RORC Transatlantic Race Bound for Grenada Grenada has been chosen by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) as the destination for the finish of its new 2,800-nautical-mile race across the Atlantic. The Grenada Tourism Authority and Camper & Nicholsons Marinas will host the first edition of the race, which will start in the Canary Islands on November 29th from Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. Camper & Nicholsons Marinas are supporting the race by giving all finishers free berthing after arrival and discounted berthing for those who wish to stay for an extended period. The boats will be berthed in Port Louis Marina in St George’s, the island’s capital. —Continued on page 36
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Opti Regatta, Clinic & Team Race in St. Thomas The 2014 International Optimist Regatta, Sea Star Clinic and Sea Star Team Race will take place in St.
Caribbean sailors to get valuable experience on a crowded start line and for visiting sailors from colder climates to tune up for summer national and continental championships. More than 100 eight- to 15-year-old junior sailors are expected to attend this St. Thomas Yacht Club and Virgin Island Sailing Association hosted regatta, sanctioned by the Caribbean Sailing Association. Register now at www.regattanetwork.com. For the Notice of Regatta, Registration Forms, information on hotel discounts, etcetera, visit www.styc.net.
CARIBBEAN COMPASS
ON THE HORIZON…
Thomas from June 16th to 22nd. Three clinic days, team racing and three race days for beginner and advanced sailors alike makes this one of the most instructive and competitive junior sailing regattas in the region. Plus, it’s a great way for
MAY 2014
Perhaps most dramatically, the 45-metre Perini Navi sloop Clan VIII finished a mere five seconds ahead of another Perini Navi, the 58-metre ketch Seahawk, in Grandes Dames class, preventing Seahawk from snatching victory overall and allowing the 29-metre S&S sloop Altair to slip in and take the top spot on the scoreboard. “If it had been the other way around and we had finished ahead of Clan VIII by five seconds, we would’ve won the class,’ said Seahawk’s captain, Robert “Johnno” Jonstone, who called it a rollercoaster day: “So exciting, but so draining.” Right at the start, his team’s giant spinnaker, with over 1,000 square metres of sail cloth, filled before it got to the lock at the top of the mast, and the halyard broke. “We crossed the line dragging it in the water,” said Jonstone, “but we pulled it out and wooled it up; then while sailing on the back side of the island, we sent someone up the rig to sort things and change the lock over — it was an amazing effort.” The Seahawk team then mustered the confidence to hoist the spinnaker again on the relatively short downwind stretch to the finish line, but bad luck was still riding with them. “We had 500 metres to go to the finish, and when the halyard went up it wouldn’t jam in the lock.” Clan VIII and Seahawk crossed the finish line in third and fourth, with yet another Perini Navi, the 50-metre ketch Silencio, and Altair taking first and second, respectively. In final cumulative scoring, Altair was one point ahead of Seahawk, with Silencio falling into third and Clan VIII finishing sixth. The 54-metre Vitters-built ketch Marie also had a tan-
talizingly close finish with Royal Huisman’s 34-metre Unfurled and the 30-metre Swan sloop Varsovie to win the Elegantes Class and, in addition, overall honors, based on turning in the best cumulative score (6 points on the merit of a 1-3-2 scoreline) from among all classes. “We had to win today, or if Varsovie won (which she did), we had to at least beat Unfurled,” said Peter Wilson, who managed Marie’s build and served as her safety officer here. Marie finished second to Varsovie, and Unfurled finished third, close enough to Marie that when Wilson was asked how far she was behind, he laughed and said, “40.1 metres!” It is 40 meters that must be left between these superyachts at all times while racing in order to ensure that no collisions occur, and it is because of this international superyacht rule that safety officers have great say in all decisions made by their afterguards. Wilson said decisions had to be made quickly, especially on the back side of the island where the wind got very shifty. “We got in the traffic of the Perinis and that was an enormous part of our strategic plan for what happened next,” said Wilson, explaining that his team helped force Unfurled into the bad air of the 54-metre Perini Navi ketch Parsifal III, which caused Unfurled to have to jibe away and lose precious time. The 34-metre RP sloop Nilaya finished fourth on Day Three in the Gazelles class, and that performance, combined with two second-place finishes from the Friday’s and Saturday’s racing, was strong enough to give her class victory. The largest yacht here at 66.7 metres (216 feet), Hetairos, won the last day’s race, with the 45-metre RP sloop Visione taking second, landing the latter yacht in runner-up position overall. For Mademoiselles Class, it was the 27.5-metre Stephens yawl Bequia that made the power play to knock Moonbird from her first-place perch secured the day before. Again, it was down to the wire at the finish, with the Alloy Yacht Blue Too, Bequia, Moonbird and Sarafin, in that order, finishing within five minutes of one another. “The take-away is that I don’t know if there has ever been a better-weather Bucket than this,” said Event Director and Race Chairman Peter Craig. “It was 15 to 20 knots, moderate-to-upper-end for three days, which was challenging for sailors and fabulous for spectators. Sailing to the superyacht rule can be a burden to get used to, but the level to which everyone sailed... you’d think you were at a conventional regatta.” For full results visit bucketregattas.com/stbarths.
DEAN BARNES
—Continued from previous page St. Barths Bucket 2014: A Nailbiter Finish Finishes at the St. Barths Bucket 2014 were extra close on March 30th and decided some class wins by mere seconds. The final day of the three-day series presented winds that again enabled a quick pace around the race course, this time in a “wrong way” (clockwise direction) around the island that measured 24.5 nautical miles for the Gazelles and Elegantes Classes and 21 for the Grandes Dames and Mademoiselles.