Ready to launch: The 12th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille begins tomorrow
by Laura Muma 16 Apr 2023 18:30 PDT
April 16-22, 2023
Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille © Sharon Green
On the eve of the 12th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille, a fresh mix of newcomers like Roy P. Disney and Pyewacket, and famous French multihull sailor Loïc Escoffier on LodiGroup, join a slew of defending champions. All are in anticipation of a spectacular week of racing and aprés-sailing fun at Les Voiles signature race village in the heart of the Port of Gustavia.
Returning multihull class winner, Kent Haeger's Gunboat 62 Mach Schnell, has his work cut out this year, racing in the largest multihull fleet (14) in the regatta's history. In total, four returning class winners are set to race this year: Jim Madden's Stark Raving Mad IX, a Carkeek 47; Sergio Sargamasso's Melges 32 Lazy Dog; and Bernie Girod's Pata Negra, a Lombard 46.
Peter Isler, the five-time America's Cup competitor and twice winner, is racing as navigator on Disney's modified Volvo 70 Pyewacket. They'll line up against fellow first-timer, the Volvo 70 HYPR Racing skippered by Jens Lindner, and the guest crew composed of sailors from the Sopot (Poland) Yacht Club.
"Les Voiles will be the first time that Pyewacket has done short-course racing on this boat," said Isler. "Obviously the Volvo 70 is designed to cross oceans and now we are about to go send this ocean racing greyhound around really short courses."
As they look to the week ahead, he joked that, "We have just a "few" things to focus on: do all our maneuvers, sail the shortest distance, make sure the navigator (Isler) doesn't hit any rocks while cutting all the corners, and that the crew makes all the gear shifts while making all the course changes. It will be really hard, but really fun."
In the largest multihull turnout ever for the regatta, Loïc Escoffier is impatient to get racing tomorrow. "This is my first time at Les Voiles de Saint-Barth Richard Mille and the first time that I have come to Saint-Barthélemy," he said.
"This place is magnificent, as are the organization and the conditions, and the body of water is simply incredible. The boat has been in the West Indies since I finished the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe. I'm looking forward to starting with 14 multihulls on the line, including good friends against whom it's always fun to compete. On board Lodigroup, we are all competitors and we are here to win!"
François Tolède, event director, is pleased to welcome all the competitors to this year's edition. "Clearly, Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille has a great international presence with more than 14 countries represented," he said. "Everything is ready for this 12th edition and the conditions should be quite nice, between 12 and 15 knots throughout the week," said Tolède.
He attributes the smaller maxi boat turnout to the America's Cup training, as many of the maxi crews are fully engaged in their Cup team programs, but emphasizes the high level of talent joining this year's edition across all the classes. "We welcome many renowned sailors such as Loïc Escoffier, plus Americans Peter Isler, Jonathan McKee and many more."
Five days of racing are ahead, beginning Monday through Saturday. Thursday, as per Les Voiles tradition is the Signature Day off and beach party.