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1 April 2013
As the Winch Turns
 For those of you who have questioned the significance of the bucket in the Bucket logo, last night’s prize giving probably gave you an answer. The buckets full of fun and pride and sharing that have been evident all week here added up to one very large pail of supreme satisfaction. Held at Nikki Beach, the event was packed with owners and their families, captains, crews and, of course, titans of superyacht industry.
 But with all the swagger that should exude from such a collection of powerful characters with enriched lives, it is clear that there’s something different going on here. It has to do with being genuine, and it sets the St. Barth’s Bucket and all involved apart from any other super yacht regatta. Yes, it’s the camaraderie on the docks among sailors and the dedication to racing — as a way of life, or at least a big part of it — that is genuinely sincere. But it’s also something bigger, like it’s in the air… yet actually there is great substance to it. Working closely with the directors, the “Big Five” sponsors — Alloy Yachts, Perini Navi, Royal Huisman, Vitters Shipyard, and Holland Jachtbouw — are the wizards behind the curtain when it comes to keeping the Bucket Regattas genuine. According to Pantaenius Yacht Insurance Director (Monaco) Michael Kurtz, “The event is not overdriven, but gently guided from the perspective that everyone who associates with the event can be certain of an experience that is in the best interest of superyacht racing in the present and for the future.”
According to Perini Navi’s Burak Akgul, “This is an opportunity for us — we who are actually building something very special — to provide an opportunity for a small group of families to indulge in the greatest luxury, which is one’s time, in the manner they choose, aboard their sailing yachts.”
 The smallest yacht here was the sleekly styled 24 meter Wild Horses, whose crew won last night’s Skullduggery Cravat for “Best Bucket Humor,” and the largest was Perini Navi’s 88 meter Maltese Falcon, which with the “absence of event” on deck represents a singular design event in yachting history.
Yesterday, it was at Eden’s Rock, Nikki Beach and La Plage that those enjoying Easter Brunch were surely most wowed by the spectacle that this year’s fleet has presented for enjoyment by locals and visitors to the island. The story goes that if any of the superyachts, averaging 40+ meters and with masts a third again as tall, had come any closer to the shore in St. Jean, the St. Barths airport — where the low-trajectory landings of planes flying in to one of the world’s shortest landing strips are the stuff of legends — might have needed to shut down.
 And just as some of the most fabulous yachts in the world are here, so, too,  are some of the most famous photographers. Evidently, when Carlo Borlenghi posted photos from Saturday’s racing in wild and windy conditions,he got 37,000 clicks on his Facebook page. Now that’s a fan club.
And with that, Bucket family, we say goodbye (for now, anyway). Until next time, may your rides always be pleasurable!
Barby MacGowan
Media Pro International’s Barby MacGowan is reporting daily from St. Barths. Follow her releases under news and updates and her blog under Recaps.
31 March 2013
Day 4: As the Winch Turns
There always seems to be a celebration going on at the Bucket, and last night’s Bucket Bash celebrated the pirate in us all. If you think about it, perhaps it is that, in the end, which really links us all to the sea and to each other in the pillaging of good times.
 Even the band got into the act of dressing in Arr Matey couture, although at one point, things got a bit confusing. A pirate band, on a French island, singing the traditional Jewish folk song Hava Nagila? The irony was lost, however, on the tens of dozens of bucketeers on the dance floor who reacted in proper Bar/Bat Mitzvah fashion, forming several chorus lines and coordinating their rhythmic high kicks. The food made sense: an eclectic mix of tasty grab-and-go to fit the mood and be eaten at high tables while standing in the bar area. Plus everyone knows pirates sustained themselves mainly on mini burgers and made-to-order crepes, right?
Hopefully it is not lost on anyone that it’s Easter Sunday and that a quiet reflection of thanks should be taken at some point during this day. Times of quiet here come mostly in the morning when the harbor is still, a rooster or two can be heard, and the streets have retreated into silence from so many toy cars, jeeps and mopeds pestering them.
 It’s rather quaint, isn’t it, that “Where’s Your Villa?” is one of the first questions sailors ask each other when they get to town for the Bucket. Turns out a villa can be luxurious, spacious, fabulously furnished, or more like a cottage with basic necessities. But perhaps more important than a villa’s appointments is where a certain village nestles—among the shops in town, on the far side of the island, or in the hills above the port of Gustavia. Although the latter eliminates the need for a car, it’s a long uphill slog to get home after racing. But who’s complaining? We’re still in St. Barths.
Barby MacGowan
Media Pro International’s Barby MacGowan is reporting daily from St. Barths. Follow her releases under news and updates and her blog under Recaps.
30 March 2013
Day 3: As the Winch Turns
The Friday night “Yacht Hop” (Open House) was another amazing event better experienced in person than read about in a blog, but for those who might have missed it (oh, shame), hundreds of your fellow bucketeers boarded some or all of the entries that are berthed Med-style at the Quay. Of course, getting on and off the passerelles was a bit like playing an arcade game and hoping your timing made the most of the surge to lift you gracefully, instead of awkwardly, aboard. Each yacht offered a different experience, from the J Boat Ranger, taking one back in time to the Golden Age of America’s Cup racing, to Luna, exuding timeless Italian elegance. The geisha girls (and guys) aboard Zenji specialized in Lychee Martinees and showed off a waterfall of hanging origami cranes in the main salon that would have made Chihuly jealous.  It was rumored that Axia was the best place to go for dessert, and if you were at the right place at the right time you could catch a group dancing Gangnam-style on the upper deck of Parsifal III. And could anyone compete with their cappuccino machine? It’s run by an app that gets downloaded to your phone. Dial in what you want, and voilá, it’s ready when you arrive for boat call!
It’s clear that even with a social event scheduled every evening here, there’s always the need to be involved in more après-race shenanigans downtown. That said, it’s a toss-up as to which bar (besides the Bucket Bar, of course) is the best in St. Barths.
 There’s Do Brazil at Shell Beach, named for the tiny shells that stick between one’s toes after a quick dip in the ocean (this activity best reserved for sunny afternoons). It has a tree-fort type feeling and serves possibly the best rosè on the island. (Truth be told, rosé is the best wherever, whenever , and however many times you drink it here.)
Then there’s the Baz Bar. Ah, the Baz Bar… scene of the crime for many a Bucket inmate. Good sushi, more great rose and Evan Goodrow’s own twist on music to Bucket by. His fellow musician and famous sailing aficionado Jimmy Buffet strolled by on Thursday evening, starting the rumor that the son of a sailor might jump on stage (as he has been known to do) with his guitar at some point this week.
Barby MacGowan
Media Pro International’s Barby MacGowan is reporting daily from St. Barths. Follow her releases under news and updates and her blog under Recaps.
 29 March 2013
Day 2: As the Winch Turns
The only thing that could top the fabulous J Boat racing yesterday was the unforgettable owner’s party at Eden Rock last night. Besides the hotel being among the top 100 in the world, its main restaurant looks like a chateaux perched high above the ocean with luxurious lighting that makes it an iconic beacon for the Bay of St. Jean on the northern coast of St. Barths. The beach terrace beneath the restaurant is where hundreds of owners and their guests were greeted, first with Taittinger Champagne and second with wave after wave of sumptuous edibles. The terrace, also, was famously lit, making for a magical mix of sunset-colored hues that extended well into the surrounding shallow waters. It was the perfect orchestration of a social function that celebrated old friendships and forged new ones.
For those who didn’t attend the Eden Rock event, there was action at the Bucket Bar, which is now officially open for business and will be the gathering place each afternoon after racing.
This morning, the docks were awash with their own kind of light—the hundreds of sailors preparing for their first day of racing here. The winds, projected to be the lightest of those expected over the next three days, may pose a challenge for the teams, but a spectacle on the water is still a given.
Barby MacGowan
Media Pro International’s Barby MacGowan is reporting daily from St. Barths. Follow her releases under news and updates and her blog under Recaps.
28 March 2013
 As the Winch Turns
The J Boat owners, captains and tacticians have had their briefing (photo right), and the crews are readying for the gunfight at high noon, scheduled as the opening day extravaganza in a four-day festival of super yacht sailing. Passers-by on the Bucket Marquee at the Quay are getting quite the eyeful, as several of the five historic J Boats are berthed stern-to at the dock, along with several of the other spectacular superyachts that have journeyed here for their beloved Bucket racing. It's a hot, hot day and everyone is hoping that the wind will do them a favor and not only cool things down but also produce enough umph to complete the planned 15-mile course (six windward-leeward legs at 2.5 miles each) with dignity. Event Chair and PRO Peter Craig was pumped this morning. "How hard can it be? Five J Boats, let's go racing!" His only caution for the 6-12 knots of forecasted breeze? "Upwind will be beautiful; downwind might be miserable." Alas, it's all relative. We are in St. Barths, after all.
 Everyone loves a J, and Wild Horses owner Donald Tofias thinks it was 1936 at a New York Yacht Club event that these magnificent vessels last raced together. Was anyone there who can confirm?
 The J Boats will continue racing tomorrow when an additional (and whopping) 31 more superyachts will join the action on the water. End-to-end, the mega entries this year would stretch to over 1594 meters. That's over 1½ kilometers or almost a mile. Or for sports fans, try this on for size: the length of 13 soccer or football fields.
Barby MacGowan
Media Pro International’s Barby MacGowan is reporting daily from St. Barths. Follow her releases under news and updates and her blog under Recaps.
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