St.Maarten Heineken Regatta
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From March 6th – March 9th Heineken St. Maarten, in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, organized the 28th edition of the famous St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.
The St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, whose motto is “Serious Fun”, is already famous for the High-Energy parties that surround the Word-Class sailboat racing. This year’s regatta attracted over 289 boats from all over the world. More people than ever before visited the Heineken parties, reaching approximately 22,000 locals, sailors and visitors.
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[edit] History
Back in 1980, a group of local sailors met at a small island bar to organize a race. This race, with 12 boats entered, came to be known to be the St Maarten Regatta, which then became the St Maarten Heineken Regatta, now the largest regatta in the Caribbean. During this first race, to liven up the spirit of the event, the Heineken representative handed out cold Heineken beers to the Regatta racers from aboard his motor boat. This was done by hanging a bag, filled with six Heineken beers, on a long fishing rod to thirsty participants! This “Heineken Team” took its job seriously back then as it does today!
[edit] Preparations
The Heineken St Maarten team and the SMYC (Sint Maarten Yacht Club) work all year to prepare for this event. Over the years, the 2 organizations have developed a strong working relationship. The Yacht club handles the racing part of the event and Heineken takes care of the party side of the event.
Given the size of the event and the limited size of our islands resources, we like to say “It takes the whole island to throw a party this big!” Only through the cooperation from the 2 island governments (French side & Dutch side), the sponsors, the volunteers, the businesses and the wonderful people of our island can an event of this magnitude be held. The organization involves government permits, event insurance, venue preparation & decoration & clean-up, booking of local bands & DJ’s & international acts, building stages, installing sound & light, arranging security, food & beverages, bar management, create advertising, organize the merchandising & promotional activities, and taking care of a full international VIP-program.
[edit] Serious Fun
The original slogan of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta "Serious Fun" is still true today as it integrates the key-elements of the events so well. The Serious side is the racing that is done during the 4 days with the challenging sailing courses that have been designed by a team of dedicated sailing officials. The Fun side begins when the boats cross the finish lines and prepare themselves for the enormously popular on-shore (musical) entertainment. The entertainment moves with the sailors over various locations on the island, which is another aspect that makes ‘The Heineken Regatta’ so unique and appealing.
[edit] Music
The St Maarten Heineken Regatta parties feature a broad range of different music styles like Reggae, Soca, Calypso, Dancehall, Hip-hop, Rock and Jazz brought by local artists, regional bands and international stars. Previous main acts performing at the Regatta parties include big name artists like the Black Eyed Peas, Jimmy Cliff, Ozomatli, and Damian & Stephen Marley, two sons of the Reggae legend Bob Marley. This year’s headliner was Grammy-winning recording artist Shaggy, also known as Mr. Lover Lover. His energetic live performance on the beautiful Kim Sha beach got great crowd response and was the perfect ending of a fantastic 4-day Heineken event!
The 29th edition of the St Maarten Heineken Regatta will be held March 5th-8th 2009. For more information about the 29th edition of the St Maarten Heineken Regatta, that will be held March 5th-8th 2009, check out http://www.heinekenregatta.com.
