Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine November 2015

— Continued from previous page
Grenada Marine ‘Raises the Bar’
Laura Fletcher reports: Grenada Marine has “raised the bar” — literally! Over a
recent bank holiday while others were reveling, a handful of dedicated staff came
in to work at Grenada Marine, the mission being Operation Move the Bar. The intention
was for the bar and kitchen to work together more closely and streamline the
delivery of food and beverages to our guests. The mission seems successful, with the
added benefit of increased space!
Grenada Marine’s bar in its new place, with movie/karaoke screen
So, with one half of the original bar now being very close to the kitchen, this new
layout gives us the ability to show movies (clients recently viewed “Nothing Like
Chocolate”, a film all about Grenada chocolate) and host karaoke evenings, which
automatically lead into dancing in the new space, too! The other half of the bar is
slated to double in size and become a WiFi hub.
This is only the beginning of our intended improvements; there’s much more to come!
For more information on Grenada Marine see ad on page 33.
NOVEMBER 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 8
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FUJINSAILING
St. Croix Company Builds Super-Fast Cat
As reported by Susan Ellis in the September 1st edition of the St. Croix Source, the
catamaran that could be the fastest cruising sailboat in the world, designed and built
by Gold Coast Yachts on St. Croix, was launched on August 28th and sailed from St.
Croix to St. Thomas in a little over two hours, and then to St. Martin in 15 hours.
“Our goal has been to build the fastest cruising boat on the planet and we’re probably
already there,” said Rich Difede, cofounder and president of GCY, told Ellis.
The 53-foot Fujin is constructed of a layered carbon fiber, a component produced
specifically for the vessel. The material provided strength while rendering the finished
product about 12,000 pounds lighter than other vessels of its type and size.
Fujin, which means ”god of the wind“, was designed by Paul Bieker, who engineered
foils for the 2014 American’s Cup winner Oracle Team USA. The boat was
built for Greg Slyngstad, former Microsoft executive and founder of Expedia, who
plans to race her as well as enjoy leisure sailing.
The Bieker 55 was Gold Coast’s first carbon construction and first serious cruising boat,
according to Difede. The design and engineering led by Bieker and Roger Hatfield,
another cofounder of Gold Coast Yachts and designer/engineer, took four months.
In another three months, the parts were constructed, using “top of the line technology,”
Difede said, and 60 days later the boat was assembled at the Salt River facility
with titanium fixtures and carbon rigging.
Two months later, the finishing touches were put on the US$3.5 million cat. The final
product is comfortable — sleeping ten, with three bathrooms, an office and full galley.
“Most ship builders couldn’t have done it that fast,” Difede said. “What’s important
is that someone in the Virgin Islands can actually build to that standard — a world
class standard. There’s only a handful of people who can do that and we can.”
Gold Coast Yachts has built more than 115 multihulls on St. Croix over the last 30
years. The company currently has 42 employees including several graduates of St.
Croix high schools. Employees go through a “lifetime” of career development training
and eventually each one can run the company, said Difede. The company’s
training model has been used on the mainland, Europe and New Zealand.
“We’re basically a training institution disguised as a boat building company,”
he added.
Read the full story at http://stcroixsource.com.
Visit www.facebook.com/fujinsailing for more information on Fujin.
Aqua Mania’s Pink Sunset Sail Raises Breast Cancer Awareness
The Pink Sunset Sail, organized in St. Maarten by Aqua Mania Adventures on
October 2nd to launch Breast Cancer Awareness month, was a spectacular success.
Over US$2,500 was raised, which is all being donated to the Positive and
Elektralytes Foundations in support of breast cancer awareness. This was made possible
by the generous donations of all 150 guests, who bought many raffle tickets to
have a chance of winning prizes donated by local businesses. Aqua Mania
Adventures added to the amount by donating proceeds of the Pink Sunset Sail tickets
to both Foundations.
Upon arrival at Aqua Mania Adventures guests received a unique Pink T-shirt, and
after a warm welcome on the dock, people were ready to board Lambada and
Tango, the 65-foot sailing catamarans that were made available for the sunset sail.
Visit www.stmaarten-activities.com for more information.