Preliminary Fleet Announced for 2008 St. Barth Bucket

More Editorial by Ellen Lampert-Greaux
March 2008 Issue

A fabulous fleet of yachts—all but two of which measure more than 100’ in length—are confirmed to participate in the 2008 St. Barth Bucket (www.newportbucket.com), an invitational regatta for large sailboats.

Among the largest are two Perini Navi yachts, the 163’ Perseus and the 184’ Selene, followed by Hyperion, a 156’ Royal Huisman yacht and two more by Perini Navi, Andromeda La Dea and Antara at 154’. The smallest entries are Symmetry at 96’ and Windcrest at 98’.

The skippers and owners briefing for this 13th annual edition of The Bucket will be held on Thursday evening, March 27 with three days of racing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 28, 29 and 30. The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday afternoon following the final race. Start times are distributed each morning before the race begins.

The size of the Bucket fleet is largely mandated by the amount of dock space available in Saint Barth. 

“We have evolved to a point where we virtually fill every beam inch of available space in Gustavia, and we are tremendously grateful to the Capitainerie and everyone in St. Barth who make this possible,” says Hank Halsted, chairman of the Bucket committee.  He adds that the St. Barth Yacht Club and the Port of Gustavia also play an active role in the organization of the regatta, working in tandem with local organizer Melanie Smith. 

“We have been asked by the local authorities to keep the fleet limited to 30 yachts, which is not unreasonable, given that for yachts of this size, nearly 700 crew attend.  This also seems to max out the amount of shorefront locations for the festivities,” adds Halsted.

Look for results of the 2008 St Barth Bucket, to be reported in a future issue of All At Sea.