YEAR IN REVIEW

We look back at some of the main events of 2021 and 2022 that have made it an exciting year on the water for the classic boat world

J-CLASS SHOW WOWS ST BARTH’S

An enthusiastic owner new to racing under sail and a crew of experienced sailors at their first J-Class regatta together proved a winning combination as Ranger clinched the Saint Barth’s Bucket J-Class title in March 2022. Under America’s Cup-winning skipper Ed Baird, Ranger finished one point clear of Hanuman and Velsheda after four races at the French Caribbean island’s annual superyacht regatta.

The most famous of classic classes is as vibrant as ever in 2022, with a busy racing scene and a new generation of often anonymous but passionate owners. Ranger was built of steel in Denmark from 2002-3 as the first of the ‘replica’ Js, constructed to the original Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens lines of Harold Vanderbilt’s ‘Super J’ which won the 1937 America’s Cup 4-0 against Endeavour 2.

At 28.6m Ranger is the longest on the waterline of the trio racing at St Barths, compared to 27.7m for Velsheda and 26.8m for Hanuman, and even after losing six tonnes in a refit is the heaviest at 196 tonnes.