The Maltese Falcon completed her first St. Barth's "Bucket" regatta and won the ":Wow Factor," if not the race. Her record was a Ist, a 3rd, and a dead last. Basically, she sails on a triangular course (which is what the Bucket's courses are, in effect) about as fast as any of the better competitors. So, when on day one, her (pursuit) start was second off the line, she finished first by some thirty minutes. The committee punished her on day two with a start at the the bottom of the fleet, so she obliged by finishing last. On day three they gave her a start mid-way in the fleet, and she climbed readily to third place. The Bucket, though, is more about fun than performance, and she had plenty of that. A huge number of the competitors complimented us on her performance, and admired her looks. On the second race, by the time her start came around, the wind had built and she crossed the finishing line at 18.8 knots; a sight that, apparently, few will forget. Unfortunately there is not a prize for the yacht with the best starts---if there had been, surely the Falcon would have won it. Her TOTAL time for being late was less than five seconds for the three races. Two one second late days and (a real screw up) two seconds late for one day's race. Given her 289 some feet, we think this is awesome, if we say so ourselves. Allen Prior took some great shots, some of which we share with you here. Mid-April we are off back to the Med, and we'll be racing again at the Palma Superyacht Regatta in June. Tom