Richard Mille Awards RM 028 to the Winner of ‘Les Voiles de Saint Barth’

By Arthur Touchot April 29, 2014

The Bella Mente crew, skippered by Christophe Jouany, is sponsored by Richard Mille — Richard Mille has been the principal partner of ‘Les Voiles’ since 2010.

In Saint Barth, 70 of the Caribbean’s most beautiful yachts and their crews set their bearings for the port of Gustavia in Saint Barth for this sporting and festive event, among one of the most anticipated in the region. Following light and technically challenging winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, the last two days of the race were livened up by a warm twenty-five knot wind with strong gusts which even saw one yacht losing its mast. In its five years, the race had never known such extreme sailing conditions which offered an extraordinary spectacle.

The American, Alex Schaerer on the Mills 69 Caol Ila R carried the win in the Maxi class after two days of tense competition with the formidable Rambler 90 of George David.

“We had a good start of the regatta as our strength versus Bella Mente is in calm weather thanks to our difference in draught and we lead two to one in light winds. Unfortunately, their mast broke, depriving us of a confrontation in a strong breeze. I think it would have been difficult to beat them twice to win,” recognized the skipper of Caol Ila R. “Their strength is reaching in a hard blow where we don’t perform as well. A great and very exciting week in any case.”

The fifth edition of ‘Les Voiles’ was the most difficult in terms of weather conditions.

Alex Shaerer won in the most prestigious category of the event beating Georges David and Verder Van Nieuwland with the Marten 72 Aragon, and was awarded an RM 028 Edition ‘Voiles de Saint Barth’ in titanium at the prize-giving ceremony.

RM 028 Voiles de St-Barth — The RM 028 Edition ‘Voiles de Saint Barth’ in titanium was awarded to skipper Alex Shaerer.

Richard Mille has never been more involved in the nautical world than this year, the watch making brand having presented its first model dedicated to sailing in high seas, the RM 60-01 Flyback Chronograph Regatta.

The RM 60-01 Flyback Chronograph Regatta, Richard Mille's first model dedicated to sailing in high seas, — The RM 60-01 Flyback Chronograph Regatta, Richard Mille’s first model dedicated to sailing in high seas.

The brand says its philosophy finds “pure expression” within the nautical universe, gathering extreme performance combined with cutting-edge technologies. Just as sailing has evolved in the era of automation, Richard Mille’s universe manages to innovate in accordance with the long standing Haute Horlogerie’s tradition which always privileges the handmade expertise.

The RM 028 Edition ‘Voiles de Saint Barth’ awarded to skipper Alex Shaerer.

A principal partner of Les Voiles since 2010, Richard Mille said it was “delighted to be associated with this nautical event which is constantly growing in uniting internationally-renowned skippers.”