Today’s “Not So Wiggley” course necessitated a downwind start by each of 30 Superyachts competing in seven classes at the St. Barths Bucket and peppered a blue sky with colorful spinnakers, giving spectators something to gawk at from their vantage points ashore and on the sea. The two classes that did not fly chutes due to the Corinthian nature of their groupings looked equally impressive as they joined all in enjoying brisk 16-18 knot breezes on variations of the course that ranged in length between 23 – 30 nautical miles.
In the Corinthian L’Esprit 2 class, Melek turned in the best start for the fleet with only two seconds separating it from the starting line at its designated start time. That nearly-spot-on performance contributed to the edging out of Rosehearty at the finish by 19 seconds, which also qualified as the closest finish of the day.
“I’ve done…I don’t know how many of these races, and this one was the most exciting ever,” said Rosehearty crew Bruce Brakenhoff who also represents Bucket friend Edmiston.
Melek’s helmsman Marty Kullman, whose first Bucket this is, thought it was pretty cool, also. “We are sister ships, but Rosehearty is rated with more sails, so she starts behind us but always catches us.” Yesterday Melek beat Rosehearty by just over 11 minutes, and today Rosehearty had a bone in her teeth. “Today, she got within a minute of us at the bottom of the course.”
As for the stellar start, Kullman reflected: “There’s a balance there…it’s risky that you can be over early; in my mind it might have been a little too close.”
Hanuman’s tactician Peter Isler described more close racing when his team, which finished second to Velsheda in Les Elegantes class today (as it did yesterday), converged with six other boats at Roche le Bouf, a mark of the course. “It was the greatest example of superyacht communications ever,” said Isler, “with crews of J Boats, 200 footers, and modern 90 footers all there together, doing one of the hardest maneuvers: a spinnaker takedown, jibe and onto a reach to round the rock. All the Superyacht rules of racing and proceedings for negotiation were in play, and it all worked!”
Hetairos and Aquarius are tied in overall scoring for Les Gazelles class: Hetairos with a 2-1 scoreline and Aquarius with a 1-2.
“Yesterday we were behind Aquarius by seven seconds at the finish, and today we beat her by just over a minute, said the Hetairos team’s Communications Officer and Rotation Captain Simon Hill. He explained that Aquarius starts ahead of Hetairos as does Nilaya and Maximus in his class. “Tomorrow, with the Around the Island course (formally known as ‘Wrong Way Around’) on the schedule, it’s all about passing lanes. From the start, we have to sail 100% to even get a chance to catch Aquarius.”
The two teams claim the same order of positions in the Performance Ouveurts class, for which they are dually scored. Hetairos has won the overall Bucket Trophy twice (2019, 2021) and has competed here three times previously.
With a third-place finish In L’Esprit 1 today, Gelliceaux still leads but only by one point over today’s winner Inukshuk. Nakupenda, sailing in Les Mademoiselles class, turned in her second bullet for the series to remain at the top of the scoreboard as did Freya in Les Petites Dames.
Photographs by Michael Kurtz.
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