Cruising along at 35,000 feet on my way home from my final big overseas trip of the year. I just finished racing in Long Beach, CA at the Campbell Cup, and prior to that was the Voiles de St. Tropez in France.

The regatta in France was a fantastic experience. This event is as much a celebration of sailing as it is a regatta. The greatest assembly of beautifully restored wooden classics race inside the bay, while the IRC and Wally fleets sail outside. And this year I had my first opportunity to sail in the classics, on a 1929 Fife designed 6 meter named NADA owned by Peter Harrison of the Superyacht SOJANA. I believe the 6 meter class originated in the 1920’s and grew into one of the biggest classes around the world, and might even have been an Olympic class at one point. The class has remained strong over the years, with their own Worlds and other championships held yearly. For this event we were racing amongst a diverse fleet of classics, ranging from ourselves as the smallest boat at 33 feet, up to 8 meter boats at 45 feet plus. And the racing was awesome. Five crew, myself driving, hiking out, and pulling on ropes. I loved it. Three of the crew would hike below to get the weight furthest out, with just me and one other on deck going upwind to look around, make decisions, and pull ropes. The jib comes all the way aft to the helmsman, so the only way to see boats below and not crash, is to have someone peek under the jib every minute or so. With all the big boat racing I do now, getting back onto a small boat was wonderful. I had a great team who helped me learn the boat quickly, do all the maneuvers, and help make decisions. And all this in lovely St. Tropez, amongst the rich and famous. Yes, life is ok! Oh and the racing, it was a blast. We had some exciting starts with 35-40 boats on the line, us being the small fry, trying to have a clean exit and not get run over as the big boats got going. We did well, didn’t die, and usually were ahead on the water or on corrected time at the first weather mark. Unfortunately most of the races are predominantly reaching, which is all about waterline length, so the bigger boats just stretch away and can easily put their handicap time on us. But this little team roared, and managed to punch above our weight, and finish fourth for the series. It was truly a great experience for me and I hope to do more of it again soon.

My next event saw me flying a zillion miles over to California, but luckily I had a few days to get over the jet lag. I raced the Campbell Cup on the Santa Cruz 70 HOLUA with a great team, having two days of windward-leeward racing around the buoys. We had a class of 5 boats, all similar, with only a minute or two of handicap difference per race. This is the only buoy race HOLUA will do, so the boat is moded in light configuration for the rest of the year where they sail all downwind courses, to either Mexico or Hawaii. Accordingly, we lacked stability against most of the fleet, so had our work cut out for us on the upwind legs where stability is king. PAYWACKET had the greatest stability, and sailed away from all of us each race for an easy win. So the race was for the remaining places, and we had a great battle with GRAND ILLUSION for second right up until the final race. Luckily for us we saved our best race for last, took them to the layline, and spanked them into the top mark and pushed them back into the fleet traffic. We then sailed shifts and a loose cover on them to extend and beat them on handicap, for a second place in the regatta. I also had a great time coming to the west coast and racing amongst this fleet and seeing many of my friends which I only see on this side of the country. Sunny weather, building sea breeze each day, in the waters where I sailed my first Olympics, all made for a great time. Thanks to Dave Ullman for inviting me out to help, I really enjoyed it.

Now it’s back home with only a few regional events until the racing season kicks off next March. My next gig is a speaking engagement this week with Dennis Conner, Mr. Americas Cup himself. We are doing a joint presentation at a John Maxwell conference in St. Thomas on October 17 which should be fun. I did the 2000 Cup with DC and look forward to seeing him again.

My next gig after that will be the Caribbean Sailing Association AGM and Regatta Organizers Conference in Puerto Rico at the end of October. I’m currently the president of the CSA and we are trying to make some big changes in the years ahead. This body administers the CSA handicap system for all the Caribbean regattas, plus coordinates the race calendar, promotes dinghy sailing, and fosters sailing throughout the region. The Regatta Organizers conference dovetails the AGM and is a unique event the world over, bringing competing events together to network and share strategy at improving OUR Caribbean events and strengthening our position on the world racing circuit. I believe the Caribbean has huge potential to grow into one of the strongest sailing regions of the world, and this body has the potential to take it there. Huge challenge, but great rewards if we can achieve it.

And my final event of the year is the Carlos Aguilar Match Race in St. Thomas in late November. Match Racing is my favorite, but unless you commit 100% to it, which means fund a team or find a sponsor, it now can only be a fun campaign for me. I will reassemble my team of locals, dust off the cob webs, and give the pros a good ol local effort. We almost won it last year, but got too serious, or tried too hard, and ended up third. This year I intend to keep it fun, sail loose, and be happy with taking any scalps I can.

Stay up!
Peter

I have just returned from a couple of really good events. First was the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Newport, Rhode Island, at the end of August. For many years, the F40 was THE class, attracting all the talent, and having some really big fleets and very close racing. The last few years have seen newer and faster classes emerge, and some of the owners have migrated away. But the die-hard class devotees have stuck with the class, and the racing is great. The boat is a good size, 40 feet, with ten crew, the owners drive, and only four professionals are allowed, the other six being amateurs (non industry pros). The highlights for me is the great tactical racing which takes place, not being an uncomfortable hiking fest like on some of the newer sport boats, and the mature nature of both the owners and tacticians in the class, which plays out on the race course. I served as tactician on the German entry Struntje Light. We finished fourth at last year’s worlds, and had hopes of another top five result. The team decided to introduce some new sails at the last minute, and I have to say it was a mistake, as we never found good speed throughout the event. This is a common mistake, as teams often put a lot of hope into new, fresh sails providing them with the silver bullet. But in all reality, it takes time to settle in and learn how to get the proper (fast) shape in the sail from fine tuning the set up of the rig, and just learning the nuances of new shapes and getting comfortable with them. So in the end we sailed a good regatta and rode our horse as hard as we could, and ended up 9th for the series, about where we belonged.

Next up for me was the Rolex Maxi Cup and Mini Maxi Worlds in Sardinia during the first week of September. This is one of the biggest events of the summer and attracts some of the best sailors from around the world. Classes included the Mini Maxis (72 feet max), Maxi, Super Maxi, and Wally. I was tactician on the Richael/Pugh 82 HIGHLAND FLING racing in the Maxi class. We had 5 days of great racing, doing coastal courses around all the rocks and islands off of Porto Cervo. The wind was on the light side compared to recent years, with only 5-15 knots, and mostly from the East. We started out pretty strong, wining the first two days of racing. Unfortunately our competitors got much better over the following days, and three of us went into the final day virtually tied, so that the winner of the final race, would win the series. We had a great start, and were leading twenty minutes into the race when we had a bit of a set-back. Like most boats our size and bigger, all our systems and winches are hydraulically driven, and powered by an engine or generator. Unfortunately our engine failed, and it took one of our crew about 20 minutes to get it back on line. During this period we sail in a very compromised state, with minimal maneuvers, and all of them being very slow. We calculated that we lost between two and three minutes to our competitors during this period. Once back on line, we sailed a great race, but in the end, we finished third…by 2:30 ! Ouch! Very frustrating, but that is reality on some of these more complex machines we are racing these days. Our team in fact did an incredible job to sail as well as we did while disabled, so we all walked away feeling OK about our final result, considering the circumstances.

So two good regattas back-to- back, and now a couple weeks at home to relax and recharge the batteries before my next event at the end of September in St. Tropez France.

peter

I’ve just returned from racing in four events in Europe. First up was the Dubois Cup at the beginning of June in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. This event is notable for the size of the yachts, more so than their performance. I was driving the 150 foot Prana, the biggest I’ve ever driven, with a crew of about 25. Although it may not be high performance, it is definitely some of the most challenging racing I have done. It is a big task trying to make these huge yachts perform, and doing so safely with the huge loads, lack of maneuverability, and the power in yachts of this size. We had a great week, with good crew work and very few mistakes, and i enjoyed meeting and working with a new team.

Next up was the Loro Piana Super Yacht Regatta, also in Porto Cervo. I raced P2 in this event, a Briand 125, with a crew of about 20. I have been with this yacht now for almost five years and we have grown into a great team. We have improved the performance tremendously from day one, sailing the boat better each time. The owner has also continuously upgraded the boat and sails every year. Because of all this, we have made it on to the podium at almost every event. Except this one. The organizers chose a different application of the handicapping system, and for some reason, it hammered us, and no matter how well we sailed each day, we could never get a top 3 result. Not good, and not a happy owner or team.

My next event was the Giraglia Rolex Cup in St. Tropez, France. This event is in three stages- a distance race from Sanremo Italy to St. Tropez, a three day in-shore regatta around St. Tropez, and then a distance race to Genoa, Italy that rounds the Giraglia Rock off Corsica on the way. Luckily for me, our owner only wanted to do the inshore portion! We were racing a new Ker 46, a fast grand-prix IRC boat with a crew of 13. We had a great class with over 70 boats, from 30 footers up to TP52’s. The starts were scary as, and a great challenge to get off the line clear (and alive) and then fight for clear lanes going the route you preferred. We managed a 10th on day one, then a 4th, and then on day three the wind completely died one hour into the race. We were in great position, but after drifting for over an hour, we decided that any result would be meaningless after this reshuffle, so we opted to motor in and start packing the boat away. But great event, good hard racing, and a fun boat that gets up and goes with any wind at all.

The final event on my euro tour was the Super Yacht Cup Palma, again on P2. The handicappers got the (heated) message in Sardinia, so they changed their system. For this event, rather than pre-race guessing of the conditions and handicap to apply, they would take data from several yachts to get an accurate read on the conditions, and then calculate the results after the race. A little delay of a couple of hours to get your result, but we were all willing to wait if it meant getting fair results. Bottom line it worked better, but it still needs serious work to make it right. In the end we sailed a really good regatta and finished second, so a podium finish, a great party in a castle with the full moon, and good final event to my tour.

A long trip, but a great time, and now happy to be home for a couple weeks before my next event back in Europe.

Ciao,
peter

I just finished a busy month of racing in March with three regattas. First up was the Farr 40 Miami Invitational in mid-March where I sailed as tactician onboard STRUNTJE LIGHT. We sailed along the coast, directly in front of South Beach. Conditions were rough and windy the first few days, and then very light for the final day. Very challenging conditions, where you had to trust your instincts. We started off on a blinder, scoring 1-2-1-2, and leading the regatta after the first day of racing. We managed to continue leading the four-day regatta right through to the final day, and finished one point ahead of PLENTY to take the win. Great result for our team as we prepare for the Farr 40 Worlds in August in Newport, RI.

Next up for me was the Loro Piana Super Yacht Regatta in Virgin Gorda, BVI where I sail as helmsman on P2, the Briand 125. This is our fifth season sailing together and we have a full schedule planned for the year, starting with three events in the Caribbean, and then moving over to do four in the Med. The Virgin Gorda event was a great one, with 20 yachts, light to moderate winds, and close racing around all the islands and rocks in the BVI. The setting in North Sound and the 5 star quality of the new Yacht Club Costa Smeralda make this event really special. Hopefully they will keep it this way and not allow their success to grow it too big. The racing was close and we went into the final day with a chance to win, but ended up tied for 3rd with the J Class HANUMAN.

The final event for me was the St. Barths Bucket at the end of March, also on P2. This is the biggest Super Yacht event in the world, with 36 yachts competing. The entries included 5 J Class yachts racing in their own class, the first time since the 1930’s that this many of the classic America’s Cup designs have sailed together. Racing was great, with moderate winds on the first day, followed by solid 20 knot trade winds on the final two days to test the crew and equipment on these huge boats. We went into the final day in a three way tie for first, and ended up tied for first on points with UNFURLED, but finishing second after the tie break system was applied. Tough to be so close and not win it, but we sailed a great regatta and did all we could to pull off a victory.

All good,
peter

I’ve just returned from the 2013 Cape Fling regatta in Cape Town. Sailed the new Cape Fling, a Kerr 46 recently built at McConaghy Boats in China. Great boat, well built and finished, nice deck layout and controls, good balance, good upwind performance, and some exciting speeds off wind.

The weather in Cape Town is wild, with some incredibly strong winds. In the week that I was there, it blew between 20-40kts each day! And sailing in Table Bay can be quite tricky, with the wind often fighting between the Southeasterly and Southwesterly, on either side of Table Mountain, and sometimes with a void in between the two winds.

Race one was 20-30 kts and an 8 leg zig zag around Table Bay. Our closest competition was the GP 42 Puma, so we used them as our benchmark. We were able to put our time plus some on them upwind, and just hold on them downwind, and won by 3 minutes. Race two was a lottery, with the two winds fighting each other, and a void in the middle moving around. We sailed a good race, worked out a nice lead, only to have the wind shuffle the fleet on the final leg, giving us a 4th. The final race was a 2 mile windward/leeward, 4 laps, started in the lee of Table Mountain where the RC could anchor, and then a solid 25-35 kts on the race course. We had a great start, hit the wind line, and took off downwind. After 2 laps and building a good lead, we had a crew error and lost our spinnaker over the side, and had to cut everything away to avoid damaging the boat and rig. We deemed it unwise to continue racing with the new boat partially damaged in these extreme conditions, so retired from the race. This dropped us to 4th in the overall standings, but not bad considering. It was a great lesson for a new team and the boat showed it has potential. The team will need to work on some boat handling issues and learn how to drop spinnakers in the extreme high winds they often get. But they have a great boat to challenge them, and reward them with some great rides once they have it tamed.

After traveling for over 2 days to get there, I decided to spend a few extra days exploring and enjoying the country. Wild is the one word I have for the place. Wild weather, scenery, hikes, and animal life were the moments and images I came away with. And I loved it.

Happy New Year! I have a busy and exciting year ahead, so I’m hoping for a great 2013, and wish the same to everyone. I’ve updated my schedule here online and will report as the events unfold.

Following is a welcome letter I recently did as the new president of the Caribbean Sailing Association. Again, best wishes for 2013!
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Welcome to a new year, and a new slate of officers to the CSA. I write to you as the new president, but also as one who has been involved with the CSA for a long time. I was born in the Virgin Islands, and grew up racing in the “old days” of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s under the CSA rule. I have also served as a Vice President of CSA for many years, both in the 90’s, and then again these past few years. From this I hope to bring a knowledge and respect for our past at CSA, along with new energy and progress for our future.

Our CSA has evolved into a fantastic organization. My immediate predecessor Cary Byerly and her team of officers did an incredible job these past few years in growing and marketing the CSA into what it is today. She initiated an annual Regatta Organizers conference, where the real stakeholders of the CSA rule get together to share challenges, ideas, and strategies. I know of no other region in the world where this cooperation takes place.

I believe the Caribbean has the potential to become one of the premiere sailing regions of the world, for everything from dinghy sailing to grand prix racing. The CSA is the one organization that unifies us all and can help us reach this potential. Alongside a great team of officers from all the various islands of the region, we look forward to achieving great things for our CSA in the year ahead.

Peter Holmberg