★ Les Voiles de Saint-Barth Richard Mille

01Pourquoi c'est important

In its working years, Les Voiles gave Saint Barthélemy a second sailing week with a different social character — open entry, live music on the quay, and a fleet that ordinary competitive sailors could join. That combination is rare in the Caribbean, where the large-yacht events and the club regattas mostly keep separate company.

Our judgment, stated as a judgment: this record should be treated as a historical entry until an organizing body confirms the regatta is running again. The evidence available on 6 September 2026 points toward a pause rather than a continuing annual fixture, and an editor should establish the position before the event is published as live.

02La semaine environnante

In its established form the regatta occupied the second or third week of April, at the tail of the Saint Barths high season, when villa rates begin to fall and the island empties. Gustavia's quay was given over to the race village for the week; the anchorages filled; the restaurants of the town ran at capacity through the evenings. April is also when the trade winds are at their most reliable, which is why so much of the Caribbean racing calendar sits in it.

03Quand arriver

Historically the pattern was to arrive on the Sunday or Monday for registration, race Monday through Saturday with a lay day mid-week, and leave on the Sunday. Until the regatta's status is confirmed there is no useful current advice, and no one should plan travel around it on the strength of the dates in this record.

04Où séjourner

The island's accommodation geography does not change with the event. Gustavia has very little of it and is the only walkable base for the harbour; Saint-Jean holds most of the hotel rooms; Flamands, Lorient and Pointe Milou are quieter and require a car; villas are the dominant form and are booked far ahead. April is marginally easier than March.

05Accès et hospitalité

When running, the regatta was open-entry: yachts registered through the organizing body and paid an entry fee, and there was no invitation requirement of the kind that governs the Bucket. The shore programme in the race village was largely public — the music, the market and the quayside were open to anyone walking past — with the crew dinner and prizegiving reserved for participants. No current entry information is published.

06Où se déroule l'activité sociale

The Quai Général de Gaulle in Gustavia was the whole of it: the race village, the stage, the market stalls and the crowd. Beyond that, the ordinary public geography of the island applies — Shell Beach for the afternoon, the harbour wall for watching boats come in, the restaurants of Gustavia and the beach clubs at Saint-Jean and Flamands for the evening. Colombier and the road above Flamands give the best free views of racing on the leeward side.

07Comment s'y rendre

08Informations pratiques

09Historique

The first edition was held in April 2010, four years before the island's other regattas consolidated into their present shape, and grew quickly through the 2010s to a fleet in the seventies. The 2019 edition marked ten years. The event was disrupted, as the whole Caribbean season was, by the 2020 cancellations. Its most recent verified promotional material dates from before that break, and the domain that carried the regatta's site has since been given up.

10Qui s'y trouve

Owner-drivers and amateur crews from the Caribbean, North America and Europe; professional sailors hired for the week; Caribbean-based charter yachts; the island's April villa population; and, when the event was at its peak, a watch-industry contingent attached to the title sponsorship.