ST. BARTHS (22 March 2019) – The first racing day at the St. Barths Bucket is always full of excitement and color, first at the docks in Gustavia and on moorings in the outer harbor where 1500-plus sailors can be seen preparing their giant rides for battle; then on the race course where the stunning sailing machines that have gathered here for competition strut their sky-high masts and glorious spinnakers; and finally, on shore again where a joyful evening “yacht hop” rocks the waterfront. Today was that day, when the 31st edition of this highly competitive yet famously congenial “Bucket regatta” kicked off racing, sending 34 magnificent superyachts in six classes on a counter-clockwise course around the island of Saint-Barthélemy.
It was “high fives all around” for the 33.3m ketch Blue Too, which handily won the six-boat Les Femmes class in the 5-18 knot breezes that blew steadily throughout its race of nearly 22 miles. Blue Too started fourth in the timed pursuit start that is a hallmark of superyacht regattas, and on its first tack after the start, headed all the way into shore. “When we tacked out, we were able to take over three of the yachts that had started before us,” said bow man J.T. Charles. “Only Aquarius (eventual winner in Les Elegantes class) remained ahead of us, and we passed her shortly after our first jibe (after rounding Roches Rouges on the south side of the island).”
Charles added that talented sailors aboard, including father/son duo Chris and Richard Bouzaid and John Baxter, who put the Blue Too program together in 2011, make things happen. “The challenge for Blue Too is we don’t go upwind well, so we just picked the right angles to sail instead.” The 33.3m sloop Nakupenda, which finished second across the line, took a penalty for failing to observe a mark and fell to fourth, allowing the 43.1m Vitters-built Bella Ragazza a second-place finish.
Aquarius, a 56.2m Royal Huisman ketch, outpaced all five of the other Les Elegantes class competitors, crossing the finish line ahead of its closest competitor, the 39.3m J Class sloop Velsheda, by just under three minutes. Since the J Class has had its own series here in recent years, it was somewhat unknown how Velsheda would fare against the other ORCsy-rated superyachts in her rating band.
“Velsheda was very strong upwind, but we gained and were slightly more ahead of her at the finish than we were at the start,” said main trimmer Joey Allen, adding that Aquarius was launched in 2018 and this was the boat’s first-ever day of racing. “We know a lot about Velsheda but no one else; we’ve had only three days of practice here, so we’re just trying to get around the course, sorting out our own issues rather than worrying about the others.”
As green as the Aquarius team may sound, Allen and his teammates Barry McKay, Murray Jones and Tony Rae are America’s Cup veterans. They sailed for Team New Zealand in 1995, while another teammate Bill Smith sailed for One Australia in 1995.
“We’re just a bunch of tired, old, burnt-out, America’s Cup sailors,” he laughed.
Other classes were topped by the 59.9m ketch Hetairos (Les Gazelles), the 35m ketch Sojana (Les Mademoiselles), the 58.7m Perini Navi sloop Perseus 3 (Grand Dames) and the 49.6m sloop Ohana (Les Voiles Blanche).
Tomorrow’s course is scheduled to be the “Not So Wiggley”, which will take the fleet on a multiple-leg journey west and north of the island. Tomorrow evening’s social affair is the Bucket Bash featuring a favorite Evan Goodrow. The party is at the Collectivité across the harbor from Bucket headquarters.
Photographs © 2019 Michael Kurtz / Pantaenius
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