With 1,200 sailors and 63 racing boats, Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille represents the perfect combination of sporting performance and innovation. This tenth edition was won by the sailing boat Sorcha, owned by Richard Mille EMEA's British CEO, Peter Harrison. Extraordinary boats, a magnificently diversified fleet, high-performance crews and colourful courses all perfectly sum up this edition organised by François Tolède and Luc Poupon. Throughout the week, ideal weather conditions offered a breathtaking spectacle on the sea. On Saturday, 20 April, the last day of competition, after four days of racing, the crews battled to reach this 24 to 29-mile stage in a wind that fluctuated between 16 and 18 knots. A faithful participant in the Sails since 2013, Peter Harrison shed his CEO's clothes to don his sailor's clothes aboard his Maxi 72, Sorcha, one of the most technologically advanced monohulls. The latter shared the helmsman's duties on this 16-tonne carbon-fibre behemoth with Pierre Casiraghi, Richard Mille's partner and patron of the event. The crew of the Sorcha ran a flawless race, taking home all the victories, including one in the Maxi 1 class. A just reward for those who came second in 2018. Also making the podium were David Witt's SHK Scallywag (HKG) and Saulius Pajarskas' Ambersail 2 (LTU). Andy Clark, long-time Sorcha team member, expresses the excitement of the entire crew: "We are proud to have won this edition in the Maxi class. SHK Scallywag sailed really well. The Windfall et Sojana crews were just as good and although they were not competing in the same category as us, they forced us to keep our guard up for the Overall classification. The week was fantastic, the conditions excellent and we really enjoyed the courses." In addition to the Maxi 1 category, Sorcha also won the Richard Mille Maxi Cup and took his prize, the RM 60-01 Regatta flyback chronograph. Peter Harrison decided to sell this watch in the Richard Mille boutique in Paris and donate the proceeds to charity to help young people learn to sail and to protect the coastline of Saint-Barthélemy after the hurricane that devastated the island in September 2017. The big news this year was the decision taken by the organisers to make the event as ecologically responsible as possible, in particular by trying to achieve zero plastic within the village hosting the regattas. Although the heart of this event is the racing, they have set themselves the goal of raising awareness among youngsters about protecting the seabed and the oceans. "Considering that the environment is a vital issue for sailors and has always been close to our hearts, we wanted the 2019 edition to be eco-responsible. In our region, we are directly affected by global warming-related phenomena such as cyclones or sargasso algae, real plagues for our island and the health of its inhabitants. If last year we chose to take our time to restart the event after Irma's cataclysm, it is now essential to think about the future and act to preserve as much of this idyllic scenario as possible by setting a good example,' say the organisers, François Tolède and Luc Poupon, race director. The decade is sealed, Les Voiles de St Barth Richard Mille will welcome the world's most beautiful sailing boats to the Caribbean Sea for the 11th edition on 12 April 2020 for five days of unforgettable racing.
