My side of the story is little different, I thought racing the Heineken Regatta with Varsovie was absolutely amazing and I have had a great time here in St Martin! I’m so thankful for being given the opportunity to race with a boat like Varsovie, not just as a guest but as a crew who needed to dig in and help sailing. When reading this blog some of you maybe have picked up that I’m a person who constantly is looking for new adventures and adrenaline kicks, and regatta sailing is absolutely one thing that I’ve come to enjoy. I am not only amazed by the excitement in the actual sail competition but also in the hard work of sailing a larger yacht like Varsovie. I hope you can get a feeling for the action by looking at the pictures and the movie I have posted. Before the regatta I went out test sailing with them, got to know the crew and started learning how it really works sailing a yacht like Varsovie. We raced for three days and had everything from light breeze with good spinnaker sailing to heavy rain and wind 20 knots where the code zero (huge light reacher) wasn’t an option. The spinnaker was so large it often took 6 people to move it around the foredeck, and one day when the sock stuck on the way down it took the entire crew to wrestle it into the cockpit. My role in the race was mainly helping with the spinnaker halyard and diving in with everyone and pull it back in the bag. Furthermore raceing and sailing in general is about being aware of everything and thinking and moving quickly at all time. Always being ready for a tack or to help getting sheets out of the water etcetera. If you're not aware of the dangers on a powerful sail yacht like Varsovie you can easily hurt yourself. One of the most exciting times was at the start crowded with all 13 boats that where in our class. More than once we missed a collision by less than half a meter, both crews shouting and waving the other off. The movie trys to give a feel for it but doesn't give a true picture of what it was like out there. I really want to thank the crew: Patrick (Skipper) Ian (First Mate) Inness (Deckhand) and Alexa (Cook who is actully Swedish) for giving me the opportunity to come race with them. You are awesome guys, I hope to see you again! We are off to BVI now so unfortunately I can't continue share more of my experiences but I just wanted to let you know that I experienced the time here in St Martin little differently than Maria. I have had a blast and will definetely do more regattas in the future! Oh, one more thing I really want to thank our blond Alaskan stalker too, I had a great time with you here in St Martin! And I'm so happy you hooked up with skipper Patrick on your dive course and got involved with Varsovie! You rock Olaf, until I see you again continue live life with a smile on your face!/Over and out from an exhausted but very happy First Mate