Voiles de Saint-Barth 2010- A third day with lively conditions

by SeaClear Communications on 10 Apr 2010 'Whatever you do, don’t change anything. It’s perfect!' The American, Ken Read, tactician on board the maxi Rambler delighted to be the skipper in the Puma Ocean Racing project in the next Volvo Ocean Race, heaped praise on the Voiles de Saint-Barth, at the end of the third day of racing. A day marked once again by the presence of sunshine, a strong breeze and some wonderfully choppy seas.

There was one change and an important one in the list of pleasures drawn up each day by Luc Poupon and the race directors. The course for Friday, as on other days was modified to enable the 23 crews to spread out all around the island to get views of St. Barts and its isles and surrounding rocks. The easterly trade wind which blew at 20 knots or more throughout the day in the area allowed another coastal course to be set up, which was 19 miles long for the smaller boats and 30 miles for the Maxis.

Today this involved going half way around the island, starting from in between the luxury motor yachts off the Sugar Loaf, going right through the middle of the boiling waters in the channel between Goat Island and Frigate Island, before enjoying a downwind run towards Forked Island. The larger boats really enjoyed themselves once again and there were some wonderful battles between the leaders in each class, including during the particularly tough conditions windward of St. Barts. The duel continued between the two classic yachts, Donald Tofias’s Wild Horses' and the women on 'White Wings' who have remained close to each other throughout.

It was Faraday Rosenberg’s 100% female crew that went on to win in the end. In spite of the presence on board of the French sailors Lionel Péan, Jacques Vincent and Loïck Peyron and some reaching that will go down in history at speeds close to twenty knots, Peter Harrison’s Sojana, was not at ease during manoeuvres and particularly suffered sailing close to the wind, as she faced the overall champion, Rambler, who appears to be in a bit of a hurry and does not have ramblin’ on her mind!

With three races over for all of the classes since the start of the competition, the rankings are starting to look a little clearer. In the Racing Cruising group, a trio seems to have left the others way behind. The tiny difference in the number of points between the provisional leader, Robert Velasquez and his First 45 which is registered in the Dutch Antilles, and who has shown some real determination, and his nearest rivals, the local hero, Raymond Magras on his Dufour 34 'Speedy Nemo', and the Irish J 109, 'Pocket Rocket' belonging to David Cullen, means we can still speculate on the results at the top of the group.

Two yachts have managed to stand out in the Racing group and have been fighting a merciless duel throughout the varied courses that the race directors have chosen for them each day; James Dobbs and his J 122 'Lost Horizon' is clinging on to Patrick Demarchelier’s fast Swan 45 and has already won three times with her more advantageous rating. Their battle at each mark along the course resembles what you find in match racing at times and anything can still happen as far as final victory goes.

In another group, we can see a similar inseparable duo. In the Classic category, the two W 76 class boats, are putting on a show in the trade wind that has swept across St. Barts siince the start of the week. The two elegant sloops designed by Joel White remain glued together and their crews, (100% female on board 'White Wings'), are showing off their skills during manoeuvres and showing some tactical inspiration as they come to grips with the course, which is particularly technical around St. Barts.

At the halfway stage the advantage goes to Wild Horses, which completed yesterday’s race in amazing style under spinnaker to overwhelm the women, who are incredibly inspired and who had led most of the way. However, the ladies’ disappointment was only temporary and Faraday Rosenberg’s crew gained their revenge today by winning by just a few minutes. The two crews know each other well and the potential of the two beautiful boats inspired by the 12 metre boats of the fifties is similar...in a trade wind that just keeps blowing, and on seas that were particularly churned up today on parts of the course. We are probably going to have to wait until the final race to know the name of the winner in this spectacular group.

Rambler, Sojana and Moneypenny are putting on a great show in the super yacht category. They are all expressing a clear desire to win and once again it will all be down to the final race to know whether Sojana, the biggest and heaviest, will manage to over come her handicap under corrected time as she battles against the champion Rambler, the former Alfa Romeo, the boat that really scares them all from the Pacific to the Caribbean. Moneypenny tended to be left in the shadows early in the week, but today came in between the two giants.

Quotes from boats
Ken Read, Rambler:
"With what I’ve seen since the start of the week, I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll soon be attracting a thousand boats to this event! (Laughs). Seriously, the sailing conditions are quite simply fantastic, quite exceptional. St. Barts is now in my Top five favourite locations in the world for sailing! The island is magnificent, the race committee is doing a remarkable job and the sailing conditions go beyond my wildest dreams!"

"We are giving it our all here for Peter (Doriean). He would not have wanted anything different and his wife, Nikki insisted that we sailed in his honour. So our pleasure is rather tempered, but for us it’s a question of honour to give it 200% to win and honour Spike’s memory. His wife, Nikki will be here tomorrow. Sailing is the best way for us to overcome our emotions and to pay homage to the memory of our friend."

The only gaff rig taking part in this first edition of the Voiles de Saint-Barth was built close to St. Barts on the island of St. Kitts by Philip Walwyn, who had already built two 6 Metre boats in the eighties. Kate was launched in November 2006 and her first races were in Europe, in particular in the Solent. Kate offers the particularity of being built based on original plans from the master Alfred Mylne dating back to 1908.

Rankings after three races:
Classic division
1- Wild Horses, Donald Tofias
2- White wings, Faraday Rosenberg
3- Duende, Randy West

Racing division (RAC)
1- Lost Horizon, James Dobbs
2- Puffy, Patrick Demarchelier
3- Black Holes, Jeroen Hin...

Racing Cruising Division
1- L'espérance, Robert Velasquez
2- Speedy Nemo, Raymond Magras
3- Pocket Rocket, David Cullen

Super Yacht division
1- Rambler, George David
2- Sojana, Mark Fitzgerald
3- Moneypenny, James Schwartz

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