"Welcome to the Mob ... "

My toes are frozen, as I await my flight in the chilly (but not nearly as frigid as the plane) Atlanta airport – but relief is in sight. In about 15 minutes I’ll be boarding my flight for St Maarten, and the Heineken Regatta! This will be my third Heinie ;-) ... and hopefully most fun, as I’ll actually get to SAIL this time, and not simply watch from a press boat.

The first time I went (also working) I was on my own; photographer Mark Pepper (we later covered the BT Global Challenge together) took me under his wing and showed me the wily ropes of this hedonistic regatta. The days start a tad prematurely for my tastes – trade winds crank on early so sailors start to stir at the crack of dawn, for races that begin at 9ish and fill the day. Then it’s party all night, with just a pinch of sleep in between, before you do it all over again. There are top name bands, plenty of cold ones, and scores of those charming Dutch men. Sounds like just the ticket ... !

Heineken calls itself “Serious racing, serious fun” so to prove that point, I’m going to sail on three different boats on the three days of the regatta. One “serious race” boat, one “serious party” boat, and one ... yet undetermined lift – on a cat or a classic. I’ll be comparing rides, for a SAILING feature. Oh yeah – we call this ‘work’ (big SMILE :-D)

Iris helped hook me up with on the funzone boat, joining the Lynch Mob with Eric Lynch (AKA Stinky Finger) and Capt Bob. As Eric explained to me off the bat

“A long time ago I would put together ‘groups’ to go on the Windjammer sailing trips. Once a group got over 12 people, Windjammer asked for a group name. Off hand I said LYNCH MOB and that stuck. Then I started to rent the entire 250 foot boat (70 people) and word got out that the LYNCH MOB was coming and the crew was lovin' life because we partied hardy and tipped well. Now, the LYNCH MOB (custom logo) goes everywhere; sailing, air races, white water rafting, skiing, climbing mountains (Mt Whitney recently), F1 races around the world, etc, etc. Bob has some LYNCH MOB shirts. You only get one if you go on the event. Welcome to the Mob.”

Looking forward to wearing the shirt J More from St. Maarten ....