Finish of first race, Ranger in foreground, Velsheda (background) in lead by less than 5 seconds. Photo by Jerome Chedeville.
St. Barths (March 17, 2022) –The St. Barths Bucket marked its 2022 return today with some eventful racing among three majestic J-Class boats: Hanuman, Ranger and Velsheda. The boats, comprising one of seven classes here, started their Bucket series a day prior to the balance of 24 superyachts and three 90-footers joining the competition, which is scheduled to continue tomorrow through Sunday.
In the first of two windward-leeward races (twice around), Ranger suffered a failure of its primary winch used for both jib and spinnaker pole trim. The mishap happened during the rounding of the last windward mark, hampering the team’s sailing; however, Velsheda also had its share of bad luck, shredding a spinnaker on a spreader in the middle of the first downwind leg. In the end, Hanuman sailed cleanly to cross the finish line first, leaving a dramatic photo finish to Velsheda and Ranger. (Velsheda crossed the finish line less than five seconds ahead of Ranger.)
“In the second race we crossed the starting line just in case another team might have problems and it would make a difference in our scoring,” said Ranger skipper Ed Baird, explaining that then, as predetermined, his team retired from the race due to the mechanical problem.
With just two boats left, the second race created its own drama when Hanuman, skippered by Ken Read, dropped its spinnaker “in the drink” and elicited a penalty from on-water judges while closely match racing Velsheda. “To be brutally honest, we got a little overly clever and forgot we were sailing a boat that’s 185 tons and 140 feet,” said Read. “Yeah, it was a bit of a mistake (getting in a tight spot with Velsheda), but we also got out of some tight spots. In match racing, you live by the sword, die by the sword – at the end of the day that’s how it works.”
Velsheda crossed the finish line first, with Hanuman apparently finishing second, but at press time, a rating system inquiry was being processed and final scores for both races were not available.
“The cool part of today is that the Bucket is back in a big way,” said Read, “and it’s cool that the J-Class boats could pull the curtain back on the event and show everyone some ridiculously amazing sailing!”
