There was a better breeze today at the Les Voiles de St. Barth yacht race, with a layday for competitors tomorrow and a full day of activities planned at Nikki Beach. Racing continues on Friday, with two races planned and a first start at 11:00am.
The famous Sparkman & Stephens 1930 yawl, sailing yact Dorade, has proudly entered the 2012 Caribbean regatta season after a major restoration in the USA. She […]
- 2012 Les Voiles de St. Barth
- Baltic
- Baltic Yachts
- Bruce Farr
- Caribbean
- Classen Yachtbouw
- Farr Yacht Design
- FIREFLY
- Highland Breeze
- Les Voiles de Saint Barth
- Les Voiles de Saint-Barth 2012
- Les Voiles de St. Barth
- Nautor Swan
- Nautor’s Swan
- Nautors Swan
- Nilaya
- Rambler
- Reichel Pugh
- Reichel Pugh Yacht Design
- Reichel/Pugh
- Saint-Barth
- Sojana
The Les Voiles de Saint-Barth is getting ready for its third edition, held in April 2-7 in one of the most popular Caribbean yacht charter destinations – the Saint-Barth.
The preparations for the Les Voiles de Saint-Barth 2012 are underway.
With the extremely successful 2011 edition of the Les Voiles de St. Barth recently completed, the organizing team is already hard at work focusing on the third edition of this major Caribbean yachting event, Les Voiles St. Barth 2012. The dates of April 2 – 7, 2012 have officially been announced to competitors on the 48 boats that, this year, took advantage of idyllic conditions on the waters off St. Barth.
The Weather Gods blessed St. Barthélemy from April 5 – 9, taking care to offer more than 400 competitors from 20 nations and on 48 yachts a week of perfect Caribbean sailing during the Les Voiles de St. Barth. Dominating the conditions were trade wind breezes that ranged from 17 – 32 knots, a fairly gentle Atlantic swell, and blue skies. After four days of intense racing, the second edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth seems to have etched out a place in the growing list of “must do” Caribbean events.
As if to ensure that competitors had seen all the beaches and sights that St. Barth has to offer, race officers today sent the 48-boat Les Voiles de St. Barth fleet on its final circumnavigation counter-clockwise around the eight-square mile island: a 30-nautical mile course for the Maxis, and a 23-nautical mile course for the Racing, Racing Cruising, Classics, and Multihulls.
Following two spectacular days of racing punctuated by strong breezes sweeping across the Caribbean, the Les Voiles de St. Barth shifted into “lay day” gear today. Understandably, the approximately 400 owners, skippers and crew competing here — on 48 boats from 17 countries — wanted to make the most of their stay on St. Barth, so some took advantage of the rest, relaxation and entertainment (including a remote-control sailboat regatta) offered at Nikki Beach resort on St. Jean Bay while others went off packing to enjoy some of the wonders the island has to offer.
The warm tropical breeze and clear blue sky is not lost on the sailors here at Les Voiles de St. Barth – especially those from the colder climes of the U.S. where spring has not quite yet sprung. Even normally jaded professional sailors were waxing on about the conditions here. Today offered 15 – 16 knots of breeze and a much reduced sea from yesterday, when many boats returned to the quay to lick their wounds and effect repairs, which included torn sails, broken head foils, and damaged rigging.
The first day of racing at the 2nd edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth 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 of maxis, racing and cruising yachts, multi-hulls and classics – 48 confirmed on race day – 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.
The Carl Gustaf Hotel, high on the hill overlooking the main port of Gustavia, provided a great vantage point to watch the Les Voiles de St. Barth fleet slowly filling up the anchorage and quays in the main harbor of this idyllic French island. Boats continued to arrive throughout the day, while others took advantage of the day’s fresh easterly breeze to go through some crew manoeuvres and test sails.
There will be more than fifty of them: yachts of every size and class from all over the Caribbean, competing at Les Voiles de St. Barth. For the second year, the St. Barth Yacht Club and their partners have come up with a spectacular program for this international yachting event that runs from April 4 – 9. Some of the most notable yachts with their experienced crew will be on hand for a week of racing on the fantastic sailing waters of the Caribbean