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The New Year's Eve Parade, a year-end yacht race, now takes place on Tuesday December 30 (instead of December 31) " to allow the larger yachts to prepare for the New Year's festivities", explains Mark DelGiudice, who organizes the event in collaboration with the Saint Barth Yacht Club.
Conceived as a chase race, participants start at different times depending on their handicap, for an exciting finish when the yachts close in at the end of the race. The course varies slightly each year, depending on weather and wind conditions.
This year's participants include: the 96-foot Symmetry, the 112-foot Aurelius, the 66-foot Phaedo, the 85-foot Ticonderoga and the 34-foot Maelia, a local boat.
"This will be the 30th edition, and we'll remember the days of Visione, Mari-Cha and Adela, as well as Axel from Magic Carpet, Vivant and Gintina," says Mark DelGiudice. "In 1995, it all started at Select over a beer with Tom, skipper of the Ticonderoga, and several of the boats mentioned above, including Pierre de Kriss. "The record was set in 2004 by Visione, an elegant 147-foot Baltic carbon-fiber yacht.
Can anyone beat her time of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 7 seconds?
As Mark DelGiudice says: "Sail around the island, then come and enjoy a cocktail on the quay! "
The start will be at 10 a.m., with the prize-giving ceremony at 4 p.m. at the Saint-Barth Yacht Club in Public.
