Caribben Multihull Challenge Race & Rally News and Updates

Two New Features Added to the 5th Caribbean Multihull Challenge!

Register now for the 5th edition of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge!

Merlin – Pure Magic Racing at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge

A fast craft with a wizard’s name plus epic crew work is what it takes for a podium finish at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC). Just ask Alexis de Boucaud, the St. Martin-based owner of the Diam 24, Merlin. de Boucaud bought the swift sailing trimaran, formerly owned by legendary Swiss Vendee Globe skipper, Bernard Stamm, in late 2021. It was perfect timing to enter the 2022 CMC since two other Diam 24s were registered. Like the wave of a wand, the Merlin team rounded out the top three with a trophy.

Cry Baby - Three Hulls, Three Times the CMC Fun

Racing in a multihull-only regatta is super fun for those who prefer two or more hulls to one. Double that with the additional excitement of one-design racing. That’s what happened at the 2022 Caribbean Multihull Challenge when three Diam 24 trimarans sailed with and against each other as part of the CSA 3 class. St. Martin’s Pierre Altier is the mover-shaker sailor who spearheaded the now 5-boat Diam class on St Martin.

Are You Fast Enough? Caribbean Multihull 60-Mile Sprint!

It’s an event within an event you really want to win – if you’re fast enough, that is. The Caribbean Multihull Challenge’s (CMC) 60-mile Sprint, sponsored by Fkg Marine Rigging & Fabrication , was a notion put into motion for the first time in 2022. Ocean Racing and Ocean Cruising Multihulls, those able to complete the course in 6 hours or less, raced from St Maarten, around St. Barths, north navigating Tintamarre, and west across the Anguilla Channel to finish at the start in Simpson Bay.

Fujin Sailing – Sailing Fast is Divine

Greg Slyngstad picked the perfect name for his Bieker 53 catamaran. Fujin, or God of Wind, revels in big breeze. She’s put the Seattle, WA-based Greg on the podium several times, including Fujin’s class win at the 2019 Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) and this year’s second-place finish to the UK’s Anthony McVeigh’s Schionning 51C, 2 2 Tango. However, Greg’s sailboat racing wasn’t always about two hulls.

Arawak – Leading the Way at the CMC

Arawak is the perfect name for Francois Nel and Rodney William’s Custom Joubert/Nivelt 52 catamaran. That’s because of its association with firsts. It’s the moniker of the first people to inhabit St. Maarten, where both sailors live. Fast forward, Arawak the multihull was the first to win the Most Worthy Performance title at the inaugural Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) in 2019 and the first to pocket an Oris Swiss watch as a prize. Arawak was also one of the first to compete in this year’s CMC’s initial running of the FKG Marine 60-Mile Sprint around St. Barths and back. While she didn’t finish first, Arawak and her crew were definitely on top of the world!

La Novia – Chasing the Wind

Georges Coutu has chased the wind in his need for speed from Canada to the Caribbean. As a kid, he raced a self-built monohull on a small lake in his native Quebec. In his early 20’s, he discovered windsurfing, finding it the ‘real deal’ way to have a blast going fast. This small board sport proved life-changing for Coutu in two ways. First, he met and raced with windsurfing freestyle champion, Gary Eversole. Secondly, he followed a friend’s tip in the early 1980s to visit Cabarete, in the Dominican Republic.

Spellbound’s Fast Cat Condo Racing

Success on one hull has translated to two for St. Maarten’s Ian Martin. The South African native who races his Leopard 45, Spellbound, in the Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) boasts an impressive monohull resume. He’s sailed from Cape Town to the Caribbean, competed in the Whitbread Round the World Race, and, with his brother John, set a Guinness Book of World Records for the fasted elapsed time in a double-handed transatlantic race. Martin’s cat life started in 2015, when he bought the hurricane-damaged Spellbound, repaired her, and put her into day charter.

Racing the charter way

Spice up a charter by throwing in some competitive fun Chartering isn’t always about lolling around at anchor in turquoise splendor. For avid racers, bareboat chartering offers a chance to enjoy competition in new and exciting venues, with fresh opponents and an international flair. That’s how we ended up at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge, a relatively new event in the winter racing season, organized by the people who made the Heineken Regatta synonymous with seriously fun racing in paradise.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead Following Succesful Fourth Edition of the CMC

It was a wet and wild weekend of highly competitive yacht racing with a little bit of everything: squalls and sunshine, gusts and lulls, surprising finishes. In other words, the fourth running of the annual Caribbean Multihull Challenge, which took place over the first weekend of February from the 4th through the 6th, was a resounding success. Let’s take a look back at this edition, and ahead to the next, already labelled with a catchy nickname: “Five Years of Flight.”