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2008 - Budget Marine Commodores Cup: Strong Winds vs.
Strong
Sailors A few weeks after the event the
sailors may all be settled back into their routine, some
back at home, some preparing for the next Caribbean regatta,
but surely the stiff breezes, strong competitors and cold
Heinekens assured that the Regatta is still fresh in memory.
The second annual Budget Marine Commodores Cup was
the start up day for the 28th St.Maarten Heineken regatta
and with 25 knots easterly winds this proved to be quite
a challenge for the sailors out there. The strong breeze
brought out the cream of the crops and made others wish
they had practiced more.
The Race committee decided that two races would suffice
for the day, as the action on the water was quite happening.
Multiple yachts fighting their spinnakers at the leeward
marks, making it a day of dramatic sailing, enormous
down-wind speeds, and a great reason to share stories
at the end of the day.
The results where announced at the evening event at
the end of the day, with some boats proving they where
on the top of their game. Spinnaker 1 being dominated
by Benny Kelly’s TP52 Panthera, and Spinnaker
2 being conquered by Clay Deutch’s swan 68 Chippewa.
Spinnaker 3 was ruled by regional sailor from Antigua,
Carlo Falcone in his Vallicelli 44, Caccia Alla Volpe.
Winners of the top three classes took home a Suunto
racing watch from Budget Marine, and other winners took
home the ‘Harken winch handle trophies’
and Blue Performance embroided cockpit bags.
Other class winners where Spinnaker 4; Styl’Carabies,
only just beating Beneteau 40.7 Lazy Dog, Spinnaker
5 J/100 Bad Girl; Spinnaker 6 the Grand Soleil 50, Mad
IV; and Ian Hope-Ross’s Beneteau First 36s7 Kick
‘em Jenny in spinnaker 7.
As the different classes sail different courses, the
overall winner of the event is decided by calculating
which class had the closest corrected finishing times,
making it the most competitive class. In this case Spinnaker
5, with 7 boats competing, including three Melges 24,
all had very close finishing times, making class winner
Bad Girl the overall winner of the Budget Marine Commodores
Cup, placing their name next to last years winner, ABN
AMRO ONE on the perpetual Trophy.
The day’s event attracted seven classes with
56 spinnaker carrying boats competing, making the second
edition of this event a great success for both the sponsor
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January
30, 2008 Antigua - Jolly Harbour Saturday/Sunday 16th
& 17th February 2008 Jolly Harbour Yacht Club is once
again hosting the Valentine’s Regatta sponsored
for the 16th year by Caribbean Chandleries – BUDGET
MARINE. Registration which can be done on line
at director@bigboatseries.com and www.jhycantigua.com
or indeed at Jolly Harbour Golf Club from 3.30 –
6.00pm with Skippers Briefing at 6.30pm. Friday 15th February
2008.
Saturday Night is party night at Jolly Harbour Golf Club
with live music and supper from 6.00pm for only US$20.
Due to limited numbers supper does need to be booked in
advance. However, everyone is welcome to join in the fun
for only US$5 entry fee where you can party the night
away to the sounds of Triple Feature. Don’t forget,
FREE overnight dockage is on offer to all registered boats.
Racing promises to be fun this year with seemingly more
boats than usual. Tanner Jones with Blue Peter for the
second year tells us although his crew may not be the
most experienced, they have certainly been practicing
very hard with seriously good teachers such as Iain Mellows
and Laurie May. Where as Miramar believe they have the
job sorted by kidnapping Ashley Rhodes from A & A
Rigging who admirably ensured Miramar crossed the winning
line in first place twice during the JHR Annual Regatta
in December. Many skippers believe it will be a dead cert,
Hans Lammers with Sunshine will win YET AGAIN but with
new boats and new crews, anything could happen. Prize
Giving on Sunday night again at the Golf Club will no
doubt be another raucous night as the winners are announced
and tactics discussed. Sailing Club Merchandise and raffle
tickets will be available during the whole weekend at
the JOLLY HARBOUR GOLF CLUB.
SATURDAY /SUNDAY 16TH/17TH FEBRUARY 2008
JOLLY HARBOUR YACHT CLUB – MAKING WAVES IN ANTIGUA
CONTACT : JAN EDWARDS
Tel: (001) 268 774 5884
www.jhycantigua.com
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January
18, 2008 St. Maarten - Budget Marine Commodores Cup, putting
the ‘Serious’ into ‘Serious Fun’.
The St.Maarten Heineken Regatta 2007 served as the first
platform for the additional somewhat prestigious race
‘the Budget Marine Commodores Cup’. Due to
the excellent turnout and extreme enthusiasm of the racing
vessels, Budget Marine has chosen to continue the sponsoring
of the race that takes place the day before the Heineken
Regatta, inviting all spinnaker carrying yachts to compete.
The intention of this race is to add a day of the more
‘serious’ side to the ‘serious fun’
regatta, known throughout the world.
The courses are set as windward - leeward courses, keeping
the fleet close together and ensuring competitive racing
and amazing views once the colorful spinnakers are raised.
The Budget Marine commodores Cup is also organized
by the St.Maarten Yacht Club and a welcome addition
to continuous improvements in quality to the St.Maarten
sailing circuit.
Some of the most prestigious yachts in the world competed
during the 2007 edition with the winning yacht of the
Volvo Ocean Race, the ABN AMRO, taking first place overall.
The 2008 edition is expected to be a great spectacle,
should you be in St.Maarten during the regatta days,
make sure to take a peek onto the water on Thursday
March 6, 2008, that is if you are not on the water already!
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January
11, 2008 St. Maarten - Aluminum RIBS will play a much
greater role in Caribbean Boating in the future.
Budget Marine has noticed that the interest by customers
for aluminum hulled RIB’s continues to grow exponentially.
Budget Marine carries the widest range of such boats in
the Caribbean. The AB Inflatable range of boats has two
series of aluminum hulls and for the first time in 2007
Budget Marine imported a limited range of the Aquapro
boats which are originally manufactured in New Zealand
but are produced in a modern factory in China.
The AB Lamina series was the original aluminum and had
some quality problems originally. The last number of years
these have disappeared completely and a new series has
been added with the Alumina which boasts built in tanks
and consoles.
The Aquapro boats have a very long history of aluminum
ribs and some very old models can still be seen in many
locations globally. Their current range is very large
and in particular their welding quality is excellent.
They come in some cases with jockey seats and some clever
details.
Aluminum RIBS have a tremendous future as they are light
and difficult to damage. Even when damaged their repairs
are likely to be complete and non recurring in comparison
to fiberglass repairs that involve delamination of the
material that ends up with compromises in weight and water
absorption. Their lighter weight means there can be lighter
engines, less fuel consumption and better sea worthiness.
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January
2008 - Caribbean sailors with experience will be familiar
with the Caribbean Barnacle. The Caribbean Barnacle
has exceptional adhesion to surfaces and is very hard
indeed. The Caribbean Barnacle resists scrapers that may
be powered by substantial elbow grease and scoffs at sandpaper.
Sometimes this Caribbean Barnacle finds its way into the
narrow tubes of heat exchangers and other critical pieces
of equipment that play havoc with the best yachts, the
most expensive charters and the most desired sailing trips.
And to remove these well adhering barnacles from these
critical items can be a daunting task.
In the old days, we all resorted to highly aggressive
and dangerous acids like Muriatic acid which eliminated
the offending shells but usually left extensive collatoral
damage and created the potential for even more. Many
of us survived Muriatic acid jobs although our clothes
did not.
Now Budget Marine has a solution that eliminates Mr.
Barnacle with greater ease than the aggresive acids
and at the same time does absolutely no harm to clothes
and people. A truly incredible product called Trac Ecological!
Budget Marine will be keeping this as standard stock
in all of its stores where especially mechanics, confronted
with "tube stacks" clogged with barnacles,
will find the true solution to their problems.
Click here to
see more info on our Featured Products page
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November 9, 2007 St. Maarten - Robbie Ferron declares
yachting season for opened with the 2008 product catalogue
Launch of Budget Marine. Thursday evening the
arrival of the ‘2008 Budget Marine product catalogue'
was celebrated by the yachting community in the Budget
Marine parking Lot.
As no-one really knows when the yachting season actually
starts Robbie Ferron took it into his own hands to declare
it for opened it with the launch of the new Product
Catalogue, as it indicates they are ready for the boats
to come in and the season to begin!
 The
‘first' catalogue made quite a spectacular entrance
as Robbie Ferron announced the catalogue is printed
in Colombia, and the first copy being swam over by Carlos.
who then miraculously entered the venue from the slipway
coming from the lagoon in full dive gear with a Pelican
Case containing the ‘first' Budget Marine 2008
Product Catalogue.
The quality of the book has again increased this year
and it was clearly a pleasure for the Budget Marine
Managers to introduce it to their customers and affiliates.
Robbie said that this catalogue is not like the often
‘one step forward, two steps back', but instead
is '4 steps forward and two steps back', gaining some,
and leaving even more room for improvement in the future.
This book is made in-house at the Budget Marine group
offices, that services all the Budget Marine locations
throughout the Caribbean.
A team works year round to produce the 496 page book.
Budget Marine carries around 24.000 different SKUs,
making the catalogue quite a challenge, but one happily
taken by the team. They are already making notes for
the 2009 edition.
The 2008 book has increased in the number of pages,
and clearly also in quality. A continuous effort throughout
the year was made to increase the accuracy of the products,
adding more products with focus on the products people
are looking for. In the future Budget Marine aims to
get the entire catalogue online at www.budgetmarine.com.
The 2008 edition is now available at Budget Marine and
other yachting locations, and is free.
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October
5, 2007 St. Maarten - Budget Marine St. Maarten Sponsors
Staff to learn to sail
Sailing is a sport many people speak of passionately.
And a few of those individuals have used their passion
to make St.Maarten an important Yachting destination.
The Marine Industry has grown exponentially on St.Maarten
and can be considered an important part of the local business
climate. This also means many St.Maarteners are employed
at the businesses, many of whom do not yet understand
what that ‘passion’ of their customers is all about.
Therefore Budget Marine and other companies around the
lagoon are sponsoring their employees to take a 10-hour
sailing course. Not only will this help them appreciate
the sport, but they will also have a greater understanding
of the products they are dealing with.
After the 10 hours, sailing instructor and initiator Daniel,
says the students will be able to feel comfortable on
a boat, handle sailing themselves and even hire one of
the boats out at the Lagoon sailboat rental, the provider
of the boats for this course.
Cheryl, Head cashier at Budget Marine St. Maarten, is
one of the people who signed up. This week was her 3rd
lesson, along with the other students, and when interviewing
them, they already seemed happy on the boats, and easily
preparing for the sails to be hoisted.
Classes are held partly at the St.Maarten Yacht Club and
on the lagoon. Boats used are from the fleet of Sunfast
21’s, provided by Lagoon Sailboat Rentals.
For more information on classes, contact Daniel at Lagoon
Sailboat Rentals, phone 55 70714.
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September
24, 2007 St. Maarten - Budget Marine 2008 catalogue, new
and improved!
More and more yachts visit the Caribbean every year, and
St.Maarten can be considered the main hub for boats. Why
do yachts choose this as their Caribbean home base? Because
of the extensive, convenient and high quality services
offered by businesses on the island. One of the large
contributors to the wide range of products available on
St.Maarten is Budget Marine, who over the past 25 years
has made a continuous effort to provide products for every
boat on the island and anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Reflecting this wide range of products, Budget Marine
produces a comprehensive product catalogue, made entirely
in-house, at their group offices.
As of November 8 it is time to welcome the new and improved
2008 edition.
It is a happy time for the people at Budget Marine, as
their catalogue will be at a level comparable to major
US and European brands. A product specialist was added
to the production team, making this a catalogue that jumps
out from all catalogues before!
Changes
A better match between product offering on the sales floor,
and the product offering in the catalogue has been achieved.
Due to many hours of product research each item will have
more accurate information. Additional chapters have been
added, such as the new ‘Cruising Gear’ section. If you
thought Budget Marine was just your yachting hardware
store, think again, they have now taken the Nautique collection
into the main store in Cole Bay, offering sailing gear,
clothing and galley ware.
The catalogue is a great resource for the Budget Marine
customers, but it is also a useful tool for the BM employees.
On most desks you will find a heavily used catalogue full
of sticky notes and doggy ears with employee name in heavy
black marker over the front cover.
With the 2008 edition, their desk will have to carry a
bit more weight, as 3500 new products have been added,
making this an impressive 495-page book.
Pick up one of the new free catalogues and see for yourself,
available at all Budget Marine locations (St.Maarten,
St.Martin, St.Thomas, Antigua, Grenada, Trinidad, Curacao,
Bonaire).
After having a peak into the new catalogue, there is reason
for congratulations to the Catalogue Team: Cherryl, Debbie,
Bernard, Bright and Robbie, Well done!
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September
21, 2007 St. Maarten - 6th Annual Budget Marine Womens
Regatta
Women from all over the Caribbean will gather again for
the 6th Annual Budget Marine Womens Regatta on November
3rd and 4th. Mothers- leave your children behind, leave
the husbands in charge, and enjoy a weekend of competitive
racing and fun atmosphere.
What to expect from this regatta? Expect color coordinated
sailing outfits, top women sailors from the caribbean,
great prizes for the ladies, and a buzzing Yacht Club.
This year again teams from various islands are expected
to compete, First Place title defenders Emma Paull and
team from Tortola is expected back and second place winner
Penny McIntyre and Renata Goodridge and their team from
Barbados as well.
The regatta is open to 16 female teams. The regatta is
sailed on the Fleet of Janeau Sunfast 20s, supplied by
Lagoon Sailboat Rentals. Courses are on the Simpson Bay
Lagoon, which is an highly interesting area for one design
racing. The teams rotate the boats, using a change over
boat, making it a fair competition, with everyone having
sailed every boat.
The past three years the race has been dominated by Emma
Paull and her team, in 2006 15 races where sailed over
the entire weekend of the regatta, and the ladies from
Tortola never fell below 4th place in any race.
That the races are highly competitive is evident by the
close result last year, as for second place three teams
ended with 25 points. Using the International Rule for
breaking ties the 3rd, 4th and 5th place where decided.
Winner of the best local team was Lynn Rapley sponsored
by Necol, coming in third overall.
Main sponor used to be Budget Nautique, the boutique-like
sister store of Budget Marine. They have now taken Nautique
into their Cole Bay store, making them overall sponsor
of the event.
Budget Marine sponsors this event because they feel they
appeal to the female sailor, aswell as they feel the need
to promote and support sailing for everyone in the caribbean.
Besides them many other St.Maarten companies sponsored
the event in 2006. Regatta organisers invite everyone
to help out again to support womans sailing efforts in
the Caribbean.
To sign up, or for more info contact Cary Byerley at director@bigboatseries.com
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July
2007 - TOHATSU and BUDGET MARINE sign agreement.
Tokyo - Tohatsu and Budget Marine have now signed a formal
agreement that gives Budget Marine the rights to be the
distributor of the Tohatsu brand in the Eastern Caribbean.
Budget Marine Group Manager, Robbie Ferron, visited Tohatsu's
headquarters in Tokyo and new state of the art manufacturing
plant in Komagane, which has a production capacity of
over 200,000 units per year, at the beginning of July
2007.
He was guided by the representatives of the export agency
handling the Budget Marine account in the persons of Messrs
Akita and Fujita of Santai Trading. The agreement was
signed on behalf of Tohatsu by Mr Sanada and on behalf
of the Budget Marine Group by Robbie Ferron.
This agreement further consolidates the relationship between
Tohatsu, pioneers of outboard engine technology since
1956, and Budget Marine, chandlery leaders in the Caribbean
with 10 locations in St Maarten, St Martin, St Thomas,
Antigua, Grenada, Trinidad, Bonaire and Curacao.
Budget Marine started retailing Tohatsu's 2-stroke engines
in 2004, and it was immediately apparent that these reliable,
compact and affordable outboard engines, with their terrific
horsepower to weight ratios, provide an ideal solution
for Caribbean boaters who regularly have to lift and stow
their motors on board.
As the demand for low emission, high fuel economy outboard
engines increases, Tohatsu's 4-stroke and award-winning
TLDI series (direct fuel injection system, precisely controlled)
that exceed EPA and CARB requirements, are also being
introduced in Budget Marine stores.
Robbie Ferron says: “Our chandlery group is in an
ideal position to provide after sales service for Tohatsu
outboards throughout the island chain. We stock a very
broad range of Tohatsu parts and in June 2007, as part
of ongoing staff training, a Tohatsu delegation made a
presentation to our top technical sales and purchasing
personnel, reinforcing Budget Marine's understanding of
and commitment to this brand and its bright future in
the Caribbean.”
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April
4, 1007 Chaguaramas, Trinidad - Big Catamaran Building
Projects
Plywood construction is making a comeback in the boat
building industry and evidence of this can be seen in
Chaguaramas, Trinidad. The radius chine plywood construction
method which uses large sheets of marine ply scarfed
together over stringers and joined with immensely strong
West System epoxy is currently being used for four big
DH550 catamaran construction projects in the Budget
Marine Trinidad compound (Skinner's Yard).
 Designer
Dudley Dix and boat builder Phil Harvey collaborated
to create this powerful, long distance cruising catamaran,
with its sleek lines and spacious accommodation. Hull
#1, which is almost complete, belongs to Phil Harvey,
who, having looked at the Yachting Services Association
of Trinidad and Tobago website, realized that Chaguaramas
in Trinidad was a good place to build a boat. In 2005
he put up a large shed and got a team of local craftsmen
going and is now busy with the final touches on his
cat named “Wild Vanilla”. Others watched
the progress of his catamaran and wanted one too. The
3 other catamarans are at various stages of construction,
as can be seen in the photos shown.
 For
all these projects Budget Marine is uniquely placed
to supply materials and equipment. The challenge has
been to provide the right product at the right time
at the right price for these bulk buying, big account
customers. The Budget Marine team has been stimulated
and their resources stretched, to source and supply
the new and different products required and have also
spent a training session with Phil on the building site,
seeing how construction takes place and where all the
bits and pieces fit. Phil, who is a consultant for these
catamaran projects, says that he really appreciates
the helpfulness of the Budget Marine staff. Trinidad
has always been a great destination for boat repair
and maintenance, but now it can boast the capacity to
support the production of brand new boats, built from
scratch, that more than meet international boat building
standards.
For more info about these cats see www.dixdesign.com/55cat.htm-
11k
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February
28, 2007 St. Maarten - Andrew Rapley Named Marine Professional
of the Year 2007
On 28 February 2007, at the Budget Marine Party at the
St Maarten Yacht Club, Andrew Rapley was named by Budget
Marine as Marine Professional of the Year 2007 in recognition
for his dedicated and consistent delivery of professional
electrical and electronic services in St Maarten through
his company Necol N.V. and his voluntary contribution
to the sport of sailing. When
Andrew bought the company in 1986, the demand for electrical
and electronic services on the island was of a moderate
technical nature. Since then he has upgraded his knowledge
and proficiency to meet the increasingly sophisticated
demands of larger yachts with computerized, interconnected
systems and satellite communications, where troubleshooting
and solving issues of compatibility and interfacing
are often a matter of urgency.
By meeting this challenge Andrew has helped
the St Maarten marine industry grow. In addition he
has spent many voluntary hours service as race officer
at sailing events. He is the only person on St Maarten,
and one of only a few in the Caribbean, to hold certification
as an International Race Officer. Budget Marine is proud
to honour him with this award.
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 February
26, 2007, Antigua - Jolly Harbour Valentine's Regatta
A well matched fleet of 19 boats competed for the 15th
Annual Valentines Regatta. The event was sponsored by
Budget Marine, the Caribbean's leading chandlery Group
and yacht chandler to Jolly Harbour. The races were sailed
mainly off the Five Islands harbour located adjacent to
Jolly Harbour. The sailing area boasts flat water, plenty
of space, highly convenient facilities and winds shifts
that are interesting but not too dramatic as the wind
comes off the land of Antigua. Jolly Harbour Marina provided
free overnight dockage.
The racer cruiser class was the most intensely contested
with a very well matched fleet of 8 boats that was reduced
to 7 when the rig on the Dehler 34 High Tide threatened
for one moment to adopt the horizontal position.
The racing class was split between the high raters
being the two Beneteau 40.7's called Lancelot and First
Across and the 1720 by name of Shaggy sailed by Sean
Malone of English Harbour. Second place went to Lancelot
the Beneteau 40.7 who though well sailed was unable
to deal with the light asymmetrical spinnakered 1720
“Shaggy” that beat it. Third place went
to the Lindenberg 28 Seeya that was sailed by two persons
without spinnaker but managed to do very well without
any weight on the “rail”.
The Racer Cruiser class was by far the most competitive
class with eight boats, very close starts and much changing
of positions. Hans Lammers dominated in the end through
consistency good fortune and his extensive skills in
finding luck. Second place went to Budget Marine (Tango
Mike) who worked hard for his position with the well
prepared boat. Third place went to the ever improving
Blue Peter. Noteworthy also was Huey Too who peaked
at the end with two wins in the final two races. Poor
results on the first day diminished the chances of good
results.
In the cruising class Charles Kenlocks folkboat 26
won the first two races but was unable to continue.
Colin Jones won the class with consistency and all wins
on the second day. David Milners Fiesta took second
place in every single race to beat Paul Jacksons Mackenzi.
Winds on the Saturday were lighter (around 10 knots)
than Sunday when the were stiffer(around 15 knots).
On Saturday during the second race the final mark caused
a degree of inversion of the fleet positions as a result
of a wind hole which was traumatic for some as they
sat in the hole and watched the back of the fleet sail
pass them. Hans Lammers's Sunshine was one that was
in a hopeless position at the back of the fleet but
came right up to the front in that little on the water
drama.
Unique to this regatta was the participation of three
Dolphins at the start of the fourth (Sunday morning
race ) who went from boat to boat to spend a little
time at the bow of each boat . Inevitably and sadly
there was immediate controversy as to whether any boat
had arranged a tow for the porpoises of beating the
competition. The competition in this regatta was clearly
intense.
The prize giving took place in the Dogwatch Pub, the
home of the Jolly Harbour Yacht Club where the potential
of Jolly Harbour as a race venue and convenient marina
location was highlighted.
For information : Cary Byerley at director@bigboatseries.com
or Tel 599 552 0068
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