PHILIPSBURG:---The 4th edition of the Lagoonies regatta was sailed on June 30th with ten teams participating, sharing just four boats, courtesy of Hurricane Irma. This did not diminish the competitiveness and in fact created some opportunities for some teams. Fifteen races were sailed back to back, only paused by the lunch time break at main sponsor and host Lagoonies Bistro.
The conditions in the lagoon were particularly fickle, meaning there was very light wind for periods which suddenly exploded into heavy breeze often from a different direction. The participating teams had to suddenly adjust their trim and the successful teams were able to better anticipate and react to the changes.
Winner Frits Bus and his team of Joep Groenendijk and Luke Bacon were able to do just that, making better use of these conditions and edging out the “Lightning” team of Garth Steyn, Jolyon Ferron and Alex Scarabelli. The point difference was created in the last race these teams sailed each other and involved a dramatic change of position that defined the final overall result.
Third place went to Petro Jonker and his team “Lightweights” which included Pieter and Paul Soons. They tied on points with the French team led by Mathias Herest, which tie was broken by the number of wins each team had. This was the highest scoring French team and their competition was much appreciated.
Race officer was previous winner Bernard Sillem, while Rien Korteknie served as on the water informal jury. Event sponsors were the host Lagoonies Bistro (motto “Crazy Good”), Mount Gay Rum, Budget Marine who provided boats and prizes, Aquamania who provided the change boat Santino, Kids At Sea who provided the start boat Moondance and Pelikaan beer who provided their locally produced craft beer to competitors at the prize giving .
