On 8th April, the starting gun will be fired for the 4th edition of the Voiles de Saint Barth, now a major event in Caribbean yacht racing. Inaugurated in 2010, the Voiles de Saint Barth regatta has continued to grow in popularity and now attracts sailors from around the world for its sublime, technically challenging courses and fun, friendly atmosphere.

Richard Mille, the race’s principal partner from the very beginning, will of course continue the partnership and is proud to foster its links with one of the world’s finest nautical events. Sailing is, of course, one of Richard Mille’s favourite sports, as a handful of exceptional timepieces demonstrates: the RM 014 and RM 015 Perini Navi sailing watches, as well as the RM 025 Tourbillon Chronograph, the RM 028 Automatic, the RM 028 Voiles de Saint Barth or the RM 032 Flyback Chronograph diver’s watches. With a few weeks still to go before the festivities commence, prospects for the Saint Barth 2013 race are already very promising, with over 53 yachts currently registered in six classes.

Participants in this year’s competition include “Racing” yachts in the Spinnaker category for boats measuring 9 to 18 metres, such as Swans, X Yachts and other CNBs. Local sailors, such as Patrick Demarchelier (Puffy Swan 53) or Raphael Magras (Mae-Lia), will cross the starting line in the company of some serious challengers, including The Kid, Jean-Pierre Dick’s JP 54, and Satori, the Swan 45 belonging to the Dutchman Gideon Messink. In the spectacular “Maxi” class, Sojana, the giant ketch belonging British owner and race devotee Peter Harrison, will go head to head with Jean-Philippe Pinatel’s Med Spirit and Idea of London, a 78-foot super-yacht.

The other four groups, which include numerous competitors from the highest levels of international sailing, will also present some interesting tussles: the spectacular IRC 52s, for example, will feature Vesper whose owner, the American Jim Swartz is a hugely successful sailor and patron of the 2013 Voiles de Saint Barth event. This year, Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille Europe and a great sailing enthusiast, will also be participating for the very first time. He will approach the starting line on 8th April, flying his own colours at the helm of his Jolt 2, a custom one-off racing yacht designed by Reichel Pugh of San Diego. Jolt 2 will be racing in the Spinnaker 1 and 2 category. Richard Mille will be delighted to present an RM 028 Titanium diver’s watch to the winner of the 2013 event.

Featuring a unidirectional rotating bezel, this very high-performance timepiece is water-resistant to 300 metres (30 ATM) in compliance with the ISO 6425 standard for diver’s watches. The deceptively simple design of the 47-millimetre case embodies a complex range of technical expertise. The watch is rendered perfectly watertight by the unique tripartite construction of the case and bezel, completed by lugs incorporated into the case assembly.

The skeletonised automatic movement of the RM 028 is equipped with a variable geometry rotor, an exclusive Richard Mille concept, which adapts the watch’s automatic winding to the activity of the user by adjusting two white-gold wings.