are often professional sailors off the grand prix boats who are in the Caribbean and who provide us with a chance to witness top level sailboat racing skills that would otherwise not be seen. Ironically the “master” is from the Caribbean and quite close to Sint Maarten; Peter Holmberg has taken the first two editions of this event and he is from St. Thomas US Virgin Islands.

     
The racing will be taking place on the water between Palapa Marina, Port de Plaisance and Isle de Sol. The races are very short and much of the race is in the starting procedure. This is excellent spectator material!  During the day you will be able to listen to live updates on local radio station island92, 91.9fm and the final races of the day will be covered live from the committee Boat. The best spectator experience is to be had from the “change boat” which will be in the middle of the course or from your own spectator boat.
      
Last year Gavin Brady almost managed to win the crown from Peter Holmberg. This year he has some statistical advantage which unfortunately says nothing on the water. Crew quality, luck and the wind gods can make that tiny bit of difference.
      
Other sailors this year include Colin Rathburn, Gavin Brady, Eugeniy Nikiforov, Petr Kochnev, Mark Fitzgerald, Eric van Poelgeest and the two time winner Peter Holmberg.

Dutch sailor Eric van Poelgeest who is on St Maarten doing an internship will compete hoping his experience in the very competitive J22 racing in Holland will put him in good stead.

For more information about the races, the Gill Commodores Cup or the St.Maarten Heineken Regatta visit www.heinekenregatta.com

Wahoo Challenge Fishing Tournament

The Wahoo Challenge fishing tournament has been successful, exciting and fun. The ultimate goal of the tournament organized by the Aruba Nautical Club was to host a fun and friendly event. Everyone involved feels like those goals were met. The sponsors and participants should be proud of this grand effort.

We would like to give special thanks to our sponsors: Budget Marine, Total Services, Pepsi, Delta Blue for their support as well as our wonderful working board and our volunteers.  It takes a great number of people to run a fishing tournament and it could not have been be possible without each and everyone’s help.  Another very important group that made this event possible and fun were our loyal participants and we thank you for always staying so positive and excited about this event.  We appreciate each one of you for your participation, dedication, help and support and we sincerely hope that you are able to look back upon this tournament with nice memories and continue to enjoy the friendships that you have made within our fishing community.

"Thank you for allowing me to work with each and every one of you in order to enhance our fishing community.  I will continue to cherish the many happy memories and the wonderful feeling that comes with knowing we were able to reach another successful fishing tournament. We all can be proud of what we have accomplished through this tournament"   
- Jaime A. Mata, Tournament Director

A few words from the Executive Board members:

“On behalf of the board, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all our sponsors, volunteers and participants” I have had the honour and privilege of being a part of such a special event.  The Wahoo Challenge has been special for our board, volunteers, our participants, our dedicated and loyal sponsors, but most of all the kids jumping and having fun in the Dino Jump.  I will continue to do my part on their behalf.  I am proud by what we have accomplished.  Thank you all for your support.  Let's keep fishing!" 
-  Henny Delnoy, treasurer

"I have looked forward to the Wahoo Challenge and the opportunity to spend good times with all of the sponsors, fishermen and many wonderful volunteers.  Lots of fun we had under the tent, as well as on the sea, but the best part is all that we did together.  My sincere thanks to you all.  I look forward seeing each of you around the docks."  
-  Ronnie van Trigt, secretary

Tournament Wrap up...  
Congratulations to Capt Chéché v/d Linde, angler Jani Thijsen and the rest of the crew of on the Talika for their big win.  Talika took first place over all with a total of 78 pounds of Wahoo. They received a $1000 gift certificate sponsored by Budget Marine.  

Amando Kelly from Loraine took home a cell phone sponsored by Setar for the biggest Wahoo of 39 pounds.
Jenny Garcia, aboard  of Sally Sue, got four (4) tickets for a half day trip at The Palm Island  with a 33 pound Wahoo.

Last but not least, Tito Lopez on the Micheline got four tickets for a sailing trip, with a 30 pound Wahoo.
The tournament was a great success.
 

Fifty Two Boats and Ninety Four Billfish Releases
at the 42nd Budget Marine
Spice Island Billfish Tournament

Grand Slam Grenada 24-27th January 2011

The first ever Title-Sponsored "Budget Marine--Spice Island Billfish Tournament” ended with a 'gala dinner' in the covered car park of premises adjacent to the Grenada Yacht Club on Thursday 27th January around 9.30pm. It concluded what has to be considered as 'one of our best ever Tournaments'

On Sunday the 'BM-SIBT' Committee got things underway by registering 52 Boats --one more than was registered for the 2010 Event which in itself was an excellent turnout. The Grenada Yacht Club docks were stretched to breaking point to accommodate them all. Two hundred and Forty Seven anglers registered coming from Trinidad & Tobago (32 boats – more than half the entry!), St Lucia (1 boat), Barbados (4), Martinique (1), Guadeloupe (1), United Kingdom (1 boat), Ireland, USA, Canada and Grenada (12 boats). One angler even travelled all the way from Malaysia to be here for this event! Following registration the skippers briefing was well attended and anglers enjoyed the cocktails and happy hour. Next day they were all raring to go after enjoying a sumptuous breakfast provided daily on the fishing days. At 6.45 all the boats paraded through the Carenage creating quite a spectacle on their way out. At 7.30 am the cannon was fired for the Bimini start and they all took off in different directions. Almost immediately there were reports of "Hooked - up and fighting”; Liquid Remedy called in the first release of a blue marlin at 9.00am. Last year’s champions, Papasan released a white and a blue to start their campaign. At the end of the day Majic Lady was ahead with two blue marlin and a sailfish, Gigi II was 2nd with the same catch, Liquid Remedy was 3rd and Luhr’d Away 4th, both with two blues each. In total 40 billfish were released on day 1.

 Day 2  Tuesday 25th saw better weather conditions and quite a bit of drama in the intense action, Iron Man were on fire - they added a blue to their 1st day sailfish release and then got a double hook up and released 2 more blues! They had less good fortune later in the day when they had a bait taken by a porpoise (very unusual) and lost a lot of time fighting that... Their great marlin achievement was then surpassed at lunch time when Gud Tyme had a quadruple hook up on blue marlin and managed to successfully release three of them!! In all 35 billfish were released on day 2 and Iron Man were leading followed by Spherefish who caught 2 sails and a blue, Luhr’d Away moved to 3rd and Gud Tyme were 4th. Anglers enjoyed a barbeque in the evening courtesy of “Anything on the Water” a Florida based yacht broker.

Wednesday 26th was the Lay day and a variety of 'Dishes' were prepared by the Tournament Committee and all the Anglers, Sponsors, guests and quite a large local contingent enjoyed good food.

Thursday 27th saw the weather change for the worse and it became a bit rough outside which slowed the fishing somewhat. Why Worry had a double hook up on blue marlin and released one for Ryan Agar but lost the other - later Ryan released another blue which would eventually place him as first angler with three blues for the tournament. Gud Tyme released 2 sails to take first overall and Temptation worked hard and managed to release two blues and a sail in the choppy conditions to jump into 2nd place ahead of Iron man, Spherefish and Luhr’d Away none of whom scored points on the final day.

In all 19 billfish were released on the last day to give an impressive overall tournament total of 94 releases - no other tournament in the region can match this level. The releases were broken down as 39 blue marlin 20 white marlin and 35 sailfish. A fact that will please conservationists is that no billfish were brought to the scale - possibly reflecting the increased minimum weight for blue marlin of 500 lb... In addition to the billfish releases 44 dolphin fish, 33 wahoo and 17 yellowfin tuna (to 165lb) were landed giving great sport.

As another new feature for 2011, interested parties were able to get instant updates of how the tournament was progressing and who was catching what via Facebook (page = Spice Island Billfish Tournament) - this resulted in an increase in Facebook fans from 93 before the event to over 200 at the end!
After a great tournament which saw everyone congratulating the committee both on the fishing and especially the smooth organisation, the final results were as follows:

First place boat Gud Tyme (Trinidad & Tobago) 2400 points, second: Temptation (Trinidad and Tobago) 2400 points, third: Iron Man (Trinidad & Tobago) 2100 points.

First place angler: Ryan Agar (Why Worry Trinidad & Tobago) 1500 points second: Francois Mouttet (Majic Lady Trinidad & Tobago)1300 points , third: Dominic Wallace (Blue Fever Trinidad and Tobago) 1100 points.

Top Release Boat – Spherefish (Grenada) 5 releases
Top Release Angler – Francois Mouttet – (Majic Lady Trinidad & Tobago) 3 releases
Top Female angler: Michelle Elliot (Orion Barbados) 300 points

Boat pool (weight of fish brought to the scale): First: Surf n Turf (Grenada) 365 lb, second: Cool Runnings (T&T) 324 lb, third: Wayward Wind (Grenada) 205 lb, fourth: Ocean Strike Her (Grenada) 177 lb.

Top Grenadian boat: Spherefish 2000 points and 4th overall

The BMSIBT committee would like to thank all the participating boats and anglers for supporting the event, and of course their title sponsor Budget Marine, major sponsors Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada Board of Tourism, and Carib Beer for making this competition possible.

XXIII Bonaire International Fishing Tournament
JANUARY 27-29, 2011

Following the successful twenty second International Fishing Tournament on Bonaire we look forward to the Twenty Third, which will take place in January 2011. This fantastic event will take place from the 27th to the 29th of January.

As last years International and local fishing tournaments worked so well, the set up for this year will be the same. The sign up and Captain’s meeting will take place Thursday the 27th of January and the fishing days for the international tournament will be Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th.  This way the fisherman can make their way home peacefully on Sunday.  Last year we had over 40 participating boats in these events and lots of great fish hooked we look forward to even more this year!

As previously, the event will be centered around the Club Nautico Pier, across the street from “It rains fishes” restaurant, the base for the tournament.  The land activities taking place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings include BBQ’s, Buffets, music with various Dj’s and bands from Bonaire and Curacao, there will also be promotional stands and awards, at our activity center on the property adjacent to the restaurant.

We look forward to many returning boats from Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba and Venezuela.  As we expand this event, we invite boats from other regions in the Caribbean as well.  The grand prize is a Toyota Hilux Pick-up Truck, awarded for breaking the Antillean record which is 803 lbs.  As always, there will be a variety of trophies and valuable prizes, but this year there will also be cash prizes between $2,000 and $5,000.

The international tournament is a catch and release tournament where there is a minimum of 2 fisherman and a maximum of 4 fisherman per boat. 

The organization has reserved many spaces at the Club Nautico pier for participants.  These spaces can be reserved by you on a first come first served basis.  You may also make reservations at other places, such as the Harbour Village marina, Plaza marina or the moorings in front of the town.

Inscription for this event is $750. For more information you can contact Robur de Vries 7861070/5161070 or email info@itrainsfishesbonaire.com or you can visit http://www.itrainsfishesbonaire.com/p/15/116/international-fishing-tournament
 

The First Annual
Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament

The Marlow One design Championship results

The Budget Marine Antigua team led by Karl James and crewed by Ashley and Ainslie Rhodes of English Harbour decisively defeated other Caribbean teams at the Caribbean Keel Boat Championships in Sint Maarten
held over the past week end. They ended with 10 points clear of the second place.

The team started the event with some poor scores including a last place but towards the end of the regatta they found their "groove" and scored a range of first places. The gusty and variable winds called for quick tactical decisions and James, who is known for his skill in this regard, responded brilliantly.  The racing was held in one design boats which were rotated for every race so that any variations in equipment were effectively eliminated.

Second place went to Frits Bus of Sint Maarten who took this same position for the fourth year in a row. Third was Bernard Sillem and Chris Marshall of the Gill Budget Marine team.

Eighteen races were sailed in the 20 foot Jeanneau boats that carried three crew. Marlow is a British Rope brand that is distributed in all our Budget Marine locations and has supplied high quality rope to the Caribbean market for the past 17 years.

The Marlow One Design Caribbean Keel Boat Championship, June 19th & 20th has once again attracted an excellent line up of Caribbean sailors which will continue to reinforce its position as the leading one design regatta for regional sailors.

With three weeks until the regatta and only 15 spots available 13 teams have so far confirmed that they will take part, confirmed are Michael Green from St.Lucia who won the very first event in 2002 but since then has not been able to regain his title. Out to stop Mr.Green from trying to regain the title will be last years winner Markku Harmala from St.Barths who has no intention of letting go of the title and Frits Bus from St.Maarten who has come so close for so many years getting second place in 2007, 2008 and 2009 he is now very hot to get the coveted win. Karl James of Antigua will also be there to do battle with his experienced crew of Ashley Rhodes and Shawn Malone, in spite of Karl's excellent placings in so many other regattas he has not yet won this event and will now take another swipe at it with the help of sponsor Budget Marine Antigua.

Also in the mix will be Benoit Meesemaecker from St.Barths who competed for the first time last year, Bernie Evan-Wong from Antigua who has yet to find his winning form in this regatta. Also coming from Antigua is Tanner Jones this will be his first time at this regatta but he has had a taste of these boats when he came and competed at a regatta in early February.

Sergey Boer will lead a team sponsored by Curacao Marine with a team of young Curacaoleneans who generally get very little opportunity to race against the sailors of the Eastern Caribbean, Curacao has enormous sailing talent and very regular one design racing in Sunfish and Ynglings. This team will also be competing in the CAC Games in Puerto Rico in J 24's at the end of July so they very much want to see how they match up to the rest of the Caribbean sailors.

The Championship is being hosted by the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and will be based at the clubs facilities on the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The event is held every year in June and is open to Caribbean based sailors from clubs who are members of the Caribbean Sailing Association. The boats being sailed are the Jeanneau SunFast 20, these one design boats owned by Lagoon Sailboat Rental are maintained in a perfect level of equal equipment.

The Championship is sponsored by Marlow Ropes, the globally recognized manufacturer of high end yachting rope based out of the UK, Marlow Ropes supply yachting cordage to yachts from small dinghies to maxi sailboats. Marlow Ropes are sold at all Budget Marine locations.

Budget Marine/Gill take BVI podium place

St. Maarten’s Budget Marine/Gill Race Team fought their way to a podium place after scoring six points in the last two races of the BVI Spring Regatta. 

In what has been described as picture perfect conditions the Budget Team, led by Budget Marine General Manager Christopher Marshall, pushed their Melges 24 to the limit to claim third place overall in Spinnaker Class C. Their podium place was made all the sweeter as, going into the final day, Budget Marine/Gill and St. Maarten’s Frits Bus and his Melges Team Coors Light were tying on points. 

Much is made of the rivalry between the two teams although, according to Marshall, they are all friends. In a prerace interview Marshall described how the two teams compare notes after the race. “If their boat is faster we try and work out why. We ask them what they do and how they trim. We’re both quite open about how we sail. It’s a nice rivalry although we are always looking out to see where he is,” Marshall said. 
Around 109 boats divided into 16 classes took part in the three day BVI Spring regatta which came to a close on Sunday.

Christopher Marshall, General Manager for Budget Marine noted that getting the boat to the Virgin Islands was an adventure in itself as the Melges 24 is an open boat. “Three crew will sail the boat over a hundred miles to get to the two regattas. We have a very experienced crew, made up of guys from both the Dutch and French sides of the island. So we are carrying the flag for St.Maarten and St.Martin,” Marshall said.

At the end of their Virgin Island’s campaign, the Budget Marine/Gill Race Team will finish the season with regattas in and around St.Maarten.
 

The second annual Budget Marine Match Racing proved to be an intense one day event that displayed outstanding sailing skills by eight teams from a wide range of countries. A full round robin of ten flights preceded a petit final and a final series.

In the end the most experienced three teams dominated and Peter Holmberg showed his broad range of skills as he showed that he could dominate on strategy, wind tactics, boat handling and persistence. He did get beaten in two races and particularly in one of the races of the final he looked for a moment like finalist Gavin Brady was going to take him out. He persisted and got lucky and finally took the series and the usd 5,000 prize money.

Gavin Brady a many time World Match Racing series competitor and two times finalist was close to the win but needed a little more luck to raise his prize money above the usd 3,000 he came away with. Peter Isler won the petit final with a best of three win over young San Diegan team helmed by Chris Nesbit who showed their substantial skills but came just slightly short of the prize money of usd 2,000.

BVI sailor Colin Rathburn showed he was one of the top in the Caribbean and played hard and intelligently but luck was not on his side in the tie breaking out of the round of ten flights. Marc Fitzgerald did not show the same form as last year and the young Polish team of Jakub Pawluk battled valiantly but came short.

The Budget Marine Match racing is a pre-event to the Commodores Cup and the Heineken Regatta and organized by the Sint Maarten Yacht Club every year on the Tuesday before the Heineken Regatta. It is a grade 5 event and participation is by invitation.

With all eight entries now confirmed, this year’s Budget Marine Match Racing Cup at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is set to establish itself firmly on the ladder as one of key match racing events in the Caribbean. As well as entries received from Peter Isler, Gavin Brady, and Peter Holmberg – three of the world’s most respected match racing skippers – there’s some other interesting names in melting pot who’ll be racing for cash prizes totalling $10,000 at this ISAF-sanctioned Grade 5 event, including Colin Rathbun, Eugeniy Nikiforov, Jakub Pawluk, Chris Nesbitt and Marc Fitzgerald.

The racing, to be held on Tuesday 2 March during the run-up to St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, will be based on a round-robin format and sailed in Lagoon Sailboat Rental’s fleet of six Jeanneau SunFast 20s, without spinnakers. The one-day format of this event, and the fact that there are just six boats for eight teams, means racing will be exceptionally action-packed with crews swapping boats after every flight to ensure racing is kept as fair as possible.

With a silver medal from the 1988 Games, and a win for Alinghi at the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007, listed among his exceptional sailing achievements, it wasn’t particularly surprising to see Peter Holmberg clean up at last year’s inaugural Budget Marine Match Racing Cup. The good news is, he enjoyed it so much; he’ll be back to defend his title this year.

 Holmberg who is no stranger to island life, having been brought up on the US Virgin Island, is always an avid supporter of Caribbean regattas and says as well as competing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in New Zealand in January last year, he made sure he did most of the big events in the Caribbean. “The Heineken is the big opener to the Caribbean season so I'm looking forward to racing against all the hot boats coming this year.”

Sailing with team mates Ben Beer on jib, and Maurice Kurg on mainsheet, Holmberg says the match racing is a great lead-in to the Heineken Regatta, commenting: “Match racing puts a premium on all aspects of racing, from crew work, to speed, to rules, so it's a great way to get me and my team in racing shape just before the big regatta.”

Joining Holmberg at the event this year is the equally talented match racing pro Peter Isler. Isler who is two-time winner of the America’s Cup and has a total of five America’s Cup campaigns under his belt including the position of Oracle’s navigator in 2007 at the 32nd edition of the Cup, says he’s really looking forward to getting back on the helm as a match racing skipper. Isler was a really active and successful skipper on the pro match racing tour in the late 80s and early 90s and sees the Budget Marine match racing event as a chance to get back on the helm and have some fun. He commented: “It’s been so long since I steered any sort of regatta, my expectations are certainly tempered... but it will be a lot of fun… and that's why we are coming!” 

Isler will be racing with a couple of his teammates from Titan 15 – Artie Means from San Diego, and CT Olander from Newport, Rhode Island. He says when he saw publicity about the match race, he thought it would be a fun start to Heineken Regatta. “Because it’s only one day, I can afford the time – we start practice on Titan the day after the match race.”

With Gavin Brady, another highly talented match racing helmsman, and multiple America’s Cup campaigner, joining the line up at the Budget Marine Match Racing event, there’ll be no shortage of top ranked competition on Simpson Bay Lagoon in March. Brady enthusing about the event, said: “This will be the first match race event I will sail in 2010, and with good teams and great winds I am really looking forward to the racing.”

Colin Rathbun from the BVIs is another Caribbean race week regular and although he is known more on the fleet racing circuit sailing his IC24, he won the 2009 Pete Shiels Match Race, and notched up a creditable fourth place overall at the 2009 Carlos Aguilar Match Racing Regatta in St Thomas. ‘Our claim to fame at that event,” said Rathbun, “is to have beaten US match racing pro Dave Perry. We barely slid through in front of him, but it’s not every day an amateur sailor can say that.”

Russian sailor Eugeniy Nikiforov who’s currently ranked 45th the ISAF Match Racing placings, will be back for the second year running and hoping to improve on last year’s third overall, while Marc Fitzgerald from the British yacht Sojana hopes to at least match the second place he achieved last year. Jakub Pawluk from Poland will make his debut at this event, while Chris Nesbitt and his team of Brian Janney and Isao Toyama who’ve been match racing together for a year hope to turn a few heads as they pit themselves against the professionals. Nesbitt confessed he is very much looking forward to sailing against Peter Isler. "It’s not often that we get to sail against America’s Cup veterans and it should be a great learning experience for a new team like ours."

For full information on the Budget Marine Match Racing, the Gill Commodore’s Cup, and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, including entry lists, entry forms and news, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

CLEARWATER CHALLENGE 3: The Journey Continues

After much anticipation Ryan De Jongh and his crew departed from Curacao on 2^nd of December to head off to St. Maarten. At their arrival in St. Maarten they visit Budget Marine one of their main sponsors for an interview and photos. On Saturday the 5th of December Ryan De Jongh and his crew left from St. Maarten at 06.00 am to their first destination which was St. Eustatius. Ryan and his crew were in an enthusiastic mood and eager to experience this new challenge. The weather was nice, the sea was calm and they arrived at their first destination around 11.00 pm without any hassle.

Early in the morning on 6 December Ryan and his crew went on to their next destination, St. Kitts. On route to St. Kitts the calm sea became pretty rough and they had to deal with 3 meter high waves. The extra effort to paddle through produced some blisters on Ryan’s hands. The crew was also touched by the surly seas; most of them became seasick but soon recovered. As soon as there was calm Ryan was able to board the Monsoon and received treatment for his hands and rested a few hours. 

On their way to Montserrat and Guadeloupe they moved through some heavy rains and high seas but they are doing well and right on schedule. While making their way towards Martinique they’re facing very strong currents and high winds. Once they’ve reached that point the most challenging part of this trip will be coming close to the end.  The island gaps are now shortening and the winds will be behind them as they near Grenada.

For more information visit www.natureislife.org, for the latest footage visit http://www.caribbean.tv/

The Budget Marine Challege Curacao - 15 June 2009

Every year, mid-June, the annual Budget Marine Challenge takes place. The race starts in Curacao’s ‘sheltered’ Spanish water with a downwind start. Then all boats head out to sea to complete the first leg. At Lunch time they all set course to Fuikbaai , where the Budget Marine crew is serving drinks and lunch. After lunch the second part of the race takes place with an “anchor start”. All boats are at anchor with the sails down. 5 Minutes before the start all crew should be below deck.

At the start signal, all crew race all over the boat to hoist the sails and lift the anchor. It’s a very spectacular start with lots of difficulties to overcome such as: Anchor is not holding when the crew is down below or the anchor is caught behind a coral block. It’s hilarious to see these crews fighting with rope, chain and finally the anchor while the other yachts are already sailing over the starting line! The finish is again in Spanish Water and in the evening prize giving at Jan Sofat Yacht Club.

Budget Marine National Dinghy Sailing Rankings

In Trinidad this dinghy racing season, recognizing that sailing skills can only improve with many hours of competitive practice, Budget Marine Trinidad is sponsoring the Budget Marine National Dinghy Sailing Rankings that take place regularly for Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7, 420 and Optimist Class sailors. By supplying bottled water for those long hot hours out on the sea and after race refreshments, medals, trophies and prizes at the end of each term, the company aims to encourage young people in their efforts to compete both nationally and internationally.

On 13 December 2008 Budget Marine staff members were present at the end of term rankings to give out trophies and prizes to 1st and 2nd places in each of the 6 Classes and everyone who participated got one of a selection of Budget Marine promotional items - a lip balm, a cap strap, a sunglass strap or a pen.

Two more national rankings end of term prize-giving events will take place on 4 April and 6 June 2009 respectively. With limited grants from official sources, Budget Marine’s support for dinghy sailing, including substantial contributions towards safety boats and equipment, team t-shirts and funding for competitors traveling to regattas outside Trinidad, has been all the more appreciated.

Budget Marine Race Day in Trinidad 17th May 2009 at TTSA

Budget Marine Trinidad will be sponsoring a Race Day as part of the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association 2008/9 Racing Season. As in the past, this Budget Marine Race Day is likely to be the highlight of the TTSA racing calendar, as chandlery staff go all out to make the event special, with support craft, skippers’ packs, plenty to eat and drink at the after race party and nautical prizes selected from Budget Marine’s great range of sailing gear.