Caribbean Center of Sailing World this Week

Windguru.com calls for 15-20 knots of wind and relatively flat tradewind seas for two major regattas next week.

The younger of the two is Les Voiles de St. Barth, which, just five years after it was started by local friends Toto and Lucky, has become a world-class regatta that has attracted a spectacular fleet of 80-some boats. It will, for example, be the Northern Hemisphere debut of Comanche, Jim Clark’s $25 million 100-ft red and black monster.

Crewman Joe Fanelli of San Diego tells us that it was very difficult keep the boat from doing 15-22 knots during the 5.5-day delivery from Charleston to St. Barth. “We just couldn’t slow her down, even with two reefs in the main and just a storm jib.” While it was a fast trip, it was also very hard on the 10-man crew, what with the speed, the bouncing around, the tremendous noise, and everything being super-sized. And mind you, Comanche’s crew is as hardcore as they come, although their regular navigator, Stan Honey, won’t be aboard for this regatta.

One of the monohulls that will be giving Comanche a run for her money will be George David’s similarly brand new Rambler 88, which replaces his Rambler 92 and Rambler 100. Some sailors think 88 has the advantage because she’s more manageable. Four races should tell. After the regatta both boats will be doing the Transatlantic Race, the Fastnet and the Middle Sea Race, and Rambler — and maybe Comanche — will then head to Australia for the Sydney Hobart.

Les Voiles will also mark the debut of Peter Johnstone’s foiling Gunboat G4 catamaran. After just a few days in the water, she was planing at 30+ knots. Johnstone says they can’t wait to take on Comanche. But the G4 will be pressed by Lloyd Thornburg’s almost new-to-him MOD70 Phaedo3, which recently hit over 40 knots, although she can’t point as high as the foiler. It will be interesting to see who wins the speed-versus-pointing battle.

It hasn’t hurt the popularity of the event that it’s held at ‘the St. Tropez of the Caribbean’. Think beautiful women, French food, clean, crime-free, and the highest per capita consumption of champagne in the world — but not necessarily in that order. One of the fun sideshows of Les Voiles should be the lay day, when Jim Clark will presumably have his three yachts — the 292-ft Athena, the 130-ft J Class Hanuman, and the 100-ft Comanche — pose under sail for a group photo. Has anybody ever had a sailing fleet to match his?

Next week’s other regatta is the soulful Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, which has attracted 35 Classic or Spirit of Tradition yachts for four races and a special singlehanded race. It’s not an all-time great year for the Classic, but it will still feature entries such as the 157-ft Chronos, the 154-ft Frers Rebecca, the 136-ft Herreshoff schooner Elena of London, the 130-ft Burgess J-Boat Rainbow, and a host of great smaller boats. Missing this year will be the Clark 64 Lone Fox that took overall Classic honors twice in the last four years. Owner Ira Epstein, who for many years lived in Bolinas while working as a stockbroker in the Financial District, is living back in the States.