Voiles de St. Barth report

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Voiles de St. Barth report - Richard Mille
The nautical association between Richard Mille and the Voiles de St. Barth regatta proved to be a marriage made in Heaven. Its ‘children’ are to be expected soon.

The paradisiacal Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy has gained a reputation as one of the best holiday destinations in the world – not just because its heavenly beaches and seascapes attract billionaires and rock stars alike, but also because of the winds that make it perfect for yacht racing. It was only natural that high-end watch manufacturer Richard Mille became a partner with the Voiles de St. Barth since its inception, four years ago: the picturesque setting of the Gustavia marina and the entire area around the 22 km2 island are both exclusive and beautiful, while the sailing competition provides the best possible inspiration and serves as an ideal testing field for a future regatta-related timepiece that will certainly round out a collection already comprising several exceptional sports watches.

Voiles de St. Barth report

Richard Mille has been exercising a Midas touch since the founding of the brand, establishing a new era in watchmaking with highly technical features on his timepieces and an emblematic bold design never seen before in haute horlogerie, as well as enrolling an impressive line of ambassadors ranging from Rafael Nadal to Bubba Watson who have been wearing watches adapted to their specific sporting activities. That’s why the marriage between Richard Mille and the Voiles de St. Barth, already celebrated with the release of a RM 028 Voiles de St. Barth edition, is expected to give rise in due course to a regatta-inspired timepiece like none other before it – and there have been a fair few such models! Not to mention the fact that several major brands have been investing heavily in sailing, especially in a year that will see another edition of the America’s Cup.


Exclusivity rather than a blockbuster policy

Richard Mille has a different sponsoring policy from the biggest mainstream watch brands. First and foremost, Richard Mille is all about direct, human relationships rather than pouring millions into being the official timekeeper of huge events. Hence the brand’s family of champions, with each outstanding Richard Mille ambassador equipped with an exclusive limited-series timepiece created after a lot of personal input and thoroughly tested in official competition. There are also a couple of Richard Mille-sponsored events that mix competition, technical engineering and conviviality on a human scale – such as the Le Mans Classic rally, featuring vintage cars that set new standards when they were released; as well as the Voiles de St. Barth regatta, staged throughout four days on challenging ocean courses with 65 competing yachts manned by over 800 crew members. The partnership has helped grow the reputation of the Voiles de St. Barth as a key regatta in the exclusive world of ocean racing.

Voiles de St. Barth report

One of the participating yachts was quite special and embodied the competitive spirit and fraternal atmosphere so dear to the brand: the Jolt 2 featured Peter Harrison, Richard Mille’s CEO for Europe, Africa and Middle East, at the helm – plus three experienced sailors (James Heald, Louie Hubbard and Maxwell Kenne) and a few absolute amateurs (like myself) who had been invited to share the experience and emerged from the competition sunburnt, tired and dazzled to have sailed on a piece of paradise on Earth. The perfect navigation conditions made it even more spectacular, with an ample breeze throughout the week and moderate seas of an exceptional blue until the deciding day provided more testing conditions – with 20-knot winds and higher waves.

Winners and watches

In the end, the Swan 80 Selene won the Maxi Yachts class and its owner Wendy Schmidt was awarded a Richard Mille RM 028 diver’s watch in titanium at the well-attended prize-giving ceremony. The Maxi/Racing class was dominated by Jim Swartz’s TP52 Vesper, which won all five races and also earned its skipper a Richard Mille timepiece. The Spinnaker 1 class saw James Blakemore on board his Swan 5 Music clinch the win, whereas in the Spinnaker 2 group it was Sergio Sagramoso (Lazy Dog) who reached the finish line first. The Classics culminated in the victory of the Frers Heroina.

Voiles de St. Barth report

The prestigious setting of the Voiles the St. Barth made it easy for Richard Mille to become associated with the event, besides the fact that sailing is one of Richard’s favourite sports. Richard Mille collection already includes ocean-inspired timepieces such as the RM 014 and RM 015 Perini Navi sailing watches that celebrate the famous Italian yacht manufacturer, along with several diver’s watches: the RM 025 manual-wound Tourbillon Chronograph, the RM 028 Automatic, the RM 032 Automatic Flyback Chronograph and the RM 028 Automatic Voiles de Saint Barth limited edition.

Putting watches to the test

Richard Mille’s diver watches are high-performance timepieces that comply with the ISO 6425 standard for diver’s watches and are water-resistant to 300 metres; the skeletonised movement of the automatic versions is equipped with a variable geometry rotor, an exclusive Richard Mille concept that adapts the automatic winding of the watch to the activity of the user using two white-gold wings. Yes, Richard Mille watches are top-notch and among the most expensive – but, unlike delicate complicated timepieces from most fellow traditional haute horlogerie brands, they are made to be tested.

Voiles de St. Barth report

“High watchmaking should be more open to sports, to lifestyle. And I’m not afraid to put my watches in danger”, says Richard Mille. “Usually, the traditional contact between watchmaking and sports is through photography; with me, it’s different: all the champions I work with wear their timepieces in their respective fields and we’re forced to have an extraordinary level of resistance and quality in our watches. Every timepiece is an extreme watch for extreme conditions”. Peter Harrison adds that “when we came into regatta sailing, Richard spent years discussing with various people, including me, what is essential as a yachtsman, asking us what information was needed, how waterproof a model needed to be, what sorts of strains and stresses it must be able to face”. So continue to expect the exceptional in the future.

A bit of Paradise

The aura of the competition also has a lot to do with the location where it is staged. “St. Barth as a destination is fantastic this time of the year, you have reliable wind strength, warm water sailing, fantastic location courses and a very good base to enjoy that part of the Caribbean”, says Peter Harrison. “The life on-shore is almost equally important to the yachtsmen as the life off-shore; they want to enjoy good food and a nice environment. St. Barth gives them that and manages to provide them with a level of exclusivity which is almost accidental by its geographic nature, because you can’t get cruise ships on the harbour or land a 747 on the island”. Taking off on a small 15-person airplane and looking down at the island’s clean beaches and blue waters, I couldn’t help but play in my head that Coldplay song: “Para-para… paradise… para-para… paradise”. Yes, watches were omnipresent at Voiles de St. Barth but for five days I was lost in time – until I remembered that I had to get back to a Europe struck by a severe winter and by recession.

More on the Voiles de St. Barth coming soon – including a wristshot report.

Voiles de St. Barth report

 

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