IGOODIA CAPTURES 2ND OVERALL IN THE SINT MAARTEN HEINEKEN REGATTA

IGOODIA CAPTURES 2^ND OVERALL IN THE SINT MAARTEN HEINEKEN REGATTA.

Igoodia, Milt Baehr’s Jeanneau 52.2, made her racing debut at the Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta on March 7^th through 9th. Organized under the auspices of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, the Regatta has grown to rank among the world’s premier sailing events, garnering worldwide recognition and participation.

The team consisted of ten great sailors from the US and BVI. Milt Baehr from Incline Village, NV was skipper and helmsman. Steve Harrison, a twelve-meter sailor from Newport, RI shared the tactical and strategist position with Mark Plaxton from the BVI. Mark is a global fund manager and PerTrac client. Ainsley Randle, from Honolulu HI, coming off a victory in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference, was the bow man while Chaffe Emory from Maine and also coming off a victory in the SORC served as jib trimmer. She is also a major contender in the world woman’s match racing circuit. Guy Eldrige was on main trim. Guy hails from Bermuda and is now an attorney with a firm out of Tortola. Jan Saale, from Lake Tahoe was in the sewer. This was Jan’s first sailboat race however she is no stranger to competition. Jan is an offshore powerboat racer, pilot and ski instructor. In real life she is a nursing consultant. Emiliano was spinnaker grinder. Emiliano is from Argentina however he live in Tortola and works for Citco. Steve and Craig are both reporters with the local BVI paper. They worked grinding, fore guy and mid mast.

International Competition

Division: Spinnaker 3
Bow Nr.	Boat Name	Nat.	Boat Type	TCF
213	Affinity	USA	Swan 48	0.966A
211	Florys	MAR	Open 50	1.030A
261	Great Escape of Southampton	UK	Sun Odyssey 52.2	0.916A
97	Haspa Hamburg	GER	X-482	0.979S
116	Igoodia	IVB	Sun Odyssey 52.2	0.930S
203	L'Escape	UK	Sweden 45	0.963S
90	Lone Fox	STB	Robert Clark 64	0.915A
67	Northern Child	USA	Swan 51	0.960S
324	Pacific	AHO	Taberly 58	0.973S
133	Peter von Danzig	GER	Nissen 55	0.959S
0	Pisco Sour	PER	Beneteau 50	0.000
272	Pretty Woman	SXM	Sovereign 54	0.986A
70	Sky	USA	Swan 53	0.983S
321	Synergy	SXM	Frers 49	0.926S
96	Walross III	GER	Swan 55 Mod.	0.939S

Igoodia was in the most competitive class, Spinnaker 3. The first race on Friday was a 32 mile course around the island. Milt Baehr recalls; “Halfway through the race we were in a top 3 position when the sailing gods decided to attack. We tore our racing genoa and lost about 15 minutes changing to a spare. Then within 5 minutes into the spinnaker run out chute blew out and we had no spare. We felt like New Zealand in the Americas Cup. We didn’t retire but kept racing as best we could. Never quit. After the race we had no idea if we could get the sails repaired. The crew brought the sails to the sail-maker and they said they would do their best, no guarantees.”

“That evening we checked the results and discovered that we were still 8^th out of 14 yachts. With renewed hopes and with repaired sails we made it to the starting line Saturday with no time to spare. The first race of the day we took a lead right from the start and held it for a 1^st. In the second race we were holding a leading position until an unfavorable wind shift gave other boats the lead. We took a 4^th and were moving up in the fleet.”

“Sunday was a grueling race with winds blowing up to 25 knots. We battled all day for the lead but two other boats were more suitable for the heavier air. We took a 3^rd. This was enough to give us an overall finish of 2^nd in the regatta.”

Final Results

Bow	RaceName	TCF	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
321	Synergy	0.926S	1	1	2	1	5
116	Igoodia	0.930S	8	4	1	3	16
203	L'Escape	0.963S	3	6	4	4	17
213	Affinity	0.966A	6	2	6	6	20
211	Florys	1.030A	5	3	10	7	25
133	Peter von Danzig	0.959S	2	7	15	2	26
70	Sky	0.983S	4	5	3	15	27
67	Northern Child	0.960S	9	10	5	5	29
97	Haspa Hamburg	0.979S	10	8	9	8	35
90	Lone Fox	0.915A	7	15	7	9	38
272	Pretty Woman	0.986A	11	9	12	10	42
324	Pacific	0.973S	12	12	8	12	44
261	Great Escape of Southampton	0.916A	13	11	11	11	46
96	Walross III	0.939S	14	13	13	13	53