Pierre Altier
When you spend a few minutes in the presence of Pierre Altier, you understand the depth of his passion and enthusiasm for sailing in general and for the Diam 24 One Design Trimaran. He is locally known as the driver and energy source of this growing class of racing multihulls on the island of St. Maarten, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. He is also the winning skipper of his personal Diam – Cry Baby – and is helping to develop the competitiveness of this class as he builds a cadre of skippers who share his enthusiasm and vision for racing.
Pierre has been a member of the SMYC since 2006 and has been on our island for about 15 years. Born in Montpellier, France, he credits his father with instilling the love of sailing and recalls the experience of sailing with his father since he was six years old. He says that from his father he “caught the sailing virus”. Later, he moved to Brittany when he was 18 and continued his development of his sailing skills as a sailing instructor. While there he gained experience as crew for Maxi races in Europe and competed in several racing tours. Next in his journey, he found his way to Tahiti, where he established a sailing school using the Hobie Cat 18 sport catamaran and kite boarding as the basis for instruction. While in Tahiti he met his wife, who is from the Burgundy region of France.
Pierre recently joined the Steering Committee for the Caribbean Multihull Challenge Race & Rally. His input is helping shape course design and plans for the Diam 24 fleet as they participate in this upcoming regatta. For those of you who are on the island in February and March, look for Pierre on the water during the CMC and the Heineken. It is exciting stuff!
In the event you missed it, there is a great article in the August 2023 edition of Sail- World. Here is a link to that article. https://www.sail-world.com/news/265513/WDT-Caribean-2023-is-over-2024-is-on-the-way
Brian Leblanc
Our spotlight this month is on 13-year member, Brian Leblanc, the man behind the successful
SMYC Restaurant and Bar. Brian hails from Salem, Massachusetts in the US. but found his way to the Caribbean when he was 20 to start his career. He arrived with a 50 Ton Master Captain’s license and experience in restaurants and hospitality—a good tool kit for a 20-year-old in St. Maarten. Add to those skills a cheerful and open personality and what can go wrong? After a few early career experiences, including working on a floating bar, he found the opportunity to take over a struggling restaurant operation at the SMYC. In 2010 he opened the restaurant and bar at the current SMYC location and has been in steady operation since then. It has not all been smooth– Hurricane Irma and the Covid 19 Pandemic were enormous business challenges – but with an amazing and pretty consistent team, it comes back better.
What drew Brian to St. Maarten initially is still what brings him joy today. That is, the people of the island, and the unique mix of nationalities and talents that populate the island. He also loves the variety of places that are accessible here. The wide range of cultures and places to visit that can be reached in a 10 – 20 minutes’ drive on the island does not get boring. There are always new places opening and things changing. Also, as a launching place, there are many nearby islands, each with its own personality. A perfect day for Brian and his wife Marleen, is to take advantage of that with their two rescue dogs along for the adventure. Brian’s goal with the restaurant and bar is to provide reasonably priced and consistent quality food and service in a Caribbean casual environment. He knows that he has “regular” customers who come back on their visits to the island and enjoy the fact that they can count on the SMYC Bar and Restaurant to retain its fun vibe. He embraces the “serious fun” motto that has long described the SMYC Heineken Regatta, and other club activities.
Angela and Steve Richards
Steve and Angela first sailed their beautiful boat, Stellina, from the States to the Caribbean in 2016. After a 1,500 mile sail, their first stop was St. Maarten, where they had a reservation at Simpson Bay Marina for two weeks… they stayed for six weeks that time and have been coming back ever since! Their typical yearly routine includes Newport, RI in the summer to see family, a sail through the Chesapeake in the fall, with a return sail to the Caribbean for winter and spring. They usually start the season in SXM, then sail the Eastern Caribbean chain, with a return to SXM before returning to the States. While they love the whole Caribbean chain, they aren’t shy in stating St. Maarten is their favorite. Their time on island has grown from their initial six weeks to four months per season, and Angela is quick to say, “That’s still not enough!”. They joined the SMYC in 2017, as they are avid fans of the youth sailing program and love to see kids having a chance to learn & grow. Steve & Angela feel sailing is a great avenue to learn many skills that translate well to life in general. In addition to being members, they love to recruit new members, they look for opportunities to donate and contribute, including volunteering for the Heineken Regatta, where they were our daily prize givers during the 2023 regatta. What’s next for these two? They are looking into calling St. Maarten home and hopefully we will be able to welcome them back permanently in the near future!
