15 July, 2026, Aruba
The Regatta opened Friday evening at the Regatta Village at Surfside Beach with registration, music, and a beautiful sunset over the water.
This year, 45 sailors sailed 20 races over 2 days in the Optimist, SailQube, F11, Sunfish, and Miniatuurboot classes. The Miniatuurboot fleet, organized together with Stichting Rancho, once again connected the Regatta to Aruba’s maritime history.
This edition sailed without the yacht classes, which put the spotlight fully on the dinghy and beach classes and on our young sailors — the next generation of Aruba’s sailing community.
The weather threw everything at the fleet this year: storm, flat winds, rain, and sunshine, sometimes all in one day. It made every race a true test of seamanship, and the sailors handled all conditions impressively.
There were no valid protests thanks to the excellent work of the race officials in the race tower and on the start boats, and the sportive attitude of the participants.
There were no accidents. The safety boats with lifeguards and our land-based medics provided full rescue coverage, and sailors told us they felt safe on the water all weekend.
The prizes consisted of 24 trophies for all classes with various certificates from Bula Surf Shop, Caribbean Mercantile Bank, Hilton Hotel and Casino and Marriot Hotel. The Ernie Kervel trophy this year went to Zane Winterdal.
