That’s how the 35th Heineken St Maarten Regatta played out in early March with Contest 42CS Beluga scooping an impressive second in class in this world ranking Caribbean racing series. By anyone’s measure a striking result proving the true performance prowess of this really versatile comfortable, capable fast cruising yacht.
Raced annually, the Heineken Regatta draws a big, keen crowd, this year not far short of 200 entries and 2000 sailors with, in the fleet, a heady mix from Volvo 60 to Melges 24, mostly sailing to the Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) handicap. Beluga sailed in CSA5, in the three day, five race event sailed in pretty boisterous wind and swell, and a good test of a well found boat.
“It was so nice to see how everything worked so well,” says Contest Yachts CEO Arjen Conijn who sailed among Beluga’s afterguard, “and she just looked so good!”
Others evidently felt the same as Beluga drew cameras and compliments both afloat and in the dock where visitors came aboard to learn more about this manifestly able all-rounder: both regatta gazelle and short-handed blue water cruiser. And she’s proven the latter part true in practise, too. Beluga has for the past 18 months cruised five-star style both sides of the Atlantic in the Dare to Dream project in which Contest and Sevenstar Yacht Transport have collaborated to show how simple it can be not just to dare but to live the dream aboard our boats. With Contest Yachts and Sevenstar Yacht Transport you can sail the world comfortably taking out the lengthier passages you might to choose to miss, arriving easily, safely at the most desirable locations.
After the Heineken St Maarten success Beluga and crew are now aiming themselves at the season’s final events, the BVI Spring Regatta and Antigua Week, and with plenty of good cruising miles between. Then it’s time to go transatlantic again, effortlessly aboard a Sevenstar yacht transporter arriving fresh for the new European season.
Sevenstar Yacht Transport is the world’s leading provider of yacht shipping services offering frequent sailings to an array of worldwide destinations. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company runs a global network and manages a fleet of more than 120 independent carriers.
