Skipper says- "Crew Enjoyed Themselves Too Much"(St Barths, Caribbean)- What's the attraction of St Barths? The gorgeous French and Swedish women on the beaches looking every bit the part of their infamous Brazilian Ipanema Beach counterparts? Is it the amazingly steady trade winds and challenging sailing conditions? Or, is it the extraordinary geography and gastronomy? Most would say it's a potent, intoxicating combination of all the above. Really. What's not to like about this little jewel in the middle of the eastern Caribbean? No question some crews may enjoy themselves a wee bit too much. Why not?
While St. Barth is an island whose natural beauty you can enjoy, the chic French isle is also where one can find the highest level of gastronomy in the Caribbean. For one of the nights in the Race Village, there was a special event showcasing three famous chefs, Laurent Cantineaux (Le Bonito in St. Barth), Yann Vinsot (Hôtel Saint Barth île de France) and Jean Luc Grabowski (President of the “Goût et saveurs” gastronomy club), for an evening dedicated to food tastings and culinary demonstrations.
How did this all get created in the first place? In 1784, the island of St. Barth became a currency exchange-- particularly for slavers in the Triangle Trade and pirates looting the Spanish Main! Louis XVI decided to hand over what he owned in exchange for warehouse facilities in the port of Gothenburg, Sweden-- less risky. King Gustave III of Sweden, who really admired French culture, took possession of the 21 sq km of land in the middle of the Caribbean, and the island’s fortunes changed for the good. The monarch did all he could to make the most of his purchase, beginning with setting up a "free port" and building up a town around the harbour. Between 1786 and 1787, the port changed its name from “Le Carénage” to Gustavia to pay homage to King Gustave III. As a "free port" for anyone-- come one, come all-- St. Barth was a trade and supply center during the 18th century for much of the Caribbean, beginning a mercantile tradition that has lasted to the present day. While Sweden sold the island back to France in 1878, its influence on the island is still seen through street names, the presence of Sweden’s national arms in the island’s coat of arms.
This year, the fleet continued to grow. The forty-eight boats that assembled in Gustavia's anchorage for the start of the second edition of Les Voiles de St Barths regatta could not have been blessed with nicer weather conditions. The first day of racing dawned with 25 knots of tropical tradewind breeze and showers sweeping over the picturesque French island located midway down the Caribbean chain. The regatta’s fleet set off on a race course around the nearby archipelago, and met with plenty of wind and bumpy seas, especially on the islands’ exposed eastern side. You certainly couldn’t have asked for a prettier race course, which sent fleets on courses of 16, 22, or 25nm around pretty little islets. Most intriguing was the trip around the northern tip of St. Barth and through the nearby archipelago, which in a typically French way makes one ready for a meal with names such as Ile Chevreau (baby goat), Ile Fregate (bird), Ile le Boulanger (the baker), Ile Fourchue (fork), Grouper et Petite Groupers (fish), Le Boeuf (beef), and Le Pain du Sucre (sugarloaf).
By the second day, the weather offered 15 - 16 knots of breeze and a much reduced sea from the day before, when many boats returned to the quay to lick their wounds and effect repairs, which included torn sails, broken head foils, and damaged rigging. At all four race starts, the groupings were much tighter as crews ramped up their performances and rivalries reared their heads, especially in the hard fought Racing Cruising Class that included Jim Dobb's J/122 LOST HORIZON. As the largest at Les Voiles with 24 entries, Racing Cruising was again sent on a 16 nautical mile course, which was much less punishing than the opening race.
After lazy Thursday lay-day, the trade wind fan was still on – set at medium-high – with an 18 knot east-southeast breeze, and a gentle swell. In the Racing Cruising class, one competitor commented on the J/122 LOST HORIZON owned by Jim Dobbs (Antigua, W.I.)- “He’s really quick, so we have to look at him, too. So our strategy today is as fast as we can push it. Have a good start is always important too, get away quickly, and get a good wind shift on the shore of the island.” He was right, as LOST HORIZON went on to “correct out” first for the day. The J/122 has been inching up the leader board all week, and their victory moved them up into second overall with a record of 4-3-1.
As if to ensure that competitors had seen all the beaches and sights that St. Barth has to offer, race officers today sent the fleet on its final circumnavigation counter-clockwise around the eight-square mile island: a 23-nautical mile course for the Racing Cruising group. In the morning, rain clouds scudded over the island, which by the 1100 start time caused some impressive shifts in wind direction and velocity on the right side of the race course. Once around the southern end of the island, the boats were into a 17 knot east-southeasterly with a three-foot sea. While it qualified as the lightest wind speeds for the week, it still ranked as great sailing conditions.
One sailor described the somewhat tricky conditions, saying, “It was lighter today – well, 17 knots – so lighter for St Barth. We had a 40-degree wind shift in the rain shadow on the west side, and the breeze dropped to nine knots at one point. Then on the windward side there were some pretty big waves". In Racing Cruising, there were a handful of boats in contention for first overall going into the last race, including the J/122 LOST HORIZON. In the end, while Jim and crew on LOST HORIZON had been on a roll, moving up the rankings through the week, they were stopped just short of a win, correcting out today three minutes back to finish the week in second overall. Jim was overheard saying, "well, the food was great, the beaches gorgeous, the women prettier and the crew loved it, so everyone wins!" Who can blame him. As the competing yachts crossed the finish line they were greeted by a tender manned with Les Voiles de St. Barth officials, who presented each of the crews with a bottle of Taittinger Champagne – and thus putting a final French touch on a ritual that in other parts of the world involves iced cold beer. Who's going next year? The whole J/Boats office will be run from there for a week! For more Les Voile de St. Barths sailing information.
The final day of racing was a strange, squally day where it rained early and often— and in many divisions, both skill and luck, sometimes in heavy doses, played a major role in the final results. The last race was an extremely taxing point-to-point race from Marigot to Simpson Bay. Every edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta takes on its own personality, and Number 31 in the annual series will be remembered as a largely light-air affair. Ironically, it’s been a very windy winter on the idyllic Caribbean isle, but for the most part this weekend, the usually reliable trade winds were fitful and elusive, and racing was conducted in breeze of ten knots or less. In nearly every class, those sailors adept at eking out every last tenth of a knot of boat speed; sniffing out every last zephyr, no matter how gentle or transitory; and capitalizing on the constantly shifting breeze, particularly in the wake of passing squalls, were the ones who topped the podium in their respective divisions. Yes, there was a bit of everything: gusts, lulls, showers, shifts. From a spectator’s point of view, it was also highly entertaining and at times almost unbelievable. For instance, it’s not every day you see an Air France Boeing 747 airliner alter course while approaching a runway— like one did in the afternoon— to avoid a 77-foot Swan (in this instance, Fred Smithers’ La Forza Del Destino) coursing through the water under spinnaker in front of the runway along the beach!
Due to the unstable conditions, it was remarkable that the race committee managed to get action started precisely on schedule the last morning at 10:30 a.m. All classes got rolling, but were not moving terribly fast down the course. In the wake of a grey squall with east-southeast winds registering a mere 4 or 5 knots, the fleet moved slowly on. Then the breeze died altogether-- and not for the first time. When the breeze swung into the east-northeast approximately a half-hour later in the 5-7 knot range action again resumed in the CSA racing classes. Once again, there were many opportunities to gain and lose places. Then came the second squall. At the front of the pack, as the leaders closed in on a turning mark off Basse Terre, the fleet ran completely out of wind. Meanwhile, the fresh breeze filling in from the northeast, though not particularly strongly, allowed the trailing boats to close in on the front-runners as they wallowed in a windless hole. It was like pushing a reset button-- the classic "fleet compression puff"! Off Basse Terre, a new race began giving some tail-enders a new lease on life and forever frustrating the original race leaders. As the boats rolled down the south coast of St. Maarten, they did so in exceedingly unbalanced breeze. Some boats managed to fly kites for a time while others resorted to jibs and genoas. A third squall at the second-to-last mark before the finish brought fresh breeze and it seemed as if the entire fleet converged together at the same time. Meanwhile, the boats that avoided problems close reached to the final turning mark and then hoisted spinnakers one last time before crossing the finish line off Simpson Bay. It had been one memorable race.