Friday, April 29, 2016

J/Sailors Cruise Les Voiles de St Barth

J/111 JBoss at Voiles de St Barth (Gustavia Harbour, St Barths)- From the 11th to 16th April, the beautiful French island of St Barths played host for the 7th edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth.  This year’s event was notable for what it lacked, namely plenty of wind!  Unusual conditions prevailed for the sailors as much lighter winds than forecast jinxed the fleet, making for an exasperating week of sailing for most boats.  One day was even canceled due to no wind!  While the beach parties raged, other prayed for breeze to round out the week, but it never happened.

J/105 sailing Voiles de St BarthIn CSA 3, Eddy Chalono’s J/111 J-BOSS from Martinique managed to post a strong comeback after taking an 8th place in their first race, sailing fast & furious to post two deuces and take the bronze in class.  Similarly, the J/120 JAGUAR sailed by Vladimir Kulichenko from Moscow, Russia also had a slow start in race 1 with a 9th, but came back with a 3-5 to finish a respectable 6th overall on a tie-breaker over Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID team from Antigua.

Like their classmates in CSA 3, the J/109 POCKET ROCKET skippered by David Cullen from St Barths/ Ireland took 4th in CSA 4 class with a scoreline that showed improvement every race.  Peter Lewis’ J/105 WHISTLER from Barbados sailed consistently to take 6th in class.   For more Les Voiles St Barth Regatta sailing information