This is only the s 5th edition of a race that has the potential to become a classic. For now it is an odd mixture of professional sailors, good amateurs...and charter racers in a beautiful setting and always with good wind.
On the big monohull category Bella Mente a 72-foot Mini Maxi designed by judel/vrolijk disputed line honors with the older but bigger Maxi Rambler, winning some races losing others...till it lost its mast. A Mills 69 (that won in compensated) made incredible races, never winning in real time but finishing always at few minutes from the 90ft Maxi Rambler.
On the next category, called SPI 0 all line honors and compensated wins went to two TP52, a Swiss one, Near Miss, raced by Franck Noël, owner/skipper and its international crew and a charted TP52 with a Portuguese skipper and crew (they use to race a Soto 40). The Swiss boat won more races and finish first. Third a very fast Ker 43.
On SPI 1 e 2 the boats were very different so no sense in making any comment. On SPI 3 there were not many boats but several modern performance cruisers. On real times line honors were all for a Grand Soleil 43, being the 2th almost always a J111, with a exception, where a Salona 44 took 2th in real time. In Compensated the order was the same.
On the Multihull class, the performance 65ft cruising trimaran Paradox won by far all line honors. In real time the next to arrive was sometimes a Gunboat 62 cat (two different ones), sometimes an old 40ft racing trimaran (K1). On compensated first a little SeaCart 26, next an also small Toro 34 and finally one of the Gunboats 62.
Some nice boats but as usually on these parts, mixed with many old boats and most of all not many boats in each class, even if their number is increasing every year. But they have made great movies ;-)
Les Voiles de St Barth 2014 filmed by a Drone. from Pigeon Vision on Vimeo.
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