J/24 World Champion Ken Read from Newport, Rhode Island, now North Sails President,
is at it again. Just recently, Kenny skippered the J-Class yacht
HANUMAN, an evolution of the famous America's Cup winner RANGER to
victory in the St Barth's Bucket Regatta. He was part of sailing
history yet again, participating as skipper for owner Jim Clark's
HANUMAN in a fleet of FIVE J-Class sailboats racing against each other,
the largest such fleet since 1937. Boats on the line included: HANUMAN,
LIONHEART, VELSHEDA, RAINBOW & RANGER. On board HANUMAN were a
veritable "Newport Mafia" of sailors, including none other than famous
bowman Jerry Kirby, Volvo 70 PUMA Project Manager Kimo Worthington and
USA 470 Olympic Gold Medallist Kevin Burnham.
A
"Wrong Way Around" race wrapped up sailing on the final race of the
four-day St. Barths Bucket Regatta. The race course, which covered 21nm,
reversed Friday's "Around the Island" journey and put boat handling
skills to the test right off the bat with a downwind start. This was a
historic event for the J Class and HANUMAN proved unbeatable throughout
the three days, winning handily over the line and on corrected time in
the first two of three races. Sunday, LIONHEART edged out HANUMAN by
just two seconds at the line, but HANUMAN still prevailed on corrected
time to leave LIONHEART in second overall.Every year the Bucket Organization devotes a portion of its entry fees for a worthy cause in St. Barth's. This year, a donation in the amount of 18,000 euros was made to the St. Barth's Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program. Perhaps just as significantly, Jim Clark (author of the book "The New New Thing", co-founder of Silicon Graphics computer systems, co-founder of NETSCAPE with Marc Andreassen, Eric Bina and John Doerr at Kleiner-Perkins-Caulfield-Byer Venture Capital firm), has donated $800,000 to SAIL TO PREVAIL, The National Disabled Sailing Program in Newport, RI. Cool! In fact, very cool! Clark, a keen and focused philanthropist and sailor, announced the largest gift in the history of SAIL TO PREVAIL at the St Barth's Bucket Award ceremony after leading his J-Class HANUMAN to victory! Sailing Photo Credits- Ingrid Abery
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