The 13eedition of the Budget Marine Challenge, held Sunday June 4thoff the coast of Curaçao, was another successful event. The Budge Marine Challenge is targeted at local boat owners that enjoy a good social event at the destination. The different race starts are what makes this event so unique in the Caribbean.
In image: Team Budget Marine – Merlin in the race (photographer Cisca Rush)
The first challenge was a downwind start at Spanish Water. Venus Callipyge in the cruising class was in the right position at the right time, going over the start line at full speed and giving them a head start over the other competitors. During the first lap of the race Melody sailed an almost perfect course which enabled them to finish first at Fuikbaai ahead of Venus Callipyge. Third in this first race in the cruising class was Ninfa d’Awa. The racing class yachts, who started 15 minutes after the cruising class, all had a good start. Remco van Dordtmondt, a regular in the Budget Marine Challenge, sailing on a different yacht, a J105 called Vuja De, was clearly the fastest yacht with speeds of up to 20 knots during the day. Most of the yachts in the racing class were totally different so handicap played an important role and fastest did not necessarily mean winner. Budget Marine – Merlin, a J24, ended first in this race followed by another J24, Chamba II, with Vuja De coming in third.
Image: particpants wearing their shirts donated by SeaHawk Paints (photographer Cisca Rush)
The second race started after the participants were treated to an elaborate lunch taken care of by Budget Marine, with long sleeve shirts sponsored by SeaHawk Paints serving as a good sun protection during lunch. This race began with the notorious anchor start in which you start from an anchored position and crew are required to be below deck before the start. At the start signal, the crew is able to hoist sails, raise their anchor and set sail. Numerous boats had difficulty staying behind their anchor, however Chamba II proved the most efficient and got the sails up faster than anybody else, followed by Vuja De and Budget Marine – Merlin. Chamba II was set to put the biggest distance between them and Budget Marine – Merlin to make up for the time difference in the first race as both race points were tallied together. Their tactic was a good win, putting Chamba II in first place with just a 20 second difference between them and second place winner Budget Marine – Merlin. Vuja De came in third just before the J24 Keetje. In the Cruising Class Melody managed to keep their head start leaving the line-up the same with Melody first place, Venus Callipyge second and Ninfa d’Awa in third place.
As the afternoon race saw a much heavier wind than the morning, with wind gusts of up to 30 knots, everyone had exciting stories to tell during prize giving. All and all it was another successful event.
