Small Boats, Big Passion!
As The Islander goes to press, the Volvo fleet confirms that at least three VO65s will be taking part this year. Team JAJO, supported by Janssen de Jong with 28-year-old Jelmer van Beek from The Netherlands at the helm, will be competing against fellow Dutch skipper Gerwin Jansen on Team Austrian Ocean Racing. Ambersail II from Lithuania has also now committed to race again in the Maxi class.
In the 2022 edition, the big boat class had incredibly close competition between four VO65s and four VO70s, plus two custom Maxis, Botin 85 Deep Blue and Farr 100 Leopard 3. There are at least two VO70s slated to return in 2023, including I LOVE POLAND, helmed by Grzegorz Baranowski. They will be back to defend their reign as 2022 IMA Caribbean Maxi Challenge champions – a separate trophy for Maxi yachts based on collective scores from three top Caribbean events. The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is proud to be one of them. Race organizers have made it their mission to design unique courses that are best fit for these ocean racing machines. Whether it be a sprint to neighboring islands Anguilla or St. Barths, or the crowd-favourite Round the Island Race, the long courses are well-suited for these maxi boats. In 2022, the Race Committee threw in a navigator’s challenge, which allowed the Maxi boats to decide if they would go above or below St. Maarten on a race back from St. Barths – the fleet split and there were certainly big winners and losers in this navigational choice.
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