“This was Perseverance’s first appearance at a Superyacht regatta and she loved it. We had the overall perspective to just go out, sail well, keep it simple and overall have fun. We achieved all of the above!
“The boat sailed well and we learnt a lot about “different modeing” for the boat where we have not sailed competitively before (as she is still relatively new). With an overall third place, the guests and crew were overjoyed with the event; it’s something they are all interested in attending in the future.
“We opted to ultimately keep it simple and have one reef in the main, as each day was breezy seeing a top wind speed of around 28 knots, which for us and everyone else was a lot! —Ryan Taylor, S/Y Perseverance”
“Having last raced the Bucket with Bequia in 2016, the crew all thoroughly enjoyed her return to St Barths. We have built a strong team over the last few seasons doing regattas in Antigua and Newport, and everyone gets on great; we’re a small crew so each person has a huge role to play in the sailing the yacht.
“It was great to get out on the track for three days with solid trades blowing, and the race committee did a fantastic job as usual of getting the races off on time and keeping all the crew informed…brilliant call on the last day keeping the yachts in the lee of the island, and I think this will be something most of the crews would be keen to see becoming standard in future years.
“The higher breeze and sea conditions put the yachts and their crew to the test, and we saw that with several yachts on the racetrack having issues. Through hard work, preparation and a bit of luck we managed to make it around the course each day with no gear failures and only minimal tactical and crew work errors. —Seumas Meharg, Captain Bequia
“The INGOT was the Committee Boat in years past, but we were registered as a ‘Participant’ vessel this year, so we were not active in the race schedule. The yacht owner and guests enjoyed the ‘social’ side of St. Barth’s Bucket this year and they had a great time, again.” —Jeff Ridgway, Captain, M/Y INGOT
“A strong effort from the whole team…everyone playing their part, from the bow to our owner Kim, who did a great job driving – no easy task in the waves! Kim has invested heavily in some new technology, especially in our new Doyle Structured Luff Jibs and has really enjoyed the chance to see what Scott Zebny has put on the boat, making a difference to our performance on the water.
“Racing once again in Saint Barths has been incredible — it never fails to deliver here!! Beautiful venue, great fleets, and intense racing. A big shout out to the race organisers and all the people who help run the event, both afloat and ashore. They have done an amazing job, and I am sure we will back next year!!” —Will Glenn, Captain S/Y WinWin
“This was my first regatta as a skipper, so it’s all new to me. On reflection, the fun, excitement and enjoyment that was had by both guests and crew alike is/was and will be again a truly wonderful experience. We obviously wanted to compete well and get results, but not at the expense of enjoying the spirit of the Bucket. How Red Dragon’s last 5 days transpired, both racing and ashore, leaves me happily humbled and reinforces the reason as to why I live this amazing life on the water. It’s certainly a huge thank you to all that made this possible.” —Tim Deane, Captain S/Y Red Dragon
“After 30 years of pro sailing I thought I’d met everyone, but there’s a whole new subset of schooner sailors. They are typically young and enthusiastic, and nearly half our crew were women. They’re darn good at what they do and take an enormous amount of pride in how they do it.
“Columbia’s Captain Seth Salzman was born in the wrong century. He is a true yachtsman, the way he keeps and sails Columbia, and he and his crew are superheroes. In anything more than 10 knots, three feet of water comes rushing down the deck, and sure, there are hydraulic winches, but there is a large amount of sails to handle, so a whole lot of physical labor goes into pushing and pulling this boat around the course.
“The charterers were thrilled…it was a spectacular experience, giving them a week – no, a lifetime – of memories. For me, it was wonderful just sharing our sport with people who have never before experienced anything like this.” —Tony Rey, Tactician and Crew Manager S/Y Columbia
“We like to see the whole fleet perform from different vantage points, so our team here observes the races from three different competing boats each day to determine predicted performance vs. the real world. It doesn’t really change anything for the short term, but at the end of the event, those observations are more broadly useful in helping with the mathematical formulas used going foreward.” (SYRA makes recommendations to ORC, which makes the rating rule.) —Jim Taylor, SYRA and ORC representative
”It was bouncy out there. The design of the J Boat Ranger is 100 years old, so it’s very different than the modern boats. You’re always turning the wheel to keep it going straight, and you have to remember it was built for a different purpose: windward leeward America’s Cup racing, not reaching.” (Ranger won the J Class here, with Baird at the helm, in 2023; the class is expected to sail again here in 2024.) —Ed Baird, Helmsman J Class Yacht Columbia
“This was Melek’s racing debut. Sailing in Corinthian Spirit doesn’t make it any less fun, it just makes it different. Without having to fly a spinnaker, we sailed with the owner, his wife, five race crew, 12 regular crew, and four guests. We were watching everyone else (in the conventional classes), thinking ‘we’re glad we’re not having the problems they’re having,’ but of course if it had blown eight knots instead of 25, maybe we wouldn’t have been singing that song (laughs). The owner was so enthusiastic and enjoyed doing a little bit of everything…he drove, learned about navigation and the engine, etc.” —Dirk Johnson, Navigator, S/Y Melek
”This was Red Dragon’s first time ever racing. We were going to enter a conventional class but it is a new boat for the owner, and only recently we discovered that a gennaker (downwind sail) was never built, so this class gave us an opportunity to enter, regardless.” —Peter King, Navigator Red Dragon
Racing photographs (above) ©2023 Martin Baum/Pantaenius • St Barths sunset photograph (below) ©2023 Cory Silken
You must be logged in to post a comment.