October 8, 2024
Rambler 100 , Skippered by Ken Read (Photo by Christophe Jouany  / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )
Rambler 100 ,Skippered by Ken Read (Photo by Christophe Jouany / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )

The first day of racing at the 2nd edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth dawned with 25 knots of tropical tradewind breeze and showers sweeping over the picturesque French island located midway down the Caribbean chain. The regatta’s fleet of maxis, racing and cruising yachts, multi-hulls and classics – 48 confirmed on race day – set off on a race course around the nearby archipelago, and met with plenty of wind and bumpy seas, especially on the islands’ exposed eastern side.

You certainly couldn’t have asked for a prettier race course, which today sent fleets on jaunts of either 16-, 22-, or 25-nautical mile jaunts.  Most intriguing was the trip around the northern tip of St. Barth and through the nearby archipelago, which in a typically French way makes one ready for a meal with names such as Ile Chevreau (baby goat), Ile Fregate (bird), Ile le Boulanger (the baker), Ile Fourchue (fork), Grouper et Petite Groupers (fish), Le Boeuf (beef), and Le Pain du Sucre (sugarloaf).

Today’s later start at 1300 did nothing to diminish the wind and sea, as the first two classes off – Maxis and Multihulls – with eleven boats, started in 22 knots and encountered two meter seas and were sent on a 25-nautical mile course. George David’s Rambler 100 with Ken Read as skipper, got away at the pin end of the starting line and lead Hugo Stenbeck on Genuine Risk up into the outer harbor to an offset turning mark. Once around, Rambler set a huge asymmetric spinnaker and was on her way for the day.

Genuine Risk (Photo by Christophe Jouany  / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )
Genuine Risk (Photo by Christophe Jouany / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )

On the eastern, and windward, side of the island the big boats reveled in the conditions which eventually topped out above 30 knots – Genuine Risk, with their combined crew Swedish/ American crew, recorded 30 knots of boat speed surfing downwind through the islands.

Also racing in the Maxi class was the 86’ CNB sloop Spiip, owned by Robin de Jong, who is making his way westward to Tahiti with the boat. Onboard Spiip is Bruno Trouble, well known for creating and overseeing the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series (for the America’s Cup) that originated in 1983. Trouble is racing at the regatta for the first time, and he said, “Les Voiles de St. Barth reminds me a lot of the early days of the Nioulargue with boats from all over the place taking part.  Things are going to really build and it is just great, it really reminds me of the first Nioulargue!”

In the Racing Class, the crew work aboard Jim Swartz’s Vesper looked well-honed as the team traded tacks with Peter Cunningham’s Farr 60 Venomous (CAY) up the first short beat. Back on the quay, Venomous’ tactician Tony Rey recounted the day, “We had some great sailing   – St. Barth’s is such an awesome place to sail, every time you turn around an island, or a piece of land, the view just gets better and better. It’s just that the race course is a minefield because the wind twists and turns up the corners and the crevices – but it’s a fascinating place to sail! We also had the added challenge that our instruments went down, so we were guessing on our wind speed and direction, and guessing at our boat speed for part of it too, which turned us into good seat-of-the-pants sailors.”

Vesper  (Photo by Christophe Jouany / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )
Vesper (Photo by Christophe Jouany / Les Voiles de Saint-Barth )

Before scores were tabulated, though Rey suspects, “We think we were probably 2nd or 3rd, we’re pretty sure Vesper beat us handily, because downwind you just can’t stay with a boat like that.  We could have sailed better for sure, we left a few seconds on the race track, but generally we’re thrilled, it was a great day of sailing!”

In the 24-boat Racing Cruising class, the Swan 60 Fenix closely led Jereon Hin’s First 50 Black Hole (NED) after the first upwind beat. This class has a gamut of boats including two all-women entries, Annie O’Sullivan’s Diamonds Are Forever (UK), and Henneke Stegweg’s iLost (NED). As well, there are two Moorings 50.5 charter boats with two crews from Oakville, Ontario, Canada, headed up by Andre Beese and Patrick Festing. Both crews are comprised of friends and fellow Etchells sailors, who were originally headed to Antigua to race when a friend suggested they race at Les Voiles de St. Barth.

The Classics class, while low on numbers with just five boats, were high on style points with the 76’ W-class White Wings, the 80’ Fife yawl, Mariella, the 60’ dark-hulled gaff-rigged yawl Kate from St Kitt’s, and the 26’ Friendship sloop La Sirene, gracing the line.
Carlo Falcone, from Antigua, is a frequent competitor with Mariella in both classic and offshore races around the world, which he, more often than not, wins. He enjoys sailing in St. Barth because it has, he says, “more European style than other parts of the Caribbean.”

The yacht was designed by American naval architect Alfred Mylne, and built by Fife in Scotland in 1938. As Falcone says, “The beauty of this boat is the mix of the two. Mariella is well sailed and immaculately maintained, and Falcone says,  “I believe the more you use the boat the better it is. But it’s never-ending work – not buying the boat, but keeping it. They say, ‘the owners are just taking care of the boat until the next one.’” His regular crew is a mix of family and friends including his daughter Sylvia, his long-time navigator, 89-year old Henry Pepper (Marblehead, Mass), and crew from Italy, Australia and Dominica. Les Voiles de St.Barth is a way to prepare the boat for this summer’s classic yacht series in New England.

With a relatively new event, one may wonder what goes into the thinking for the course on day one. Following this morning’s skipper’s briefing, the, Les Voiles Race Committee Principal Race Officer, Jean Coadou offered some insight, “There were three main elements: the weather forecast, looking at the strength and direction of the wind around all of the islands. Also it was important with such a large fleet to avoid any boats crossing paths. And first and foremost, the enjoyment of sailing was a key factor. We try to ensure that the competitors encounter all the different points of sail, upwind, downwind and reaching. The idea is to come up with three hours of exciting racing each day; that is why the courses are around 30 miles in length for the fastest boats and 16 miles for the smaller craft.”
Key information: Les Voiles de St. Barth is being hosted from April 4 – 9 2011 by the St. Barth Yacht Club

Les Voiles de Saint Barth (Photo by Les Voiles de Saint Barth)
Les Voiles de Saint Barth (Photo by Les Voiles de Saint Barth)

 

Entries

Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status

SOJANA
 GBR 115 FARR 115 Peter HARRISON /Marc FIDZGERALD  

HIGHLAND BREEZE
 888 SWAN 112 RS/GPR 112′ ALBERT KEULARTS
 
SPIIP
 FRA 8686 CNB 86 86′ ROBIN DE JONG 
 
RAMBLER 100  USA 25555   READ Ken
 
GENUINE RISK
 8390 DUBOIS/MC CONAUGHY 97′ HUGO STENBECK

ICARUS
  JONGERT 90′   
 

 
PANIC ATTACK
 750 OPEN 750 24′ JAN VANDEN EYNDE
 
TECHNOMARINE
 FRA 27917 Farr 36,7 DEREDEC Christian 
 
PUFFY
 USA 45454 Farr 45 DEMARCHELLIER Patrick
 
ANTILOPE
 GRB 1513L GRAND SOLEIL 43′ WILLEM WESTER
 
SPEEDY NEMO  SBH 26   MAGRAS Raymond

VESPER
  TP 52 54′ JAMES SWARTZ 
 
VENOMOUS
 GBR 60006 FARR DESIGN 60′ PETER CUNNINGHAM
 
MAE-LIA     MAGRAS Raphael

SOLANO  FRA 34625   

Classic
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
WHITE WINGS
 US2 W CLASS 76′ DONALD TOFIAS
 
KATE
 ES5 MYLNE 60′ Walwyn 
 
LA SIRÈNE
 3 FRIEND SHIP SLOOP R WILSON 26′ DAVID PERTEL  
 
MARIELLA
 464 YAWL/FIFE 80′ CARLO FALCONE Pre-entry
 
Racing Cruising
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
FENIX
 GBR 9660R SWAN  60′ MORITZ BURMESTER  
 
L’ESPERANCE
 123 Beneteau 45 VELASQUEZ Robert 
 
BLACK HOLE
 GER 150L FIRST 50 50′ JEROEN HIN  
 
COSTA MESA
 88 DUFOUR 425 GL 43′ REY PASCAL
 
ORMEAU
  FINOT BENETEAU 47.3 ALAIN CHARLOT 
 
MR. WALKER
 FRA 491 REQUIN 33 MELISSA RIMBAUD
 
LIL’E
 FRA 479 REQUIN 33 FOX MOWGLI
 
SUGAR CANE
  BERRET 50.5 ANDRE BEESE
 
MAE-LIA
  X-YACHT 34 MAGRAS Raphael
 
TRITON
  BERRET 50.5 PATRICK SMITH
 
SPEEDY NEMO
  DUFOUR  34′ RAYMOND MAGRAS
 
THULA
 51952 BALTIC 39 39′ MAX IMRIE  
 
TARA II
  SUN ODYSSEY 54 DS 54′ HENRY ALBERT
 
SPLENDIDO
 FRA37407 GRAND SOLEIL 40′ PHILIPPE HERVOUET
 
NIX
 IVB 612 X-YACHT 60′ NICO CORTLEVER
 
AFFINITY
 US 50007 SWAN  48′ JACK DESMOND 
 
SOLANO
 FRA 34625 LATINI 52 FELCI 52′ FREDERIC RIALLAND  
 
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
 GRB 1007L ELAN 37′ ANNIE O’SULLIVAN 
 
COYOTE 2
 GBR 9949 T FIRST 40.7 41′ KEN ACOTT 
 
iLOST
  HARMONY 42 42′ HANNEKE STEGWEG
 
SHAMROCK VII
 USA 1 J 95 31′ THOMAS MULLEN
 
WILD DEVIL ISLAND WATER WORLD
 NM 1993 KIWI 35 35′ BEN JELIC
 
TANGRA  413 REQUIN 35′ QUERE Pre-entry
 
Racing Multihull
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
PHAEDO
 399BC GUNBOAT 66′ PAUL HAND 
 
DAUPHIN TELECOM
  COULOMBEL 40′ ERICK CLEMENT 
 
BLANCA
  SEACART 30′ HERVE DE MARJOLIE
 
SPIRIT 
 GBR 565  40′ JASON GARD
 
BLUE CAT   VAN PETEGHEM 40′ CHAYER
 
CARIB CAT
CATAMARAN MY CAT 26′ CONSIDERE CLAUDE

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