Aruba, November 11th 2005 On Friday, Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power (GBR) won officially the 15th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. Although the 2005 victory was already a fact, the British winners sailed the very last Aruba Bank Race as well and finished as first F18 in fourth position overall. Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (NED) are second best this year, followed by Richard Allen and Simon Farren (GBR).

Stuart Gummer carried a little camera on top of his cap during their champion’s race. Gummer: "That is fun. We have produced a lot of footage this week, which we will use for a report on the 15th Aruba Regatta." The end of the racing was a relief for Gummer: "I have been ill for the last two days, so I am happy that it is over now." Although it seemed to be an easy victory, it was obviously not that easy. Power: "We had to sail hard for it. Competing on handicap means that you never know how you did, until the prize giving in the evening." Last year, Gummer and Power had a terrible regatta, as their Spitfire crashed in a collision, so they had to make up for that and they did.

Big smile for runners up
"Every day, I have come off the boat with a big smile", said Mischa Heemskerk after the last race. "The conditions have been great and we enjoyed the sailing very much." He and his occasional skipper Eduard Zanen became second best. Heemskerk: "We are happy with the result, since we are the first Tornado and we know it is hard to beat the F18’s on handicap. We did well in comparison to other Tornado teams and so did Stuart and Gillian. They were very fast and sailed a good competition." Heemskerk will fly directly to Miami / USA for a training session on the olympic Tornado with his skipper Koen de Koning. They are aiming for the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing. Marcus Lynch (GBR), crewing for James Power, has also aspirations for the Olympics in London in 2012. Back home, he will participate at the F18 Olympic Sailing Camp with Christopher Rashely.

Aruba, November 10th 2005 British teams dominated on the fourth day of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. In the morning race, Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power (F18, GBR) beat Chris Sproat and Georgina Burke (Spitfire, GBR) by just three seconds after calculation. The Dutch Tornado sailors Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk won the Gaastra long distance race in the afternoon, followed by Gummer/Power and Allen/Farren. With one race left, Gummer and Power are unbeatable, so they can start to dismantle their F18 Capricorn.

"We had a good race with Mischa", told Richard Allen in the morning. "We were up to three laps in the lead, when he took it over. We caught them back and we rounded together the last gate, but we both choose another mark and Mischa finished just ahead of us." After calculation, Allen and Farren got a 7th position and Zanen and Heemskerk a 6th.

Bad start for leaders
Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power, the current leaders, did not win the eighth race because of a good start. Power: "We were too conservative. We rounded as fifth Formula 18 the first upwind mark. It was a terrible feeling to see all the Tornado’s and then the F18’s in front of us, but in every downwind reach we caught one up and we ended as first F18." Chris Sproat and Georgina Burke came very close to victory with their Spitfire in the morning race. Sproat: "We had a good start at the committee boat, so we had clear air. We zig zagged through the middle and reached the mark just behind Stuart. We increased our speed downwind, so we seemed to do very well. It was a good day for us so far."

Capri speed wanted
James Power and Marcus Lynch finished as second F18, which put them in third position on handicap. Power sailed a Spitfire last year, but he enjoys his Hobie Tiger (F18) now: "It sails smoother and you can push it much harder, but we want to have some ‘Capri speed’ upwind." The British sailors had two bad results, due to a broken jib and an OCS. After eight races, the second result could be discarded and that is why they came back in third position overall.

On Tuesday November 8th 2005, the top two teams showed a tied battle for victory in the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (Tornado, NED) won the first race, after which Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power (F18, GBR) took the next bullet. John Moret and Gijs Jannink (Tornado, NED) moved into third position overall with today’s top ten results. Due to a miscalculation, the race committee announced the wrong winners of race five yesterday. It was not the Dart 18 of Sybrand Trefffers and Tjitske Stoel that beat all high tech cats, but it was the Capricorn of Gummer and Power.

Yamaha Race 6: No extra miles, two OCS
This morning, the competitors had to sail again a long course with two triangles and two rounds. Some people wrote the numbers of the marks down on their arm, others studied hard on the map, but everybody completed the race correctly. The offshore wind was about force four and initially the sun struggled to burst through the clouds. It was also a typical third day, as many sailors had to deal with muscular pains, painful hands and bruces all over. Zanen and Heemskerk were first at the upwind mark and staid in the lead until the end. Unfortunately for Gerard Loos and Ruurd van Wieren, they got an OCS (early over the line) after a second finish. The same happened to James Power and Marcus Lynch (F18, GBR). Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power scored a second place, followed by Chris Sproat and Georgina Burke.

Fun in the Sun and a Shot at a Watch. Highlighting the Caribbean racing calendar with its unique blend of island-style hospitality, competition and camaraderie, the St. Thomas Yacht Club's International Rolex Regatta will celebrate its 33rd edition on Friday, March 24, through Sunday, March 26, 2006. The event features handicap and one-design racing in a beautiful setting, professional race management, and dependable Caribbean tradewinds. On the social agenda are festive shoreside events and the Rolex Prize Giving partnered with a not-to-be-forgotten beach party at the Yacht Club. With over three decades of history, the tradition of a Rolex watch awarded to every class winner still stands.

"Last year we really raised the bar, by adding some intriguing new twists on the water and back onshore," said Tracy Roberts, who co-directs the regatta with fellow St. Thomas Yacht Club member Colin Probyn. "There was near-perfect harmony between exciting competition and extreme fun." Roberts explained that on one of the competition days, short-course buoy racing was traded in for a coastal romp that took the fleet from Cowpet Bay, where the St. Thomas Yacht Club is located, to a finish line just inside the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, formerly plied by privateers and now the island's cruise ship port. The fleet then reversed course to beat back home, where reggae, rum and barbecue awaited the tired but happy competitors. Added Probyn: "This year the race will be repeated but augmented by some IC-24 windward-leeward racing in the harbor. This will show the racers St. Thomas's beautiful capital and afford the islanders and visitors alike a flavor of competitive sailing."

The IC-24s are indigenous to the area having been developed from J/24s by a group of St. Thomas sailors and attracting the very best in inter-island talent. In size (24 feet) they are the same as J/24s, which had their own class last year and a strong Puerto Rican contingent including six-time watch winner Fraito Lugo. A little smaller but a lot faster are the Beach Cats, which always arrive in full force with plenty of Hobie and Nacra class stars competing, including Puerto Rico's multiple world champion and Olympian Enrique Figueroa. At the other end of the scale is the 2005 winner Titan XII, an awe-inspiring 75-footer with Puerto Rico's Tom Hill at the helm and America's Cup veteran Peter Isler (San Diego, Calif.) serving as tactician, a fine example of the top-notch competition that is always on hand. Titan will compete in the Over-50 Foot Class for the biggest boats; there are other classes for boats ranging from 30 to 50 feet that also include the hottest Caribbean sailors as well as visiting professinal and semi-pro racers.

Gummer and Power (GBR) dominate fleet. On Monday November 7th 2005 in race five of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta, Sybrand Treffers and Tjitske Stoel (NED) beat all high tech catamarans on their Dart 18. They won the so called Golgate Race on handicap, before favourite Tornado and Formula 18 teams. With the traditional offshore wind of 12 to 15 knots, the three scheduled races could be sailed today. Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power (F18, GBR) are still in a comfortable lead with seventeen points. The competition between number two up to four is tied. All competitors are pushing the boats hard, so there is some exciting action on the Caribbean Sea.

Race three: "We are not the only idiots"
In the morning, many competitors sailed extra miles in race three, Patria Race. After the second triangle of the course, they were supposed to go downwind and finish upwind. Those who made a mistake, did a complete lap before they went up to the finish line. Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (Tornado, NED) learned from their miscalculation yesterday and took the bullet, followed by Stuart Gummer/Gillian Power (F18, GBR) and Jurgen Kerstens/Paul Smissaert (F18, NED). Heemskerk looked confused when he returned to the beach: "We might have a discussion again." At that moment John Moret also arrived. "Ah, that is John and if one person is always right, it is him, so we won." Moret and Jannink finished second and got a fourth position after calculation (on handicap). Gerard Loos and Ruurd van Wieren (last year’s winner) were second at the last bottom mark. Van Wieren: "We sailed port tack and could not see Mischa. We thought that he did not cross the line and we were pretty sure that we had to sail another lap." His father Gerben van Wieren shakes his head: "Well, I will give him a count frame for Sint Nicolas." Richard Allen and Simon Farren followed their example and completed an extra round as well. Allen: "It’s a shame. Never mind, we are not the only idiots."