Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille: Racing starts Monday

by Laura Muma 14 Apr 18:44 PDT14-20 April 2019

Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille 2019 © Christophe Jouany

After two days of registration, practice and final preparations, the 1,000 sailors in the 10th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille are now ready for racing, which begins tomorrow, Monday, April 15 at 12 pm EST.

The signature eastern trade winds are solidly established, promising to deliver 15 – 20 knot winds for a spectacular week of racing. Even before the first warning signal sounds tomorrow, some great on-water battles are shaping up across all nine classes: Maxi 1, Maxi 2, CSA 1, CSA 2, CSA 3, CSA 4 and CSA 5 (Caribbean Sailing Association), ORCmh (Offshore Multihull Association) and IMHRR (International Multihull Rating Rule).

“The week should be perfect,” said Pierre Casiraghi, this year’s ambassador who will also be at the helm of the Maxi 72 Sorcha, a boat he knows well from racing on her previously in Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “This is my first time on the island. The place is amazing and I cannot wait to start racing tomorrow, even though we unfortunately lost a big competitor yesterday, Bella Mente.”

Bella Mente was forced to withdraw from racing after the top two meters of its mast broke during practice on Friday. For Casiraghi, it’s a big loss. “I would have loved to measure myself against them and see how it turns out. But regardless, the fight in the Maxi 1 class promises to be very competitive!”

Another major competitor missing in action this year from the Maxi class is Proteus, the winner of the last two editions of the event. Unfortunately, they dismasted earlier this year in the Caribbean 600 RORC.

Defenders Return to Les Voiles

Across the other classes, four other defending champions return to fight for the 2019 crown: Christian Guyader’s Guyader Gastronomie; Stephen Cucchiaro’s Flow; Nelson Moore’s Windfall; and Claude Granel and Marc Emig’s Crédit Mutuel – SGS; in IMHRR, ORCmh, Maxi 2 and CSA, respectively.

“Having won in our class in 2018, we felt obliged to return to defend our title!” laughed Guyader. “We know, however, that it will not be easy because the bar is very high in multihulls, including many competitors having, like me, participated in the Route du Rhum.”

In fact, many of his former opponents of the famous transatlantic race will be at Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille such as Olmix, the winning boat at the Rhum Multi, who will have on board the very experienced Charlie Capelle; Jean-François Lilti’s L’Avocet; and Alain Delhumeau’s Rayon Vert.

“It’s going to be quite a fight,” promises Guyader. And this should be true in all classes: Raphael Magras’s Maëlia Caisse d’Epargne Cepac Antilles; Raymond Magras’s Speedy Nemo; Sergio Sagramoso’s Lazy Dog; Sir Peter Harrison’s Sojana, which is the largest yacht in the 10th edition at 115′; or Frits Bus’s Team Island Water World, which conversely is the smallest boat in the fleet at 24′.

There are also a multitude of “newcomers,” determined to upset the regulars, so it is anyone’s guess who may top the leaderboard next Saturday. No doubt the competition will be close, much to the delight of sailing fans and sailors who relish the perfect blend of tight racing around the beautiful backdrop of St. Barth, and the friendly camaraderie on shore, a signature blend from Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille’s beginning 10 years ago.

Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille 2019 – photo © Christophe Jouany 

In brief:

Five days of competition begins tomorrow, Monday, and continues Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday is the team favorite “Day Off”.

There will be six starts that include the nine classes, with the smaller boats beginning first.

CSA 5 will be the first start, followed by CSA 3 and 4; then CSA 1 and 2. Next up are Maxi 1 and Maxi 2; and finally the multihulls — ORCmh; and then IMHRR Multihulls.

For this 10th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth Richard Mille, Race Director Luc Poupon and Race Committee Chairman Jean Coadou have developed 26 possible courses for competitors (between 10 and 47 miles).

“For the first time we will be offering two start zones and two possible finish lines, in Gustavia and Saint-Jean, which will allow us to launch for some classes up to two races per day,” said Coadou.

Sixteen nationalities are represented in 2019 from Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom. The two most represented nations are France and the United States with 14 and 12 boats, respectively.

Quotes:

François Tolède, Director of the Organization:

“We are very proud to organize the 10th edition of the event. It has grown from year to year and is now fully established in the international landscape, known for the great sailing conditions. For this edition, we have once again have created an incredible benchmark to rise up to, and are looking forward to hosting an incredible event. Unfortunately, we have lost a few competitors due to technical issues, such as the Maxi 72 Bella Mente, but as we all know, that is sailboat racing. The 60 teams competing this week are extremely high quality and we are honored they will join us for this very special anniversary edition.”

Caroline Desrivas, Communication Manager for Richard Mille:

“We have been in the adventure for 10 years now, when we joined forces with François Tolède and Luc Poupon from the beginning. We are obviously delighted. The setting is extraordinary, and more and more boats come to participate in the event. It is always a very wonderful time to share with all the teams at each edition. At Richard Mille, we are partners of many very specialized events and we like to be at the beginning of a project, build it and see it grow. It’s really our logic of work within the brand and it’s clearly what we managed to do with Les Voiles organization. In addition, we are pleased that Pierre Casiraghi, one of our partners at Richard Mille, has agreed to be the sponsor of the competition. He is a very passionate sailor who is very involved in the world of offshore racing. It made sense for us to be able to link our partnership with Pierre with that of Les Voiles de St. Barth, an event that delivers the perfect blend of a very relaxed atmosphere on shore and great competition on the water.”

For more information visit www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com/us

An unfortunate circumstance today occurred while practicing on Bella Mente where the top 2 meters of the spar broke, forcing us to withdraw from Les Voiles de Saint Barth. We are taking the appropriate measures to learn why this happened. The crew are all safe. We look forward to sailing this summer in Europe.

Bella Mente Racing congratulates all of the competitors of the RORC Caribbean 600! We were disappointed to retire from the race, but we plan to be back racing in Saint Barth very soon! Congratulations to Wizard Racing!

22 Feb2019

Posted in News 2019

The 2019 RORC Caribbean 600 Prize Giving will be held tonight, Friday 22nd February and it is a special evening celebrating a premier race in the world yacht racing calendar. Hundreds of passionate corinthian sailors and the world’s top professionals will rub shoulders at Antigua Yacht Club. Victorious teams will take to the stage to receive acclaim for their efforts and to be presented with personalised souvenir decanters of English Harbour Rum!

David and Peter Askew’s Volvo 70 Wizard (USA) will pick up the overall winners trophy at tonight’s prizegiving © Arthur Daniel

The biggest cheer of the night will go to the overall winners, when David and Peter Askew’s Volvo 70 team racing Wizard (USA) will lift the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy for the best corrected time under IRC. John Gallagher’s Gunboat 62 team racing Chim Chim (USA) will receive the Multihull Prize for the best corrected time under MOCRA. Catherine Pourre’s Class40 Team racing Eärendil (FRA) will raise the Class40 Rum Barrel for the second time, winning the Class40 division which this year had a record entry.

John Gallagher’s Gunboat 62 team racing Chim Chim (USA) will receive the Multihull Prize for the best corrected time under MOCRA © RORC/Photoaction.com

IRC Zero accounted for the top three yachts overall under IRC. Wizard was first, with two British-based yachts filling the podium. Botin 52 Tala was second, with Ker 46 Lady Mariposa skippered by Nigel King, in third. Superyacht Nikata was the winner of the Superyacht Class, Will Apold (CAN) racing Southern Wind 96 Sorceress was runner up. In the IRC Two Handed division, Jeremi Jablonski, sailing with Marek Mirota on the Hanse 430 Avanti (USA) was the winner, with James Heald and Peter Doggart on the Swan 45 Nemesis (GBR) in second place.

Catherine Pourre’s Class40 Team racing Eärendil (FRA) will raise the Class40 Rum Barrel for the second time, winning the Class40 division © Tim Wright/Photoaction.com

Gibb Kane’s Swan 66 Bounty (USA), was victorious in IRC One, with Andrew Berdon’s Marten 49 Summer Storm (USA) in second and Pata Negra, chartered by Daniel Heine and skippered by Andy Liss (GBR) was third with a crew from Lake Constance, Germany.

IRC One winner – Gibb Kane’s Swan 66 Bounty (USA) © Tim Wright/Photoaction.com

“We are competing for the second time and in the last race we were leading overall going into Guadeloupe when the breeze shut down. This year it was the complete opposite; it was full-on beating into big waves and 25 knots,” commented Bounty’s Gibb Kane, winner of IRC One. “The crew work was spectacular; Pete Todd did a great job putting a skilled Bounty crew together and a special mention should go to our crew boss Mike Joubert and navigator Mark Wheeler. We did blow out two kites inside 15 minutes off St Barths, so for a while, the only soft sail we had was our Code Zero, but we were lucky that the angle was suitable for that. The guys were very ingenious, working round the clock. We used our Bounty belts to sew the head back onto the A3, but after a big puff it only lasted 12 minutes! The conditions were really good for Bounty and she is a very comfortable boat, but you still get some aches and pains when you are over 70! It was a fun race. We have sailed a lot together and we have had a lot of experiences where we didn’t quite win, so this race is very special.”

Ross Applebey’s Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster Tim Wright/Photoaction.com

IRC Two was won by Scarlet Oyster; this is the sixth class win for the Oyster 48 and the seventh for the Oyster 48’s skipper Ross Applebey (GBR). Scarlet Oyster was also the winner of CSA 2. Performance Yacht Racing’s Beneteau First 47.7 EH01 skippered by Andy Middleton was a close second. The battle for the class podium was won by Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 Liquid (ANT), skippered by Julian White (GBR), holding off a strong challenge from another Performance Yacht Racing entry, GS43 Quokka, skippered by Christian Reynolds (GBR).

“We had a pretty good tussle with Andy Middleton the whole way round and he has certainly raised his game. We have never sailed harder. I have been in my foul weather gear for most of the race. It is a tough race which is hard on the boat and crew. It was like we were tied together with a bit of bungee cord,” commented Ross Applebey, referring to second place EH01. “We were together right up until Guadeloupe and we both hit the beach. It was a bit frustrating getting becalmed for an hour or so; just 100 meters apart – it was very close. It was a rough big beat back from Redonda and the main split, so we put the trysail up and we were still surprisingly quick. We went inside Cades Reef at the end and I’m not sure if it was faster, but we did it anyway! It’s flatter water and it’s pretty, but I wouldn’t do it in the dark!”

IRC Three was won by Vicki and Jonty Layfield’s S&S Swan 48 Sleeper X (GBR/ANT). Trevor Middleton’s Sun Fast 3600 Black Sheep (GBR), skippered by Jake Carter (GBR) was second, and Constantin Claviez’s Swan 441 Charisma (GBR) was third.

British couple Jonty and Vicki Layfield are residents in Antigua and their crew is made up of friends and family who live and work in Antigua. This is the second time that the Layfields have won their class.

Jonty Layfield commented: “The crew were superb, a credit to themselves. It’s hard work on a boat like this; 16 tons and 50 years old – it’s not easy. We are a crew of friends and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The atmosphere on board is just fantastic and when you have problems, which you will get with a boat like this, you need people around you that will find the solutions. Our son Jack was lowered over the side with his lifejacket on to bung a leak coming from the anchor locker. We were pumping out the boat manually for the entire race! This was a tough one.”

“Every time I do this race, I say it will not happen again and whoever dreamt up the beat to the finish in 30 knots of wind, needs a good talking to!” smiled Vicki Layfield.

After CSA time correction, the overall winner of the CSA Division was Wizard, Franco Niggeler’s Cookson 50 Kuka 3 (SUI), skippered by Chuny Bermudez (ESP) second, and Todd Stuart’s Carkeek 47 White Rhino 2 (USA) was third.

RORC Racing Manager, Chris Stone confirmed that all of the 75 participating teams are accounted for: “Safety is the primary concern of the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the RORC Race Team has been monitoring the race 24 hours a day, and although we have reports of damage to yachts, we have received no reports of any serious injuries to any of 763 sailors during the race. The RORC recognise the time and effort put in by all of the teams in the RORC Caribbean 600 and look forward to welcoming them all to race with the Club again in the future. Also huge thanks to the huge number of volunteers who help with every aspect of the race finish here in Antigua.”
The 12th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 will start from Fort Charlotte on February 24, 2020.

Full Results

15 Feb2019

How to follow the 11th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 

Posted in News 2019

On Monday 18th February, all eyes will be on Antigua as around 80 boats from over 20 countries will start the challenging and tactical 600 nautical mile race around 11 Caribbean islands in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s RORC Caribbean 600.

There are plenty of ways to follow the progress of the fleet and to keep up to date with all the news:-

The new LIVE page will be updated throughout the race with blogs from competitors, photos, video, audio and much more http://caribbean600.rorc.org/Live/2019-rorc-caribbean-600-race-live.html

WATCH THE START- LIVE ON FACEBOOK: We plan to go Live on Monday 18 February 10.50 local time (14.50 UTC). Coverage with commentary from Fort Charlotte, Antigua will be streamed from the official website and the RORC Facebook Page. 
https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOceanRacingClub 

SOCIAL MEDIA: Keep in touch via RORC social media channels: #Caribbean600
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rorcracing/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOceanRacingClub
RORC YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RORCRacing – videos: Preview, start, first arrivals, winners & wrap-up + VNR available to broadcasters on request.
Twitter: Follow @rorcracing

TRACK THE FLEET: All yachts will carry a tracker so you can follow the progress of the whole fleet, particular class or individual boat: http://caribbean600.rorc.org/Race-Information/Tracking/
Plus, you can download the YB Races App.
PLAY THE VIRTUAL GAME:
If you’re not on the start line in Antigua, join the virtual race. Be prepared for some sleepless nights – it’s addictive! http://click.virtualregatta.com/?li=4865

IMAGES: Facebook albums will show a selection of images and you can also go to the RORC Photo Gallery to view folders. 
Gallery: http://gallery.rorc.org/v/2019/

SPECTATORS – WHERE TO WATCH THE START:
The start sequence begins at 1050. Note: A Warning Signal will be given 10 minutes before the Starting Signal

CLASS START TIMES: 
1100 IRC 2, IRC 3, CSA
1110 IRC 1 & Class40 
1120 IRC Zero & Superyacht
1130 Multihull

FROM ASHORE:
Yachts will be starting south of Fort Charlotte, Antigua on Monday 18 February. You can get a wonderful view from Fort Charlotte or Shirley Heights. The starting line is formed between an orange triangle on Fort Charlotte and an orange cylindrical Outer Distance Mark approximately 0.50nm south of Fort Charlotte. The Race Committee may adjust this position with reference to the wind direction on the day of the start. Fort Charlotte is at the eastern entrance to English Harbour above the Pillars of Hercules and below Shirley Heights. There’s also a chance to catch a glimpse of the boats leaving Falmouth Harbour from Pigeon Beach and the boats leaving English Harbour from Galleon Beach from 0930 onwards. Boats will be gathering in the start area from around 1000, so get there early to get the best view.

FROM THE WATER:
For those wishing to watch the race from the water, please note that there will be an Exclusion Zone around the starting area effective from 1030 to 1200 on Monday 18 February 2019. 
The safety of spectator vessels and competitors is paramount and therefore Marshal Boats displaying a white flag with a red “M” will be policing the exclusion zone as per the diagram below.

Tags: Press Release, Race Updates