Richard Wesslund’s J/120 El Ocaso Earns “Most Worthy Performance Overall” For The 2012 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

Simpson Bay, St. Maarten (March 5, 2012) – The final day of the 32nd annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta closed in outstanding fashion last evening at the traditional Prize-Giving ceremony—followed by an evening of world-class musical entertainment, headlined by Jamaican reggae legend Beres Hammond—on Kim Sha Beach.

The evening’s top prize—the St. Maarten Cup—for the regatta’s Most Worthy Performance Overall went to Richard Wesslund’s J/120, El Ocaso, the winner of the event’s most competitive class, CSA 4.

“This is our sixth year racing at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta,” said Wesslund. “We’ve won our division twice but never this prize. I ultimately want to thank my great team for all their hard work over the years. We’ll be back!”

The Caribserve-NTG Cup for Most Worthy Performance on Friday went to Frits Bus and Peter Houtzager aboard the Melges 24, Coors Light. The Heineken Cup for Most Worthy Performance on Saturday was presented to Jordan Mindich’s Sun Odyssey 44, Aunt Jessie, in the CSA 4 class. Tom Goebel and Neil Harvey’s Dufour 425, Chillin’ The Most, took the Sint Maarten Yacht Club Cup for Sunday’s Most Worthy Performance.The Overall Bareboat winner was the all women crew aboard Something Hot, Marieke Poulie’s Sun Odyssey 44i, which also received the Goldendog Cup for the team’s contribution to charity, a goal for many individual yachts that compete in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.

The Panama Jack Cup for Fastest Multihull Around the Island on Friday’s opening race was the impressive Irens 63 trimaran, Peter Aschenbrenner’s Paradox. The Fastest Monohull (Spinnaker classes) was Ernesto Cortina’s Volvo 70, Gran Jotiti, which earned the Windward Islands Bank Cup in honor of the feat.

Frederick Walters’ Team Kincsem-Zourite, a 50-foot Beneteau, was presented the Bliss Cup awarded to the Fastest Bareboat Around the Island. Virago, the Swan 100 sailed by Bill and Carolyn Titus and their crew, received the Sol Cup for the Fastest Non-Spinnaker Yacht to circle St. Maarten.

Finally, the Xerox Obersi Cup, also known as the Spirit & Style Award, went to Michael Emmert and Richard Emmert’s lovely Rhodes design, Golden-Eye, a competitor in the Lottery Class.

With that, the 2012 event came to a close. The 33rd annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will take place from February 28-March 3, 2013. It’s never too early to start planning!

For over three decades, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has showcased the top boats and sailing—and has become equally famous for its world-class slate of parties and musical entertainment—in the Caribbean. Now recognized by sailors around the planet as one of the sailing world’s best regattas, each year the event lives up to its worthy motto: Serious Fun. For full information on the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, including results, photos, videos, party and band information, and much, much more, visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

For more information contact: