The second edition of the Voiles de Saint Barth will take place between 4th and 9th April 2011. François Tolède and Luc Poupon, representing St. Barts Yacht Club, which organizes the event, have just confirmed the dates after talks with competitors and the event’s partners. Following on from a magnificent first edition last April, this major date on the Caribbean racing calendar is now well established, and the aim is to make it even bigger. The praise that was heaped on the event by sailors, skippers and owners at the end of the first edition boosted the confidence of the organizers in their format and led them to come up with these new dates. The invitation has been issued for all those, who enjoy fine yacht races. 


After the success of the first edition, St. Barts Yacht Club, François Tolède and Luc Poupon – who came up with this Voiles de Saint-Barth event – quickly took advantage of what they had learned from the first edition, which was organized last April in sailing conditions that were idyllic from every point of view. Sailors gathering from around the world fully enjoyed this full week of racing on a wide range of courses, which were extremely demanding and continued to impress throughout. St. Barts, its islands, trade winds, Atlantic rollers and tempestuous Caribbean seas charmed even the most experienced skippers. Whether we are talking about Peter Holmberg, Loïck Peyron or Ken Read, they all expressed the desire to return next year after these great moments of racing. The Voiles de Saint-Barth brought together around thirty magnificent yachts for this first edition. Classic yachts, Maxi-Yachts and Racer-Cruisers came from all around the Caribbean and the United States.


Set up to last


François Tolède intends to see this event grow steadily over the years. "We would like to see this event become a fixture on the calendar and one of the ‘must attend’ events for skippers and owners,” he explained. "We paid particular attention to taking care of the boats, setting up top quality races on the water and ensuring everyone enjoyed themselves back on the island. It would seem that everyone, racers, owners, spectators and partners were more than pleased with the event. We are looking forward to seeing even more boats here next time and maybe in 2011, we could see as many as sixty boats. The format of our races, with different courses set up each day around St. Barts, was something that the sailors were very keen on. The conditions turned out to be absolutely marvellous and certainly pleased the crews, who, at the end of the winter, were happy to encounter such a powerful trade wind in hot sunshine and on bracing seas. We proved to everyone that we have a lot of things on our side and the time of year in early April will become increasingly seen as the must attend date on the calendar by the owners of these elegant yachts."