SINT MAARTEN (SIMPSON BAY) - Eight Diam 24 teams took to the waters of Simpson Bay and Grand Case on November 8 and 9 for the first event on the 2025-2026 racing calendar for this exciting and competitive class of trimarans. 

Hosted in partnership between the Sint Maarten Yacht Club (SMYC), Saint Martin Voile Pour Tous (SMVT), and FF Voile, the inaugural Diam 24 Grand Prix Grand Case started in 17-22 knots of easterly breeze in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten on Saturday morning November 8. With one reef in the mainsail, competitors got off to a roaring start on a reach, turned north at an offset mark and made their way clockwise around the island to a finish line in Grand Case Bay, Saint Martin. Making well over 10 knots of boat speed, it didn’t take them long to get there! 

After a short break to set the race course in Grand Case, it was time for an afternoon of racing action. Starting off of Grand Case’s famously beautiful beach, spectators were treated to thrilling starts, a reaching leg, and then two upwind and downwind laps before a reach to the finish line. A hallmark of day one was how close the racing actually was, as starts and mark roundings were all hotly contested. 

When the dust settled with four races in their wakes the eight teams were only separated by a total of 13 points, with the top three coming in at 12, 14, 14. Indeed, this set the stage for an extremely competitive day two of racing. 

Sunday morning November 9 dawned sunny and breezy again for the teams, who had anchored their boats overnight in Grand Case Bay so they were ready to go for the days’ races. Once the race course was set by SMYC Race Officer Joris Zweers and his team, the first warning came just after 9:30am. 

In similar conditions to the day before, one reef in the mainsail was called for and the starts, finishes and upwind and downwind legs were exciting to watch as the teams battled for the top spots. Three buoy races were completed in the bay before the penultimate event of the day — a distance race from Grand Case back to Simpson Bay. 

In the end it was team Trinity 2 and Thomas Tennstrom, Otto Hamel and Theodor Norrby representing Sweden who took the overall victory. Coming in a close second was team Trinity 1, also hailing from Sweden, Joakim Sunberg, Anders Lewander and Gustav Petterson. And in third place was team K.I.C. Krehbiel In Caribbean from St. Barths, Turtschi Noah, Renaud Nicot and Andy Gasmin.

Huge thanks goes to Joris and the volunteers who made this weekend of racing such a success. Also, it could not have been done without all of the race teams — congratulations to everyone who came out for a fun Grand Prix! Full race results can be found at smyc.com/diam-grand-prix.

The next event for the Diam 24 fleet will be the Grant Thornton Keelboat Season Race Day 1 on Sunday, November 23, 2025, hosted by SMYC in Simpson Bay. 

SINT MAARTEN/BONAIRE - The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) is thrilled to announce the results of the 2025 Big Live Nature Quiz – Kids Edition! This edition has reached an all-time high number of registrations.

Schools from all over the Dutch Caribbean signed up for the region’s biggest educational ocean literacy event! The quiz theme changes every year, each year focusing on different key conservation topics of the six Dutch Caribbean islands.

This year’s theme, “Marine Habitats,” covered all the different marine habitats found on our islands and their important ecosystem services. From our shorelines to the deep ocean, primary students once again showcased their knowledge and passion for nature.

2025 Big Live Nature Quiz

Over 850 students from across the six Dutch Caribbean islands participated in this 5th edition of the Big Live Nature Quiz. This outreach event can be considered a growing success, bringing together more primary schools and young nature enthusiasts each year from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten to test their knowledge, learn, and have fun along the way!

The Champions

The winning team of this year’s quiz is “Eco Detectives Curacao” from Curaçao American Preparatory School! With impressive knowledge of coral reefs, seagrass meadows, lagoons, bays, and their important role as nursery areas, they outshone their competitors to claim first place in the 2025 Big Live Nature Quiz.

As a well-deserved reward for their outstanding performance, the team will enjoy an exciting sailing and snorkeling trip with their teacher, giving them the chance to explore the marine life around their island and deepen their practical knowledge about marine habitats.

Time to get hands-on, or should we say, or goggles on! Fun local prizes also await the local winner of each island, recognizing their passion, knowledge, and commitment to marine habitats.

The local winners are: ● Aruba: Tortuga (St. Annaschool) ● Bonaire: Sea Lions (IKC Kristu Bon Wardador) ● Curaçao: Eco Detectives Curacao (Curacao American Preparatory School) ● Saba: Intelligent girls (Sacred Heart School) ● St. Eustatius: Blue Beads (Governor de Graaff School) ● St. Maarten: The Science Children St. Maarten (Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School)

These teams, who showcased outstanding knowledge and teamwork, will each be awarded Big Live Nature Quiz rash guards to further inspire their love for the ocean and its ecosystems.

Huge Thank You to All

The DCNA extends heartfelt congratulations to all participating teams and teachers for their enthusiasm, spirit, and impressive nature knowledge! We look forward to seeing these young environmental champions continue to grow and protect the rich marine biodiversity of the Dutch Caribbean.

Engaging and Educational Fun

The quiz provided a fantastic opportunity for children to engage with nature in a fun and interactive way. With questions based on DCNA’s BioNews Kids magazine, participants learned about the diverse marine habitats and the important role they play in our ecosystems and on our islands.

The booklet, available in multiple languages including English, Dutch, Papiamentu, and Papiamento, helped children prepare for the event and will continue to serve as a valuable educational resource.

A Collaborative Effort for Conservation Education

The Big Live Nature Quiz is a true team effort, brought to life through the collaboration of all six Dutch Caribbean islands and DCNA’s conservation partners: Aruba Conservation Foundation, CARMABI, STINAPA, Saba Conservation Foundation, St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA), and the Nature Foundation Sint Maarten.

With support from local schools, Energia TV, and financial contributions from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, this event reached the largest number of young minds across the region.

Photo credit Energia TV

SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The Ministry of Justice is currently holding an emergency crisis meeting with the leadership of the Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM) in direct response to the critical situation at the Pointe Blanche Prison, where a fire broke out earlier today, Wednesday, May 14 within the facility.

Emergency units from the Fire Department, Ambulance Services, KPSM, VKS (Voluntary Corps), and the Koninklijke Marechaussee were deployed and successfully restored order and ensured the safety of all involved by 6:00 pm.

Initial reports indicate that there were three minor non-threatening injuries, which were treated on site. All prisoners are safe and accounted for.

The Minister of Justice Nathalie TackIing visited the prison and has officially requested military support to further secure the prison and maintain order.

“This is a serious threat, and we are acting with full force and urgency to secure the safety of the public at large. The safety of the public, prison staff, and detainees remains our top priority.

“We will not tolerate lawlessness, and we are taking all necessary measures to maintain control and uphold the rule of law. I commend all emergency units for their swift response and diligence, and for ensuring that all prison staff and prisoners were safe,” the Minister of Justice Tackling said on Wednesday evening.

The Ministry of Justice will provide further updates as verified information becomes available.

SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) - TelEm Group technicians are actively working to restore the company’s mobile voice and data networks following a system crash early Thursday afternoon.

At approximately 12:45 p.m on Thursday, March 27, 2025, an alarm was raised when a node located in the Smitcoms building, Harbour View, stopped operating. The issue was traced to a faulty card, causing service interruptions for business customers and mobile radio users.

To restore services as quickly as possible, TelEm Group engineers and technicians to an alternative network path.

As of 7:00 PM, LTE voice and data services have been restored, and technicians are diligently working to fully restore all remaining networks. Full service is expected to be restored by midnight, March 27, 2025.

TelEm Group sincerely apologizes to our business and residential customers for any inconvenience caused by today’s outage and service interruption.

We are actively working on both short-term and long-term solutions to address these issues and improve overall service reliability.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to enhance our network infrastructure.

For further updates, please stay tuned to our official communication channels.