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Racing Shorts

Does four days of racing in the Caribbean sound like fun? If you’re reading this and haven’t just come back from the 28th running of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, then you’ll have to wait until next year to get in on that action. Held March 6-9, the Carribean’s largest regatta known for its onshore entertainment — dancehall-reggae singer Shaggy performed at one of the parties — also provided picture-perfect conditions for the 284 entrants in 21 classes divided among spinnaker, non-spinnaker, bareboat and multihull divisions. Next year’s event is already scheduled — visit www.heinekenregatta.com.

Bay Area teams and sailors were well represented in Miami last weekend for the Acura Miami Grand Prix, the event historically known as the S.O.R.C. Kentfield’s Paul Cayard spent the weekend calling the shots on Fred and Steve Howe’s Warpath, taking third in the 28-boat Farr 40 class which also produced the event’s ‘boat of the week’ — Jim Richardson’s Barking Mad, fresh off a class win in Key West. In the Melges 32 class, Fairfax’s John Kostecki pointed Michael Illbruck’s Pinta in all the right directions, topping the 20-boat fleet in the team’s second regatta in the competitive class. Visit the event web site for more.

On the Bay this weekend, the two biggies are the Island YC‘s Doublehanded Lightship Race with 40 entries including four multihulls scheduled for Saturday. If you’ve got an Express 37, 1D35, J/105 or J/120, you might consider St. Francis YC‘s Spring One-Design for a full weekend event. Oh, by the way, you’ll want to lock your lazarettes and bring your hatchboards, because the National Weather Service is calling for breeze — enjoy!

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The flood of emails and phone calls which reached us yesterday after we posted the news of Jim Forquer’s tragic death is a good indicator of how much this well-known sailor will be missed.
The ProSail 40 Tuki currently owns the Jazz Cup record. In 2005, she sailed the 26-mile course in 2 hours and 1 minute.