Clem Labega Square Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles ...

ecause of their skill in building and maneuvering the boats
during these friendly competitions.
It is not certain what happened, but in the late 80’s and
90’s traditional sailboat racing declined on St Maarten. In
fact, other types of sailboats became abundantly present
resulting in the introduction of the Heineken Regatta.
However, there were several persons who continued the tradition
of building sailboats and participated in racing in the
Anguilla and St Maarten sailboat competitions. One of
these persons is Mr. David Benjamin better known as
“Nat”.
“NAT” GREAT SAILBOAT BUILDER
AND RACER
David “Nat” Benjamin has been actively involved in traditional
boat racing for over 26 years. However, he has fond
memories of how as a child he started out in fun races with
makeshift boats.
Grassboats: As a child, Nat and his friends used to race little
boats made from guinea grass in the streams during the
rainy season.
Grapeleaf boats: As they grew older, they started to have
races with boats made from white pine. Metal from the cast
rum barrel (barrel stay) was used with white pine bent in a
particular direction. Coconut straws were used for the mast
and grape leaves were used as sails; hence the name
“Grapeleaf boats”.
Gum tree shaped boat: In this case, a turpentine tree was
cut out and dredged. These would be sailed without a rudder.
Depending on the wood, the Gum tree shaped boat was
between 2 to 3 feet in length.
Nat was champion in all three categories.
Remote control boat: : Larger boats of 3-4 feet. The
remotes were used to control the sails from the shore.
With his fervent interest and participation in the makeshift
boat races since his early childhood days, “Nat” turned his
passion into building boats as an adult. He honed his skills
learnt from from a paraplegic friend in St Kitts. Nat is credited
with building several champion boats throughout the
past 26 years, including:
Erica: a 23 feet sailboat that dominated Anguilla and St
Maarten races from 1971 to 1981.
Natalie: A 28 feet S-boat design, considered the best boat
ever built out of wood in 1981. This boat never lost a race,
THE WINDWARD ISLANDS BANK LTD. • ANNUAL REPORT 2006 • PAGE 11
but was lost in 1999 due to Hurricane Lenny.
Perfect Timing: In 1995, Nat built Perfect Timing one of
the oldest boats in racing today.
“Nat” hopes to see the art of building boats turned into a
reality. It only takes about one week to build a 23 feet
boat. He is willing and looks forward to being able to
teach the art of teaching youngsters from high school how
to build boats and then compete in races. Until this
becomes a reality, Nat continues to coach some of the
younger boys now carrying on this interesting sport.
TRADITIONAL BOAT RACING REVIVED
At the start of the Twenty First century a small group of
men decided to get more involved in the business of build-
ing and racing the sailboats. With the Heineken Regatta
being in existence for twenty years and other sailboat races
being held on St Maarten, the group had to find a way to
differentiate their small boats from the larger boats with
their massive masts, long booms, sails and even engines.
The term traditional boat racing was appropriately used to
highlight a part of St Maarten’s tradition that brings a nostalgic
feeling and atmosphere that brought the communities
together in the past.
Several young men also got involved in the races and
decided that in order for the sport to flourish they needed
the support of the local business community. There is a
tremendous skill involved in having the boats built and to
be able to have proper sails and masts made and maintained.
There is a lot of risk involved and for that reason
liability insurance is also needed. Consequently, “Nat”
founded an Association with the purpose of ensuring that
the sport can be officially recognized and supported.
Presently, there are some five to seven traditional sailboats
that are officially sponsored by companies on St Maarten
and these traditional boats participate in weekly competitions
in Grand Case proudly displaying the names of their
sponsors.
TRADITIONAL BOAT RACES
BACK IN GREAT BAY
In 2005, an excellent initiative was presented by
Ferdinand Beauperthuy, a WIB employee whose grandfather
was also named Ferdinand Beauperthuy, who decided
to approach WIB and Taloula Mango with the idea to
bring back the boat races to Great Bay. In the early twentieth
century, the elder Ferdinand Beauperthuy owned several
wellknown sailboats. Realizing the importance of this
traditional sport and themselves having been involved in
sailboat racing in their youth, both Jan Beaujon of WIB
and Norman Wathey of Taloula Mango agreed to co-sponsor
the event and with that traditional boat races were
brought back to Great Bay and Philipsburg. The enthusiasm
of this popular tradition is expected to receive more
support from the business community and we can now
start looking forward to more friendly competitions
between the guys and their traditional sailboats.
THE WINDWARD ISLANDS BANK LTD. • ANNUAL REPORT 2006 • PAGE 12