Voiles de St. Barth

So, the leaders at the end of the first four days of racing were ultimately declared the winners in each of the eight classes, including three from among the multihulls – of whom there were 19 in total!

“We suspected this was going to happen on the day,” explained Nicolas Ramis, one of Pierre Altier's crew aboard Cry Baby, winner in the Diam 24 OD category for the second year in a row. “It was a tough call but it was good that the race committee tried to run a race. For us, on the Diam 24 ODs, we didn't even make it to the first mark. The wind literally collapsed before we got to it. We found ourselves battling in just one knot of wind and even going backwards because it was so calm! But we were happy with the result! It's our third big win this season following the RORC Caribbean 600 and the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. Our friends aren’t too pleased though! The advantage we clearly have over our fellow competitors is the time spent on the boat. That makes a big difference because you can't reach certain speeds or certain settings without having sailed a lot,” according to the Martinique-based sailor, who literally got the better of everyone during the week, winning all five races in his class.

Coming in not far behind, the crew of the Multi 70 Zoulou, skippered by Erik Maris with Loïck Peyron as tactician, also made a big impression during the five-day competition off Saint-Barthélemy, only missing out on the first race to James Vos' Nagla. “Once again it was a real pleasure to be part of the Voiles de Saint-Barth Richard Mille. The event takes place on an amazing stretch of water that is truly ideal for racing. The courses set up by Luc Poupon were perfect. They forced us to be constantly trimming sails and getting pretty close to the shore. It's been brilliant,” said Loïck Peyron, who also won the CSA Multihull ranking and the Multihull Overall ranking. “Out on the water aboard Zoulou, we were a little short of competition, I must admit, even though some of our opponents, especially on the HH cats, put up a serious fight. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun being on the water and exploiting 100% of the trimaran's potential,” added the French skipper. For him and the others, they’ve already blocked the dates in their diary for the 2024 edition of the event, which runs from April 14 to 20!

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