Discover the charm of the St. Barths Bucket Regatta, a unique competition that draws superyacht skippers from around the world. The Bucket Regatta returns to the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Barths this March 21-24, 2024.
There’s something charming about a prestigious competition that awards its winner a humble token of victory. In Britain, they have the Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize to identify the year’s best pop single—the winning artist is presented with a £20 note. There’s also the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction, which honors the selected writer by naming a prize pig after their novel.
On the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Barths, there’s an annual contest on the high seas to see which superyacht skipper becomes the proud owner of a scratched-up wine bucket mounted on a plain wooden base.
The Bucket Regatta
The sailing regatta in question, and its trophy, are known worldwide as the St. Barths Bucket. The race will make its triumphant return March 21-24, 2024.
During race weeks, the pace of island social activity picks up dramatically—only during New Year’s is the revelry as feverish. By day, there are race-viewing parties at virtually any establishment with ocean views. Come nightfall, après-sail Bucket parties are held at private villas and local restaurants up and down the shorelines.
The Event
For anyone wondering about participating in upcoming years’ events, the Bucket Regatta is an invitational event for cruising yachts at least 30.5 meters long, stem to stern. Its center of activities is Gustavia Harbor on the V-shaped island’s western end, not far from Gustaf III Airport. As a spectator, you can feel intimately attached to the bucket regatta through the simple act of chartering one of the entered boats. Generally, the yachts in this racing class will sleep between six and 10 guests with separate crew accommodations; they’re designed for comfort as well as speed.
The race has an inspiring pedigree, descended as it is from an original Bucket Regatta held off Nantucket, Massachusetts during the 1980s and ’90s. That tradition sprang to life one summer day following an evening of verbal jousting among yachtsmen who had come to the island for a birthday celebration. With no time to fuss about details, they approved their host’s offer of a steel champagne bucket and deemed it just the thing to bestow upon the first boat to finish. So, yes—it’s all about the camaraderie of competition, not some whopping cash prize or massive silver chalice. The sailors who make the St. Barths Bucket invite list are those deemed most likely to appreciate the competition’s down-to-earth nature.
A similar spirit characterizes Les Voiles de St. Barths, which is a considerably younger tradition, marking just its 11th running (would-be 13th but for the pandemic). A full week in length, it attracts a glittering field of entrants in part because its schedule leaves time for the crews and owners to enjoy the island’s beauty and joie de vivre.
The Sailors
At the central Race Village, the sailors—a mix of amateurs and professionals—gather for morning coffee and evening concerts. All the while, the seafarers renew friendships and size up the competition. Further adding to the gregarious atmosphere of Les Voiles is the fact that all boats dock together in Gustavia. The tendency at other major races is to find each boat docked off by itself. The truly brilliant element of the schedule is a mid-regatta day off. At this time crew and spectators alike attend a party at Nikki Beach, one of the island’s best-loved stretches.
On the water, sailors find a racecourse composed not of buoys and flags, but natural seamarks like islands and rocks. The winds along St. Barths are ideal for regattas and recreational sailing alike. However, they’re prone to shifting unpredictably, perhaps in response to the shoreline’s numerous crescents and crenellations. Likewise, the ocean currents zig and zag unexpectedly.
The character of the yachtsmen who favor these races is evident in their response to the devastation of St. Barths by Hurricane Irma in 2017. Wind gusts near 200 miles-per-hour left homes in shreds and swept beachfront hotels off to sea. Amid the post-storm desperation, donations began pouring in from regatta organizers and superyacht owners alike. Knowing what a boon their races are to the island’s economy, regatta stewards didn’t hesitate to reaffirm schedule commitments. They were backed up by sponsor companies, who sent in checks of their own. Even some owners who had not previously participated were quick to dispatch their yachts to St. Barths to take part in the Bucket, helping to ensure sufficient entries to make it a real race.
The Legacy
That 2018 edition of the event drew a fleet of 26. This not much below the average turnout of 35, but at a point when the Caribbean had been largely evacuated of pricey seacraft. The following month, Les Voiles contested among 53 yachts, competing in seven classes with a full complement of the prior year’s sponsors.
Nature, which has bestowed an extreme measure of scenic beauty on St Barths, can likewise dispense extreme punishment upon her during the hurricane season—or, as we’ve learned the past two years, out of the blue with a pandemic of immense consequences. The philosophical view is that one of these conditions goes along with the other. “We can’t control the wind, but we can adjust our sails,” is a catchphrase participants of such regattas are well familiar with. It applies well to both current and yet-to-come circumstances. All we can hope is that the Bucket will continue in perpetuity, bringing with them benefits tangible and intangible to the paradise of St. Barths.
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Feature photo courtesy of © Cory Silken.