Les Voiles de St. Barth Race Fleet dockside in Gustavia Harbour (Photo Credit: Tim Wright)
Les Voiles de St. Barth starts tomorrow and after two days of practice on the turquoise waters off St. Barths, Bella Mente Racing, led by owner/driver Hap Fauth, is ready to hit the starting line.
Although a majority of the team mark this year as the first time competing in the event, most of the sailors are not new to the Caribbean’s famed trade winds and rocky coasts, including team coach Tom “Tomac” McLaughlin who just competed in the St. Barths Bucket last month.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that are familiar with the terrain so we are feeling very comfortable,” said Tomac adding that Les Voiles de St. Barth is the first regatta this year where the team will be racing on coastal courses.
“We will use this event to learn as much as possible about this type of racing. Our expectations are quite high and this is a big stepping-stone to help us improve for other events this year that feature this these courses.”
As for the week’s competition in the Maxi Class Tomac added, “The two boats that we are going to focus the most on are Rambler and Caol Ila R; Rambler is the biggest boat in the fleet and a great benchmark for speed while Caol Ila R is closer in size to us and has a pretty good handicap.”
Pirate enjoying a birthday filled with french crepes and warm St. Barth wind
The rest of the week may be intense, but tonight the team is doing some celebrating with boat captain Peter “Pirate” Henderson who is celebrating his birthday today. “A birthday in St. Barths is tough to beat,” said Pirate who, in honor of the island’s French heritage, swapped birthday cake for a crepe this year. “Warm water, trade winds and racing on Bella Mente. There isn’t much more you could ask for.
Racing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 15 through Saturday, April 19 with a lay day on Thursday. The Race Committee has schedule 11 a.m. starts daily and aiming for one long coastal course per day. Tomorrow’s forecast is predicting sun and warm wind from 12 to 18 knots.
Throughout the week, Bella Mente Racing will be posting updates via Facebook and Twitter and blog posts nightly. For event coverage please visit http://www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com/site/ .
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