Stephens Waring Design sailed aboard their 91’ sailing yacht Bequia in the granddaddy of superyacht regattas, the St. Barth’s Bucket. This year’s edition of the popular Caribbean regatta was once again marked by idyllic sailing conditions, gorgeous island scenery, and the vast spectacle of some of the finest yachts in the world.
Stephens Waring-designed Bequia Yacht at the 2015 St. Barths Bucket – Photo by BeverlyFactorSailing.com
Superyacht Bequia is almost toy-like among these huge multi-decker sloops and ketches, yet the elegant and restrained design turns heads while standing proudly at the top of the heap that make up much of the superyacht fleet. However, this year there were several entrants about her own size to spice up the competition, including some decidedly racy additions to the fleet— superyacht Freya, a 91’ Swan, and luxury yacht Cape Arrow, a 100’ Southern Wind sloop, both sleek and slippery modern upwind machines.
Luxury sailing yacht Bequia – Photo by BeverlyFactorSailing.com
Day One featured the “Round the Island” race, a short beat up the southern side into 14-16 knots, followed by a bear-away to a jib reach then pop the kite for a long run to the western corner of the islets, culminating with a close reach to the finish. Bequia yacht is a witch on the reach and run, and the crew steam-rolled to the finish with a first in class—third in fleet.
Superyacht Bequia – Photo by BeverlyFactorSailing.com
Day Two was the “Not So Wiggley” course, winding around the starkly beautiful islands to the west of St. Barth’s, and again the crew pulled away on the reaches and runs, celebrating another first place finish. On the dock that night, it was rewarding to hear passing yachties call her, “by far the prettiest boat there.”
Luxury yacht Bequia – Photo by BeverlyFactorSailing.com
Day Three—the “Wrong Way Round”: features a long upwind leg in a sloppy sea, with little reaching and running. On a long, shallow keel and yawl rig, the light winds at 9 kts, Bequia superyacht wishes for more. In a pursuit-style race, the time handicaps are assigned at the start, with each yacht having its own start time—the first across the finish is the winner. The crew slugged it out for sixth place to place 2nd in class. Mounting the podium the second year in a row was a good feeling.
The St. Barth’s Bucket Regatta—the sailing can’t be beat, and the fleet’s astounding.
