Les Voiles de Saint Barth entry list grows and an extra day of racing adds to the competitiveness
by Maguelonne Turcat 4 Feb 2018 05:41 PST
8-14 April 2018
Les Voiles de Saint Barth © Christophe Jouany
Les Voiles de Saint-Barth has been a bucket list event for sailors since its inception in 2010, and for its ninth edition, scheduled April 8-14, 2018, the competition is already stacking up with top players, including U.S. maxi teams Rambler 88 and Proteus, both committed to compete. For the first time in the regatta's history, a fifth day of racing has also been added to the schedule.
"It's something we've been thinking about for a while now and after receiving positive feedback from competitors, we decided to go ahead and move forward with the plan," said Regatta Director François Tolède adding that the regatta will kick off on Sunday, April 8 and wrap up Saturday, April 14, with racing scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The official "Day Off" is scheduled for Thursday. "The extra day of racing will bring even more competitiveness and fun to the regatta, which we know is exactly what our participants are interested in!"
New Offshore Multihull Association Class Introduced
In addition to monohull and maxi teams, the regatta is known for its world-class multihull fleet, and this year introduces the new Offshore Multihull Association (OMA) Class. Launched to better manage the multihull races, the OMA Class will incorporate the new MultiRule rating and scoring system, which was developed to establish more fair ratings for the boats. Already four teams are signed up to race, including last year's Multihull Class winner Greg Slyngstad's Bieker 53 Fujin.
"This will be the sixth Les Voiles de Saint Barth for our crew from Seattle, Washington," said Slyngstad. "The beautiful scenery, great courses, along with the friendly organizers and awesome onshore festivities make this our favourite Caribbean regatta. The Fujin crew had an incredible time last year, and 2018 looks like an even greater turnout of multihulls, so we're super excited to line up and go again."
Free Concierge Service
Organizers are encouraging participants to utilize the event's free concierge service for assistance with everything from travel and on-site logistics to charter options and beyond.
"The trauma brought on by Hurricane Irma has been real on many levels, and we know that the ninth edition will certainly be different due to the circumstances, but the solidarity is very strong in Saint-Barth and we are recovering quickly," said Les Voiles de Saint-Barth Race Event Director Franc¸ois Tolede."By April we'll be ready to launch and ask that competitors contact us for assistance and any questions they may have."
For free concierge service, contact .