Served with a second day of light air, 26 Superyachts at the Bucket Regatta sailed custom, shorter-than-normal courses on the west side of St. Barths. Goodbye “Not so Wiggley” and “Wrong Way Around” routes that have become the familiar traditions here over more than three decades of yesteryears; Mother Nature had no intention of brisking up breezes for this 2025 edition, and it appears it will be slow going again tomorrow.
“We were robbed of the tradewinds this year, but driving these giant yachts around in four knots of wind is seriously challenging,” said Ed Danby, racing helmsman for Hyperion, winner in Les Elegantes for a second day in a row. (Danby’s class sailed 10.6 nautical miles, as did Les Gazelles, Les Mademoiselles, L’Esprit, Les Petites Dames, and Les Cent Pied, while Grande Dames sailed nine.) As if to prove his point, he described being lifted by wind under a cloud line; managing a velocity drop where the spinnaker went head-to-wind; and executing a “massive” 360 degree turn for a bear-away set at the last mark before the finish. “Adela was ahead of us at the first mark, sailing lower and faster, which was good for them, but then we got into gear and were off like a robber’s dog,” said Danby. (Adela finished 5 minutes, 25 seconds behind Hyperion.)
Vijonara, today’s winner in L’Esprit, also sorted through various hardships. “While the Grande Dames finished in relatively good wind, we had a park-up at the ‘H’ mark by the island,” said Tony Rey, Vijonara’s tactician. “Ten to twelve boats were within five lengths of each other in no wind at all. The radio chatter was epic, but all with best intentions, of course.” Superyacht Racing Rules dictate that vessels must always keep at least 40 meters of distance between them at all times, but Rey explained that the rules can’t anticipate what happens when a bunch of boats actually stop dead in the water. “It looked like a rally car race! We made a play, staying high against the island, and extended out, which made us look good, but in fact we were just a bit lucky.”
In all cases, today’s short courses were shortened then again by the Race Committee while racing was underway. Said Rey: “The fact that they squeezed in a race today at all…well…it’s the Race Committee that deserves a trophy for that.”
In Les Mademoiselles, Action rose from third overall yesterday to the top of the scoreboard today on merit of a first-place finish as well as scoring rules that decided a tiebreaker for the top three boats (Action, Aurelius, and Whisper), each with four points.
In overall standings for Les Gazelles, Velsheda leap-frogged Visione by winning today, leaving Visione in the runner-up position while Hummingbird still leads in Les Petites Dames; although, it finished second today behind Prevail.
Panthalasa posted another win in Les Grande Dames to lead as did V in Les Cent Pied.
Tomorrow’s boat calls will be somewhat earlier, as the Race Committee sees more opportunity for early-morning wind and has moved schedules up accordingly.
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