Les Voiles de St. Barth 2012; Full Moon party at La Plage restaurant at Le Tom Beach Hotel

No sooner did the St. Barth Bucket Regatta complete its race week when Les Voiles de St Barth’s third annual regatta began theirs. With 65 sail boats vying for the title the island was brimming with crew, owners and spectators and happily our villas and hotels were full. While the Bucket featured yachts over 100 ft, Les Voiles de St. Barth length requirement starts at 21 feet. There were 6 classes: Maxi – boats that are over 68 feet in length; Classics – over 35 years old; Spinnaker 1 & 2 – single-hull specialized racing boats, non Spinnaker – boats racing without a spinnaker; Multi-hulls, – racing catamarans and trimarans from 30 to 60 feet in length. This year there was a new class – IRC 52.

I am lucky because I could see these sailboats as they race in an out of Lorient Bay from my villa and the sight was spectacular. The hues of the crystal clear water enhanced the contrast between the colorful spinnakers billowing in the wind and the aquamarine sea. “The Village” for Les Voiles was located on the quai and it was very classy with chairs, tables, a bar and an elevated boutique of sorts that was selling all kinds of Gaastra clothing embroidered with the 2012 logos. (To give you an idea, a polo shirt was selling for 90 euros!) There was live entertainment on the stage each evening; Saturday night was the awards ceremony followed by a big party.

As I mentioned before the Gérant (General Manager) of my island office, Benoit Meesemaecker is an outstanding sailor. He crewed on a boat that placed in the Bucket and he was also a member of the crew on “Coors Light”, a Spinnaker 1 class sailboat. I am happy to report that Coors Light won first prize in their division. Congratulations! The funny part of this story is that they also won a free stay in one of our competitor’s villas!! Way to go Benoit!

Friday evening, Steve and I went to La Plage restaurant at Le Tom Beach hotel for dinner and their full moon party. The Dress Code was “All White” and the place was packed. We were treated to some entertainment on the beach including a guy who danced with fiery batons and a woman performing pole dancing. You really should include La Plage in your “must do” list while you are here. Our concierges can make the dinner reservation for you. – Lunch is a great “to be seen” scene too.

This week I am in Sao Paulo Brazil for Travelweek, a tradeshow for luxury travel agents from South America. – Back in St. Barts next week.