High Winds Force Cancellation of Bucket Finale

Hetairos Claims The Bucket Trophy

Today’s highly anticipated determining battle on the waters off St. Barths was not to be, as winds blew dogs off chains and organizers were forced to cancel the third and last day of Bucket racing. Thus, for 33 superyacht teams in nine classes, scores from yesterday have posted as final overall results for the event.

“It was disappointing not to have the last race, but it was the easiest decision I’ve made in my 18 years of doing this,” said Event Director Peter Craig. “The wind speed was in the high 20s with gusts of low-to-mid 30s. The sea state was getting increasingly worse at key turning marks, and it wasn’t going to get better until late afternoon”.

“The silver lining was that on Thursday we had a stand-alone race in which three quarters of the fleet participated. It was a real-world test of whether we should make the Bucket a four-day event in the future.”

Facing some of the stiffest competition here in the six-deep Les Gazelles des Mers class, defending champion Hetairos was awarded the Bucket Trophy, a coveted prize that the team also won in 2022. (She was also a class winner last year.)

Going into today, Hetairos was tied on point score with two fellow ketches: Maximus and Aquarius. The three turned in a photo finish on Saturday, with Maximus winning, and closely engaged again on Saturday, with Hetairos winning and ultimately leaving Maximus to take second overall in final overall scoring behind Hetairos, with Aquarius following in third.

“Being in a closely contested class with three ketches dominating and always tacking on each other, we were extremely happy,” said Hetairos tactician Cameron Appleton.  “It was superyacht racing at its finest.” Hetairos doesn’t come every year to the Bucket but it has many of the same people aboard when it does. “We have the confidence and trust in each other,” said Appleton, who has been with the program for 11 years and praised Captain Graham Newton, who is marking his final chapter with Hetairos here at the Bucket.

Perseus 3 (Les Grande Dames des Mers), Freya (Les Petites Dames), Onyx (L‘esprit de la Mers -1), and M5 (L‘Esprit de la Mers-2) all were in the same situation as Hetairos: tied on point scores for first place and needing to fight today to remain at the top of the scoreboard. As it turned out, they too won their classes after tiebreaker rules were applied.

Perseus 3 looked forward to sparring with Rosehearty again today after the two got close enough to match race with each other at the end of yesterday’s race. “That won’t be forgotten soon,” said Perseus 3 tactician Paul Cayard, “and it’s a great image for the competitive side of the Bucket…to see two 180 footers side by side in a duel like that.”

As for the cancellation, Cayard said, “On the one hand we came here to race, and I think it’s true for all teams that great effort and resources go into that. On the other hand, this is a unique regatta that has large boats with large loads, and it was prudent to put safety ahead of competition.”

Freya battled mostly with Hummingbird, trading places at the top of the scoreboard each day after posting slim margins between their finish times. “Hummingbird has had a lot of modifications made recently, so we are much closer now,” said Hummingbird tactician Kimo Worthington. “We would hold them off going upwind, and they would go by us downwind.” Worthington added that if Thursday’s optional race had counted toward the series score, Hummingbird would have prevailed in the series.

Among three Superyachts ending the regatta with a perfect score line was the sloop Whisper in Les Mademoiselles des Mers. Skippered by owner Hap Faith, Whisper has sailed here over a half dozen times and won its class last year.

“We were quite happy not to sail today; these boats can get unruly very quickly,” said Whisper‘s tactician Terry Hutchinson, offering his theory that there are a two parts to the racing at this event. “There’s setting up and protecting the asset of your own boat and then there’s sailing against the other boats.”

In Whisper’s four-boat class, Aurelius was the closest competitor, several minutes behind when it took second each day. “The last few days have been incredible,“ said Hutchinson, who also explained that while Whisper’s crew included a handful of professional sailors from owner Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente Racing Team, the team and racing here has a family feel to it. “Every part of the Whisper program has Hap Fauth’s signature touch.”

Geist and Adix also won both their races in Les Élégantes des Mers and Les Goélettes des Mers, respectively.

The latter class was added specifically to accommodate three majestic schooners that have never before competed in the Bucket. “It was a fantastic regatta with varied conditions,“ said Adix Captain Oliver Bell. ”We feel we are leaving a good mark, with the crew upholding over 40 years of Adix tradition.”

According to Bell, the idea for Adix and the “equally matched” Atlantic coming here was sparked in St. Tropez when they were last together. “It was tight racing, especially on the first day,” he said. “Atlantic is lighter and has more sail area to go faster than us on the downwind legs; we just have to crawl back at her on the upwind legs.”

This morning, Adix suggested a challenge race with Atlantic should the Race Committee cancel racing. Atlantic accepted, and so while others were putting their Superyachts away, the two schooners completed a seven-mile loop from the traditional starting area to and around Roche le Bouf and back. The two schooners made a striking appearance on the horizon and commanded new respect for their sailing ability as well as their beauty. When asked how difficult it was to race in the day’s extraordinary winds, Bell responded, “Our rig is versatile; we can choose which of nine sails to hoist. Still, we were hitting 15 knots downwind.”

The Maxi 100s in Les Cent Pieds, which ended up with a four-race series (two windward/leeward races on Thursday and two pursuit races over Friday and Saturday) had decided last night not to race today, leaving the regatta victory to V.

Tonight’s Final Awards Ceremony and Party at the Collectivite is sure to echo cheers across the harbor and the whole of Gustavia when class winners, the Bucket Trophy winner and individuals accepting special awards have their spotlight on stage.

Photographs by Martin Baum – Pantaenius.