Mark your calendar for the 2026 St Barths Bucket: 12–15 March 2026

2025 St Barths Bucket

Preliminary 2025 Bucket Class Breaks (pdf)

Updated posting 12 March 2025 (Previous update 7 March 2025)

The 12 March update includes revised declarations and reflects Adela moving from class G to class C, and Burrasca moving from class E to Class G.

Comments from the Race Chairman…

I ask that participating yacht owners, captains and afterguard members assess the class breaks in the context of the facts and considerations presented in this letter. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments, but ask that only the yacht owner’s designated representative contact us with any feedback, questions, or concerns.

BACKGROUND

We recognize that getting class breaks ‘right’ can be as important to good competition as proper handicapping. These preliminary class breaks are published after considerable analysis and dialogue with our race managers, the SYRA and ORC. There are many factors considered when determining class breaks including, but not limited to, Rig Type, Ratings, Displacement/Length Ratio (DLR), Sail Area/Displacement Ratios, Furling Jibs when Tacking, etc. But there are also limiting factors from the race management standpoint, such as practical class size, the number and type of yachts entered, and rating bands.

Based on feedback from participating owners, one of our goals with superyacht racing is to group yachts with relatively similar sailing characteristics together – that is, to have yachts which perform in a similar fashion in a variety of different conditions compete in the same class. This is difficult to achieve in some instances given composition of the fleet and how disparate superyachts are, and this year has proven more difficult than any fleet in recent memory. The classes are smaller than we would like, but larger class options featured very dissimilar sailing characteristics.

Assigning classes based solely on ratings would be a simple task, look tidy on the scratch sheet and result in tighter rating bands, but this rarely provides the quality competition that superyacht owners desire.

2025 FACTS and CONSIDERATIONS

In any given year there are unique considerations and limitations regarding class breaks and 2025 is no exception:

• Once again, we have a fairly large, diverse fleet of sloops, ketches, and schooners with yacht length ranging from 28-56 meters, displacement between 52-524 metric tons, and a speed differential from the fastest to slowest rated yacht in fleet of over 4 minutes per mile.
• There are 26 yachts divided into four ‘conventional’ Bucket cruising superyacht classes, one non-spinnaker Corinthian Spirit class, a 90’ class, a 100’ Racing Class (scored under IRC) and a combined racing/cruising yacht Open Performance class.
• The ‘Open Performance class’ combines the faster rated racing and cruising superyachts to be scored separately under ORCsy with their own subclass trophies.
• 2025 Bucket fleet classes:

• Class A (Cent Pied) Two Wally Cento yachts debuting at the Bucket with the 100’ Racing Class. These are two of the fastest racing yachts in fleet. They will have two W/L races on Thursday before joining the fleet for coastal/island racing Friday-Sunday.
• Class B (Gazelles) Three performance oriented sloops with some of the faster ratings in fleet. The measurement values of the J class yacht are unique and dissimilar to any class of yachts in this fleet.
• Class C (Elegantes) Four sloops and a schooner — large yachts with high displacement and similar long length.
• Class D (Petites Dames) These four sloops in the 90’ class feature an extremely tight rating band of approximately 20 secs/mile and very similar measurement values across the board.
• Class E (L’Esprit) This class features five non-spinnaker Corinthian Spirit class entries. All five are relatively light displacement sloops with on LOA of approximately 30 metres. Three of the five yachts in class are racing with headsails set flying (not spinnakers). The Corinthian Spirit Class rules (NOR_Exhibit_2_Corinthian-Spirit-Class-Rules.pdf ) provide an overview of the racing philosophy and eligibility criteria.
• Class F (Les Mademoiselles) This 4-yacht class features sloops with similar LOA, waterline length, DLR and upwind and downwind sail area/displacement ratios.
• Class G (Les Grande Dames) This class consists of three of the largest yachts in fleet. All are Perini Navi yachts with a relatively tight rating band of 30 seconds/mile.
• Class O (Performances Ouvertes) This ‘open performance class’ is comprised of the two 100’ racing yachts in Class A and the three cruising superyachts in class B. Cruising yachts as defined by the SYRA Cruising-Superyacht-Definition.pdf ), contributes to be the eligibility criteria for Bucket class racing. This combined racing/cruising class will have separate subclass trophies and will be scored under the ORCsy rule.

In keeping with Bucket tradition, the 2025 regatta will feature the popular pursuit racing format from Friday-Sunday with a focus on class racing. Individual start times will be structured such that each yacht in class hypothetically finishes together (as opposed to the entire fleet), with class finishes staggered for safe racing purposes (the class finishing gaps will depend on course length, wind strength and class composition). This practice has not only proved effective for safe racing, but also for fair racing as well, to some extent lessening interaction of yachts competing in other classes.

As stated earlier, I welcome your comments and feedback, but please respond in a timely manner. Any submissions provided just prior to racing on site are unlikely to be addressed. We ask that captains please share this letter and the accompanying class break worksheet with your yacht owners and afterguard members before they get on site.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon and to the prospects of another year of competitive, enjoyable Bucket racing!

Peter Craig
Race Chairman

Preliminary 2025 Class Breaks Letter (pdf)