LES VOILES DE ST-BARTHS

ers did not send the Maxi class on the quest to break the Richard Mille Record Trophy. The 47-mile course is set between the islands of Saint Barth and Tintamarre, and the current record holder is Rambler 88 led by George David (3 hours 01 minutes and 58 seconds).

The Swan 50 OD Balthazar cleanly swept the CSA 1 class and according to Navigator Bouwe Bekking, “Everything went our way, and the owner [Filip Balcaen] did a fantastic job driving the bus.

“It was just a week that we couldn’t do anything wrong. We had good starts and were always leading at the top mark. It was great racing against Stark Raving Mad IX, because they go a little faster, but I think we were a little bit luckier than they were. Hats off to Final Final as well; they were really pushing at the starts. Overall, just a really enjoyable week.”

First-time competitor Steve Rigby of El Ocaso J/122 had earned enough credit early in the week so that the tail end of two third-place finishes wasn’t severe enough to knock them off the top of the CSA 2 podium.

“We had a great start with three first wins, and a little bit trickier on races four and five,” said the British skipper, who chartered El Ocaso for the event. “It felt good today that we had a great start and were in good shape to hopefully win the race, until they abandoned it due to lack of wind.”

CSA

Winning the CSA 3 class by one point, Sergio Sagramoso’s Melges 32 Lazy Dog had a great week competing against the Melges 24 Team Island Water World and the Cape 31. “We’re very happy with our performance,” said the skipper from Puerto Rico. “It was tough to compete against a boat you have to give so much time, but on the other hand it really pushed us. And because of the distance between us, many times we would have very different wind conditions.

“Like yesterday, when we finished the race there was hardly any wind. Then we look up the course and see Frits and the Melges 24 barreling down to the finish line because of the squall, and he beat us by 15 seconds. We feel very good about this win, especially because when we started the race today we were very far ahead and