Regates Royales de Cannes

Bye Cannes, see you next year!

The 34th edition of the Régates Royales -Trophée Panerai has officially ended with the prize giving ceremony at the race village where organizers and authorities got together with crews and fans to say goodbye to the boats that have enlivened, despite the often tricky weather conditions, the Vieux Port and the Bay of Cannes over last week. Now some of the boats will be going to Saint-Tropez for another week long regatta, some will go back to their home ports for winter works. Hopefully, all of them will be present again next year.

Jean-Claude Montesinos, Président of the Yacht Club de Cannes :
“This 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai was actually also meant as a way of getting ready for the 35th. Because we will try to do even better next year... despite the weather non being very helpful, there was always a huge public on the quays and the staff did a great job adjusting to the situation. I want to congratulate and thank all that have taken part to the event, sailors, owners, judges, volunteers, sponsors... We succeeded in having four good races in variable conditions that I reckon the crews enjoyed anyway. They had to be careful and focused, play with the clouds and the effects of the coast, the tacticians had a lot of work to do!”

Gérard Pascalini, company manager for the Société des Régates de Cannes :
“It was a first for me and I'm extremely satisfied, le atmosphere has been great at the village, on the water, among the crews and the volunteers. We were helped by over 150 volunteers to organize the Régates Royales de Cannes, forty-two sponsors to support the event, some twenty judges to have everything go smoothly on the water, an important financial backing and 2,500 sailors! It was anything but easy to sort everything out in tricky conditions and I can only hope to be able to do as well next year with this same crew...”

Overall results

Vintage gaffers
1-Avel (Chris Austin) 7 points
2-Bona Fide (Beppe Zaoli) 8 points
3-Nan of Fife (Philippe Menhinick) 9 points

Big Boats
1-Thendara (Markus Schweiger) 6 points
2-Moonbeam of Fife 3 (Erwan Noblet) 6 points
3-Moonbeam IV (Mickaël Créac’h) 6 points

Marconi +15m
1-Leonore (Brad Swain) 3 points
2-Skylark of 1937 (Tony Morse) 9 points
3-Mercury (Jordi Cabau) 14 points

Marconi -15m
1-Cholita (Bruno Roma) 4 points
2-Dainty (Mike Hollis) 8 points
3-Sonda (Pascal Borel) 9 points

Spirit of Tradition
1-Catleya (Jacques Fauroux) 3 points
2-Highlander (JN Bonaletoff) 6 points
3-Nada (Marcus Fitzgerald) 12 points

Vintage
1-Arcadia (Raphaël Coldefy) 4 points
2-Maria Giovanna 2 (Jean-Pierre Sauvan) 11 points
3-White Dolphin (Yann Delplace) 13 points

Dragons (after ten races, one discard)
1-Anatoly Loginov (RUS) Annapurna : 40 points
2-Guiseppe Duca (ITA) Cloud : 62 points
3-Soren Pehrsson (DEN) Blue Lady : 78 points
4-Ivan Bradbury (GBR) Blue Haze : 92 points
5-Helmut Schmidt (GER) Kleine Brise : 98 points
6-Bo Selko (DEN) Bonobo : 100 points
7-Martin Payne (GBR) Bear : 105 points
8-Victor Fogelson (RUS) Sunflower : 116 points
9-Joseph Varoqui (FRA) Rusalka : 117 points
10-Vassily Senatorov (RUS) I Feel Good : 125 points

The Cannes cocktail

The strong winds and heavy rainstorms sweeping the Bay of Cannes put a halt to the conclusive day of competition on 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai. The classic yacht fleet with a total 87 entries did however enjoy a whole week of racing in the most varied conditions offering a spectacular show for the public crowding the quay and the bay.

From over thirty knots or zero wind, from bright sunshine to heavy downpours, millpond flat seas to steep and choppy waves, wind shifts and shining light, but above all, the week will be remembered for the close racing, high-adrenaline mark turnings, packed starts, traffic jams on the finish line, reshuffles and big comebacks... a magnificent show, watching the immense Herreshoff's designed fore and aft gaff cutter Elena (50,71m) flying with all the sails up, the J Class Shamrock V hoisting her huge spinnaker in twenty knots, Mariquita crossing Thendara or Moonbeam, seeing Aloha and Lady Van close upwind or the Pen Duick fleet aligning in a sort of parade of sails.

A gaff rigged Dragon
In the Spirit of Tradition class the battle was fierce among the twenty competitors and especially between the brand new small boats that have stamped their name on the series. On a Dragon hull Jacques Fauroux with a gaff rig that has boosted the 1929 Anker designed boat's performance. Catleya skippered by Fauroux himself and Highlander helmed by Jean-Nicolas Bondaletoff have dominated the regatta, with the exception of the third race, which proved to be too windy for them. Only 6M Nada succeeded in keeping the pace and finishing in third while Sea Lion won Thursday's breezy race.

The Vintage class included old glories from the IOR days such as Sagittarius, Ojala II, Running Tide or the world famous Il Moro di Venezia, and the mythical Pen Duick II and Pen Duick V but it was the 1968 Olin Stephens design Arcadia who triumphed over her sister-ship Maria Giovanna 2… Among the big Marconis, with a LOA of over 15 metres, Leonore formerly known as Cottom Blossom II, the Q-Class created by Johan Anker in 1925 beats Skylark, the yawl that made her debut at Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai. Among their smaller sisters measuring less than 15 metres, Cholita, created in 1937 by Nicholas Potter took the top step on the podium, succeeding in leaving behind Dainty one of the smallest boats competing in Cannes, and Sonda the first 8M designed by Mc Gruer in 1951.

Towering sails...
Some of the biggest classic yachts taking part to the Régates Royales de Cannes sport more more than 1,200 square metres sail area. And when such boats weighing over 200 tons slam and fly on the choppy sea in twenty knots, sea water spraying set the pace it is not easy for other boats to follow. In the Big Boats, dominated by William Fife's designed yachts, division three boats finish tied at points, after a hard fought series. But, thanks to a double win Thendara, the 1935 gaff ketch signed by Alfred Mylne gets gold followed by Moonbeam of Fife 3 and Moonbeam IV. In fourth place the19M Mariquita while her small sister, the 15mJI Mariska looks to be less at ease in stiff breeze.

Cannes provided perfect conditions also for the Vintage gaffers and the beautifully restored and maintained masterpieces, battled at the highest level for the top spot. Five of them could have jumped to the podium, but finally it was 1896 Camper & Nicholson's Avel to get gold followed by Bona Fide and Nan of Fife, the oldest classic yacht designed by William Fife III still sailing. On Sunday at around noon some fifty crews who took part to the 34th Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai will leave Cannes on the feeder race to Saint-Tropez.

Overall results Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai 2012
Vintage gaffers
1-Avel (Chris Austin) 7 points
2-Bona Fide (Beppe Zaoli) 8 points
3-Nan of Fife (Philippe Menhinick) 9 points

Big Boats
1-Thendara (Markus Schweiger) 6 points
2-Moonbeam of Fife 3 (Erwan Noblet) 6 points
3-Moonbeam IV (Mickaël Créac’h) 6 points

Marconi +15m
1-Leonore (Brad Swain) 3 points
2-Skylark of 1937 (Tony Morse) 9 points
3-Mercury (Jordi Cabau) 14 points

Marconi -15m
1-Cholita (Bruno Roma) 4 points
2-Dainty (Mike Hollis) 8 points
3-Sonda (Pascal Borel) 9 points

Spirit of Tradition
1-Catleya (Jacques Fauroux) 3 points
2-Highlander (JN Bonaletoff) 6 points
3-Nada (Marcus Fitzgerald) 12 points

Vintage
1-Arcadia (Raphaël Coldefy) 4 points
2-Maria Giovanna 2 (Jean-Pierre Sauvan) 11 points
3-White Dolphin (Yann Delplace) 13 points

Annapurna on top

On the last competition day the 43 Dragons sailed three races in ideal conditions: flat sea and a good and steady north-easterly breeze. The week long duel between the Italian skipper Giuseppe Duca on Cloud and Russia's Anatoly Longinov came to an exciting end today with the latter taking top spot on the podium, followed by Duca with Soren Pehrsson from Denmark. The classic yachts enjoyed excellent racing conditions despite the overcast skies with a big coastal course in the bay of La Napoule sailed under a steady 12 knots easterly breeze.

There was no respite for the Dragon sailors today, the final and decisive racing day in the Golfe Juan. Three races where sailed with a good breeze of around ten knots from the north-east that shifted progressively to the east/south-east and changed in intensity. It was then a question of not only being fast but also of taking taking care to choose the right course whilst maintaining a watchful eye on the closet rivals for the overall scoreboard.

As it happens it was Russia's Anatoly Loginov on Annapurna, who has won on past editions of the Régates Royales to show better consistency and score a fourth a third and a second place that paid huge dividends. Consistency was key as some crews lost their chance to be on the podium due to mediocre results over the first days of the series. This was the case for Ivan Bradbury (Blue Haze) from the UK who didn't finish the first race and slipped down to an unusual thirtieth in the sixth one and finish in 4th overall. A black flag forced German Helmut Schmidt (Kleine Brise) to a fifth overall. For Danish Bo Selko (Bonobo) it was an OCS that would shatter hopes to do better than sixth while UK's, Martin Payne (Bear) had to abandon the second to last race which left him in seventh overall.

One just needs to see the overall results to realise that the three leaders were never in real danger throughout the whole ten-race regatta, despite some poor performances which they were able to discard.

Yet it was the last racing day that would provide the name of the 34th Régates Royales champion. Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) got gold, Italian Giuseppe Duca (Cloud) who was on top of the leader boat up to the mornig of the last day of racing, saw his lead drop with a sixteenth, a tenth and an eighth relegating him to second overall while Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady) from Denmark, who started well with a win was unable to maintain the consistency over the final races and takes third, or bronze overall.

Dragon Final overall results after ten races and one discard
1-Anatoly Loginov (RUS) Annapurna: 40 points
2-Giuseppe Duca (ITA) Cloud: 62 points
3-Soren Pehrsson (DEN) Blue Lady: 78 points
4-Ivan Bradbury (GBR) Blue Haze: 92 points
5-Helmut Schmidt (GER) Kleine Brise: 98 points
6-Bo Selko (DEN) Bonobo: 100 points
7-Martin Payne (GBR) Bear: 105 points
8-Victor Fogelson (RUS) Sunflower: 116 points
9-Joseph Varoqui (FRA) Rusalka: 117 points
10-Vassily Senatorov (RUS) I Feel Good: 125 points

A tour in the Bay
Despite the greyish sky and the hazy atmosphere, the large classic fleet was able to sail another race in variable conditions, in a shifty and often fluctuating easterly. Tight starts, close mark roundings, lots of manoeuvres to hoist gaffs, staysails, jibs, spinnakers or gennakers as the course provided the crews with almost every possible point of sail. Some, like Paulena even zigzagged near the marks to avoid dangerous traffic jams. In such conditions, tactics and good manoeuvring were paramount and there was an intense battle for the lead. Among the Vintage Gaffers, Nan of Fife won on corrected time followed by Avel and Bona Fide, whose crew nonetheless looked extremely focused and fast.

In the Big Boats division, the two Moonbeam “brothers” triumphed in style with number 3 crossing the line just seconds before number 4 and Mariquita stole third place to Thendara by a hair's breadth. Arcadia largely dominated the Vintage class while Paulena surprised her competitors with some unusual manoeuvres at the back of the fleet. Leonore won among the Big Marconi leaving behind Manitou and Rowdy and among the small Marconis Cholita scored a precious win. Finally one more victory for the Dilong Catleya on Highlander and the 6M Nada.

For all classes tomorrow's grande finale will be crucial to decide the winners of the 34th Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai, especially because the weather forecast does not look easy at all, with strong breeze forecast to play a major role of the final act.

One date, one class
The “Fighting Forties” are incredible racing machines despite being created for corinthian sailors looking for fast cruisers, suited for day-sailing off Newport. But the “Bristol magician” was not a man to compromise and when he wanted his ideas to be accepted (and he had plenty) he never dithered to push forward radical designs. These boats are actually very extreme, with a huge beam and a large V-shaped hull, a light displacement and a big sail area.

Nathanaël Herreshoff explored the whole world of naval architecture from the young age of sixteen (Violet was designed in 1864) until the very last years of his long life (Belisarius from 1935) that ended on June 2nd 1938 when he was 90. he produced over 18.000 designs for more than 2,000 boats that were mostly built by his brother's shipyard. When the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) board decided to create a one-design boat especially for its members, they naturally went for the most titled of all naval architects, designer of six America's Cup winners. Vigilant (1893), Defender (1895), Columbia (1899 et 1901), Reliance (1903), Resolute (1920) are among the most fascinating yachts of their times, but the architect who graduated in engineering at the famous Boston MIT, also designed motor boats, cat-boats, dinghies, sloops, ketches, schooners and even a catamaran, Amarylis in 1875.

The new rule allowed to explore new trends and set as the only limit a maximum waterline length of 40 feet, giving Nat Herreshoff plenty of ideas on shapes. In 1900 he already created four 70' one-design boats (followed by nine more some years later) for the NYYC that became a benchmark for their extreme lightness, fine lines and flat deck: “The main feature of these Herreshoff's designs is that they look absolutely unperturbed by the waves” commented Casper Withney.

The Fighting Forties turned into an immediate success, twelve boats were built in just one year 1916 among which Pauline, Maisie and Rowdy, later two more Marilee and Rugosa are launched in 1926. With their large gaff sloop rig and the wide beam, these one-designs were particularly fast in stiff breeze so much to make the eminent NYCC's member Edwin J. Schoettle said: “They're excellent boats in the breeze and easy to steer and manoeuvre in strong winds. I'm told that nobody has never seen a Forty taking a reef...” and they were designed to be sailed short-handed too, by three crew only! Shortly after the first launches, the New York One Design 40 were equipped with a bowsprit further increasing their sail area.

In 1924, Memory, transformed into a Marconi yawl, won the popular Bermuda race and in 1930 the last boat to be built Rugosa scored a double in the same offshore event. Today, Rowdy is the most successful Forty still racing following her predecessors' triumphs as Graham Walker's and his crew have taken almost every race they have competed in the classic yachts circuit.

British owner Graham Walker has a long experience having raced in the America's Cup in 1987 and to several Admiral’s and Ton Cups in the 90s with his fleet of boats all called Indulgence has later discovered and fallen in love with classic yachts. He had one of the last New York Yacht Club Forty restored in Maine, in the USA. The tally speaks loud: since Graham Walker started sailing on Rowdy (NY-49) in Maine, this one-design has almost won every race as did her older sister ship Marilee (NY-50) built in 1926 and re-launched in 2001 that won also the America's Cup Jubilee in Cowes.

Fighting Forty
Designer: Nathanaël Herreshoff
Shipyard: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company
LOA: 20,10 m
LWL: 17,90 m
Beam: 4,40 m
Draft: 2,40 m
Displacement: 21,770 kg
Upwind sail area: 225 m2

Mixed bag

Wind, waves, clouds, shifts and abandons for the fourth day of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai. A great race for the classic yachts in 25 plus knots of breeze and two more for the Dragons in tricky conditions.

Cannes looked more like Brittany than the Cote d'Azur today with its cloudy sky, choppy sea, a westerly/south-westerly topping twenty knots that put boats and crews to the test over a coastal course some ten miles long. Sure, the image of an imposing J Class flying downwind under asymmetric spinnaker just off the marina entrance will be rememberd as one of the most exciting moments on this 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai.

Double winners in the breeze
Take a good start, not easy with a strong swell, sail a good first upwind leg, manouevre well in the fresh breeze, take the right tactical decisions... easier said than done. And very challenging indeed. So much so that some of the crews decided to head back to port after some minor breakages and technical hitches or due to the conditions being too strong for the rigs and boat builds. The sailing off Aiguille were exremely tricky, especially for the older boats.

Today too the course was coastal, with an upwind tack to the îles de Lérins, then a long reach to the point of l’Esquillon, downwind to La Napoule and finally back towards Cannes. In the Spirit of Tradition division Shamrock V got her third consecutive line honours and her first win on corrected time, followed by Nazgul of Fordell while four boats chose to head back in due to the heavy weather. Some like Dainty among the small Marconi, Leonore among the big marconi, Thendara in the Big Boats division, got another consecutive win. One of the oldest boats in Cannes, Marigold (1892) earned a brilliant win amongst the gaffers. Finally White Dolphin succeeded in crossing the line in first in the Vintage class.

An Italian/Russian duel
The Russian crew on Annapurna put together a good performance to close their gap on the Cloud from Italy, provisional leaders, who had the worst day in the series on the windiest and most challenging day so far. It was even worse for Denmark's Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady) who impressed for his consistency but today scored only a 27th. By good fortune, having sailed more than five races, these opaque results can now be discarded. On the second race of the day it was UK entry Bear, skippered by Martin Payne, who got to shine and jump up the provisional scoreboard thanks to a second. As the breeze got stiffer, the Race Committee launched the seventh race and it was Payne again to cross in first, followed by fellow countryman Yan Bradbury (Blue Haze) and by Giuseppe Duca (Cloud) while Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) was only tenth. A good reshuffle of the cards on the table of the Dragons, since the first four crews are all in for the overall win on Friday.

Provisional overall rankingafter seven races
1-Guiseppe Duca (Cloud): 2, 8, 3, 5,7, 17, 3 = 28 points
2-Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna): 5, 1, 13, 13, 1, 1, 10 = 31 points
3-Martin Payne (Bear): 6, 14, 5, 30, 8, 2, 1 = 36 points
4-Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady): 3, 7, 2, 10, 17, 24, 6 = 45 points
5-Helmut Schmidt (Kleine Brise): 7, 4, 9, 20, 44, 21, 4 = 65 points

One date, one class
5.5m I.R, 6m I.R, 8m I.R as well as the 12m I.R (that raced in the America's Cup from 1958 to 1987), 15m I.R and other classes that didn't last, they all derivate from the metre rule created in 1906 in London. At that time yachting was fast developing worldwide, from the USA to Germany, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Scandinavia as well as in France and Italy. Yet, every country and almost every yacht club adopts its own rating rule for a very varied fleet, with very different boats adapted to the local race conditions. Thera are only a few international events apart from the ones on the Swiss lakes or in southern Britain.

These are called “restriction rules”, that is to say they limit the value of a certain number of parameters in order to guarantee similar boat performances, still not forcing to build strictly identical one-design boats. In 1901, the New York Club takes action to reform the Universal Rule in co-operation with designer Nathanaël Herreshoff. Owners from Germany, Sandinavia, the UK and France agree and during a meeting held in London in 1906 they would create the International Rule (I.R.) that will give birth to a number of metre classes that would be more or less successful. Three years later, there were 195 I.R. boats among which 91 6m, 59 8m, 22 10m, 14 12m and nine 15m. The North Americans soon take on the new rule called “metric” that takes into consideration the waterline length, the girth, the freeboard, and the sail area.

From 1907, the best designers all use the rule, especially for the “Eights” that are 14 metres long, have 80 square metres of sail area and weigh nine tons thus allowing to play on different parameters to find the right balance. Scottish designer Alfred Mylne and William Fife, the Norwegian Johan Anker (who also signed the Dragon) and Bjarne Aas, Morgan Giles and Charles Nicholson from the UK, the American Olin Stephens and Thierry Guédon François Camatte, André Mauric from France, all work on this boat, that then becomes an Olympic class from 1908 to 1936. From 1958 the focus switches to the 12m that become popular thanks to the America's Cup, going from wood, to aluminium and later to composite materials (carbon excluded). The other metre classes evolve at a steady pace according to the latest technical innovations.

The Régates Royales welcomes several famous “metric” boats like Mariska (Fife, 1908) one of the few surviving 15m or Seven Seas of Porto (Clinton Crane, 1935) that is the oldest 12m competing in Cannes while among the 8m it's the famous Aile VI (Pierre Arbaut, 1928) that brings back memories of the charismatic female skipper Virginie Hériot which took her to the highest step on the podium at the Games in 1928, together with Helen (Alfred Mylne, 1936) and France (François Camatte, 1937). And finally, sailing on the bay of La Napoule there is one of the oldest 6m, Nada (William Fife,1937). With boats created by the best designers, winning in the metre classes is all but an easy task!

A valuable prize...

For the fourth consecutive year, the “lifestyle” supplement of the daily Les Echos called ”Série limitée” will support the Yacht de Tradition of the Year prize. The prize will be awarded to the traditional yacht that best represents elegance, authenticity and art of living. For this edition, the PYTA will be open to all classic yachts wishing to take part and sailing in British, Spanish, Italian or French waters. All the selected yachts will be judged by a group of qualified experts who will make their decision next November and let it known during the Paris Boat Show and present the winner with the Tradition Yacht of the Year prize. The jury has already made two pre-selections and a third one started on September 15th and will end on October 12th.Classic Yacht owners have still time to enter the PYTA competition and join the boats that have already been selected:
Vintage gaffers: Nan of Fife, OWL, Javelin
Vintage Marconi: Chisando, Oiseau de feu
Classic Marconi: Sonda, Palynodie II, Hilaria

One day, one boat
There are nine “Il Moro di Venezia”, three white and green hulled ones, five that took part to the America's Cup in 1992 and a maxi yacht, later to be named “Il Moro IX”. The saga started in 1976 when Italian Raul Gardini, decided to built the first maxi, the very one that is now racing at the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai 2012.

Il Moro di Venezia was one of the first IOR Maxi Yachts, and the frontrunner of a series of boats bearing the prestigious name and designed by Argentinian master German Frers culminating with Il Moro III, the very first Italian boat to win the Maxi Yacht Championship in 1988, plus five America's cuppers. Launched in 1976 and built by Cantiere Carlini in Rimini on the Italian Adriatic Coast, Il Moro di Venezia is a sloop measuring 20,45 metres and made entirely in wood, seven layers of strip planking construction and rigged with a 27 metres mast that at the time was considered to be absolutely innovative. All designed and built by America sailor and sailmaker Ted Hood. Il Moro I is still regarded as one of the most advanced and futuristic yachts from the late 70's, designed and created with the latest technologies available at the time. The years after her launch Il Moro took part and won the world famous Channel Race leading the fleet at the Fastnet Rock. In 1978 she crosses the Atlantic to compete in the SORC and later literally dominating the classic Miami to Nassau race. Il Moro I obtains many victories in the national and international IOR circuit, including the dramatic 1979 edition of the Fastnet Race, and has many records to her name like the popular Barcolana race in Trieste where her record held for nearly twenty years, from 1987 to 2005.
Raul Gardini had five America's Cup boats to compete in 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup (ITA-1, IT1-7, ITA-15, ITA-16, ITA-25), the latter winning on New Zealand with four wins out of five matches. But the italian team had to capitulate to Bill Koch's America3 in the AC final… Unfortunately, after Il Moro di Venezia IX (the former Windward Passage II) rasul Gardini's death put an end to the saga.

Il Moro di Venezia
Rig: Marconi
Shipyard: Cantiere Carlini di Rimini - Italy
Year: 1976
Architect: German Frers
LOA: 20,41 m
LOA: 21,41 m
LWL: 18,10 m
Beam: 5,08 m
Mainsail area: 65,2 m2
Genoa: 116,8 m2

Scottish showers in Cannes

The Scottish designer and builder would have liked the second day of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai 2012. William Fife has signed no less than twelve yachts that got a win in their respective class. Gusts and light air, sun and rain, it was all there.

Nan of Fife (1896), Pen Duick (1898), Iona (1899), Moonbeam of Fife 3 (1903), Mariska (1908), Mariquita (1911), Moonbeam 4 (1914), Hallowe’en (1926), Cambria (1928), Eilean (1936), Vanity V (1936) and the replica Sunshine (2003) are all boats signed by William Fife and successfully racing in Cannes.

The weather conditions were all but stable today, strong gusts alternating to light airs, transforming the Bay of La Napoule almost in a mountain lake. Finally the five classes started in a flimsy five knots south-easterly to cover a coastal rectangular course around 9 miles long. It was a short lived pleasure as the wind almost completely disappeared, leaving sails flapping, boats trailing in the residual waves.
The fleet was left scattered over the bay while a massive rainstorm, almost a flood, hit. Luckily enough and shortly afterward the sun and the wind made their reappearance allowing the race to be sailed, albeit on a reduced course. Only Milena, was not able to finish due to an unfortunate dismasting caused by a broken backstay: the mast fell down and broke in two pieces forcing the crew led by skipper Jacques Anderruthy to motor back to the marina to clear up the chaos on deck.

The first boat to cross the line was, once more, Shamrock V but on corrected time the win went to Jacques Fauroux's Dilong Catleya in the Spirit of Tradition class. In the Vintage class Arcadia signs her first victory at the 34th Régates Royales de Cannes while one of the smallest boats racing, Dainty scored a first in the under 15 metres Marconi class, Leonore in the over 15 metre class. Thendara won in the Big Boats division and Bona Fide confirmed her leadership among the gaffers.

Dragons under the clouds…
Today's races could well represent a turning point for the 43 Dragons competing in Cannes because after the fourth race in a flimsy five knots north-easterly gaps are starting to become important, especially between the two leaders and the rest of the fleet. Actually, after a first windward/leeward leg in an almost steady breeze where the left side was favoured, the air died progressively down on the downwind tack. The fleet split in two groups with the inshore one profiting from a huge wind shift. In a match-racing style finish was the Italian crew of Massimo Buzzi, Tommaso Buzzi and Marco Borzone (Little Hook) to cross in first. They were followed by USA's Edward Simmons (Grendel) and Germany's Timann Krackhardt (Hausdraken) while Briton Ivan Bradbury (Blue Haze) finished in third. Reigning champion Giuseppe Duca with French crew Jean-Sébastien Ponce and Guillaume Berenger (Cloud) was fifth, a result that put them on top of the provisional scoreboard as their nearest rivals didn't score brilliant results today. Yesterday's leader Soren Pehrsson from Denmark (Blue Lady), Russian Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) and German Helmut Schmidt (Kleine Brise) finished tenth, thirteenth and twentieth respectively. After the first race the Race Committee sent the crews ashore to avoid an enormous rainstorm that swept any breeze away from the race course. After some waiting, a new southerly managed to get in on the La Napoule bay and shortly before 4 pm, the 43 Dragons went out heading for the fifth race, in some fifteen knots strong southerly. It was Russian flagged Annapurna to get in first, ahead of UK's Jerboa and Sunflower, thus consolidating her second overall behind Cloud that with a seventh place manages to keep the lead.
There are two days left and the weather forecast for Thursday is for sunny skies and a good breeze, the two provisional leaders can't rest on their laurels...

One date, one class
Exactly like the Régates Royales, firstly held back to 1929 to honour HRH Christian X of Denmark, the Dragon class celebrates its 83th birthday this year. 8,90 metre long, 1,95 metre wide the one-design weighs 1,700 kilos and has an upwind sail area of 27,7 square metres. She was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 and since then more than 3,000 boats have been produced. The Dragon was selected to participated to the Games and was an Olympic class from 1948 to 1972. The class' champions were the Norwegian Thor Thorvadlsen who won the title in London (1948) and Helsinski (1952), Folke Bohlin from Sweden in Melbourne (1956), Greece's HRH Constantin II in Rome (1960), danish Ole Berntsen in Tokyo (1964), US' George Friedrichs in Mexico (1968) and finally Australia's John Cuneo in Munich (1972).

The Norwegian designer created the boat further to an international competition launched by the Royal Göteborg Yacht Club in 1927 to produce a one design boat that would be relatively cheap and suited for a crew of three. The first 20m2 (as the boat was originally called) was built in 1928 but the class started to become popular on the following year. In 1935 she started to be sailed in Scotland, and in 1935 the soon to become Queen Elizabeth was presented with a Dragon called Bluebottle as a gift. The boat was modified in 1945, the sail area was increased to 27,7 square metres and a spinnaker was added to the sail inventory. A French fleet was created after WWII, with boats racing mainly in Deauville and in Arcachon. Traditional hunting ground for crews from Scandinavia, over the last decades the international racing circuit has been dominated by sailors from Eastern Europe: Russians, Ukranians, former Iugoslavians... yet at the golden age of 68 Danish Poul Richard Hoj Jensen still reamains one of the biggest names in the class.

It seems that the name of the boat was born out of a pronunciation mistake when Johan Anker introduced his design to the International Sailing Federation to get an international class status, an interpreter called it “Draggen” and the Anglo-saxons translated into “Dragon”. The one-design became Olympic class in 1948 for the London Games and took part to the last Olympics in Munich in 1972. In 1970 the class rule opened to aluminium masts and thanks to Borge Borresen's efforts fibreglass hulls were accepted. In 2012 the class registered 1,391 boats competing on a regular basis to racing events in 29 different countries. Every year some fifty new boats are built, mainly by Vejle Yacht Service (Denmark), Borresen (Denmark), Doomernik Dragons (Holland), Markus Glas (Germany), Petticrows (UK) and Ridgeway Dragons (Australia).

The Dragon:
Hull length: 8,90 m
Beam: 1,95 m
Draft: 1,20 m
Displacement: 1,670 kg
Ballast: 1 000 kg
Mainsail: 16,00 m2
Jib: 11,70 m2
Spinnaker: 23,60 m2

The Pen Duick saga: the Ostar great innovator

This is the boat that will make Éric Tabarly famous not only to the public but also to the Franch Navy, it's a revolutionary design that combines a very light displacement to a very sophisticated strip plank construction, reinforced by a steel structure and a ketch rig that makes her an high- performance boat under all points of sail...

To think that this mythical boat risked to never been built... as a matter of fact when, in June 1962 Éric Tabarly reads in a magazine about the second edition of the Ostar, 3,000 miles single-handed from Plymouth in Cornwall to Newport (Rhode Island) to be raced at the end of May 1964 he decides to take part. Based on the experience of the skippers from the first edition in 1960, he opts for a light displacement boat of a a “reasonable” size for a solo sailor. Together with his mates Marc and Gilles Constantini who manage the shipyard to the same name, he starts building an optimized version of a Tarann.

This class III boat, owned by the Constantini brothers, was called Margilic V was built between October 1962 and April 1963. Compared to the previous models, this Tarann was equipped with a bigger cutter rig (previously she was a sloop) as required by Tabarly. She took part to several races and Tabarly trained extensively single-handed over the autumn getting through a storm and more than 60 knots between Bénodet and La Trinité sur Mer.

Éric Tabarly understands that the boat is too small to try and win the race and, since the end of summer 1963, works with Gilles Constantini to design and build a new light displacement boat especially conceived for the solo transatlantic race. In October the design is almost complete. But the budget is tight and the original Tarann boat has to be sold to start the new construction. At the end of the year Tabarly is about to give up when he meets a friend who offers to lend him the sum necessary to build the hull. The works start in January 1964 (and the race start was scheduled for May!) when Tabarly visits the Paris Boat show to look for equipment, deck hardware, sails, pilot, rigging...

Pen Duick II it's a revolutionary boat for these days, not only she weighs less than 7 tons ready to sail (Chichester's Gipsy Moth is 13 tons) but she is also built in an extremely sophisticated way. The hull is made of marine plywood panels cut in 15 metres sections to run all along the hull and make it stronger. The structure is further reinforce with steel plates running in the area between the masts, bolted to the keel and jointed to the chainplates too. The boat is ketch rigged but the masts are spaced in order to decrease windage and increase aerodynamics, lower the sail centre and especially allow for a huge number of sail combinations to maximize the boat's performance under all points of sail. This concept will play a major role in Éric Tabarly's victory in Newport because three days after the start from Plymouth, the wind pilot designed by the Italian engineer Gianoli breaks. And more... Tabarly equipped his boat with a plexiglass dome to be able to see outside without leaving the nav station while seated on a Harley Davidson saddle!

The skipper wins the Ostar in 21 days and 23 hours leaving second-placed Francis Chichester more than one day behind… Onboard Pen Duick II, Éric Tabarly wins the RORC in 1964, then changes her into a schooner and a wishbone in 1966 to participate to the races in the Caribbean but has to shorten the hull to be able to race with the CCA rule. In Pen Duick II is bought by 1966 the École Nationale de Voile of Quiberon, but after a bad accident and a wreckage she becomes a sad trophy sitting at the entrance of the club's parking lot. The boat is in a state of complete abandon when she is taken to the Pichavant shipyard in Pont-L’Abbé to undergo a full restoration and in 1994 the famous “number 14” is the one of the main attractions at the Paris Boat Show. Completely restored Pen Duick II goes back sailing and is now used to teach young navy officers and to promote yachting to the public. In 2007, she was in Lorient for the opening of the Cité de la Voile-Éric Tabarly.

Pen Duick II
Designer: Gilles Constantini
Shipyard: Chantier Constantini (Saint Philibert – Morbihan France)
Launch date: April 5th 1964, first navigation May 10th
Length: 13,60 m
Hull length: 10,00 m
Beam: 3,40 m
Draft: 2,20 m
Displacement: 6, 700 kg
Ballast: 3,300 kg
Upwind sail area: 60 m²

Autumn breeze

The weather conditions were almost perfect for the opening day of the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai with a good easterly/south-easterly breeze between ten and twelve knots, flat sea and blue skies. The classic yacht were able to fight for the first points over a coastal course in the Bay of La Napoule while the 44 Dragons completed two races.

Once more, the weather took central stage in Cannes during the morning hours, with huge, grey and menacing clouds hovering over the city and the race village. But, as it happened yesterday, a heavy shower gave way to a bright sun, blue skies and a variable wind that took some time to set in onto the race course. The Race Committee thus opted for a rectangular coastal course with the first mark just off the Lérins Islands, a downwind tack to Théoule, a long reaching to Mandelieu to finish upwind close to the marina entrance.

Shamrock V gets the first one
Eight miles to cover, all sails up, a magnificent show: the big J Class designed by Charles E. Nicholson opened the party for the hundred boats participating to the 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée in a light easterly/south-easterly of ten to twelve knots. Shamrock V finished in a bit more than 1 hour and twenty minutes, before Teewa 5 and the Tofinou 9.50 Speedbird both competing in the Spirit of Tradition division… But on corrected time it was the brand new Dilong (a Dragon hull equipped with a gaff rig) owned by Jacques Fauroux, Catleya to get the top spot .

Leonore, the Q-Class formerly Cotton Blossom II, leads in the Marconi over 15 metres class followed by two Olin Stephens' designed yachts, Skylark et Manitou, while Mariquita won among the Big Boats crossing the line a mere two minutes after the gigantic J Class Cambria… Cholita finished in first with an almost 15 minutes lead on her adversaries, the marconi less than 15 metres long class. The fight was closer among the Vintage yachts where White Dolphin won, followed by Italian Navy's Stella Polare. Avel confirmed his leading role among the Gaffs, despite Kelpie's and Nan of Fife's brilliant performance.

A Cloud over the Annapurna
The 43 Dragons finally found the right conditions, albeit quite tricky for tacticians, to finish two windward/leeward races on the Golfe Juan bay. With the Iles de Lérins shadow and a southerly breeze of around six to eight knots all the crews opted for the left hand side of the course. If the first race had to be abandoned because the wind completely died away, the second race was won by Russian Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) followed by his countryman Vassily Senatorov (I feel Good), while the second race went to one of the few female skippers in the fleet, UK's Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (Jerboa) followed by ever-consistent Danish crew led by Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady) and the reigning champion Guiseppe Duca (Cloud) from Italy.
After three races the overall scoreboard is led by the Danish at 12 points, the Italian with 13 points and the Russian at 19 because of a not so brilliant second race of the day. In fourth Germany's Helmut Schmidt at 20 points.

Tomorrow's racing is expected to be tricky as the weather forecast speaks of heavy rainstorms and, as a consequence, very variable and shifty airs.

One date, one class
It's 1904, the New York Yacht Club together with designer Nathanaël Herreshoff, decide to update the so called “Seawanhaka” rating rule that is twenty years old and replace it with the Universal Rule. The previous rule, as a matter of facts, did not take into account displacement or overhang that had become the norm and at times even excessive. Reliance, the most extreme of all the America's cuppers and winner of the “Auld Mug” the previous year was 27,37 metres long bit her overall length amounted to no less than 43,79 metres, that is to say 6,70 aft and 7,92 forward!

The new rule defined a rating (R) taking into account the hull length (heart) multiplied by the square root of the sail area (S) and by a fixed 0,182 coefficient, the result divided by the displacement cubic root. The hull length had to be balanced with the max beam, in order to reduce overhangs. The Universal Rule also gave origin to another ten classes, including the famous “J Class” that would compete in the America's Cup from 1930 to 1937 (Entreprise vs Shamrock V in 1930, Rainbow vs Endeavour in 1934 and Ranger vs Endeavour II in 1937).

Among the newcomers to the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai, is the Q-Class Jour de Fête designed by Frank Paine in 1930 competing against famous Cotton Blossom II the totally restored in 2003 by AC legend Dennis Conner and that is now owned by Mark Faulkner and went back to her original name Leonore. This latter was designed by Norwegian Johan Anker built by Anker & Jensen near Oslo in 1925, while Jour de Fête is the sixteenth Q-Class, launched in 1930 under the name of Falcon II.

Sixty-seven Q-Class boats have been built between 1904 and 1938 like Dorothy Q (Q-2) and Eleanor (Q-3) by Francis Herreshoff in 1907, More Joy (designed by Francis Herreshoff in 1909), Virginia (W. Gardner, 1913), Grayling (Francis Herreshoff, 1923). Yet as the class was fast losing its appeal among North American owners so the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead tries to re-style the Q-Class by increasing the length and reducing the sail area by 10% by introducing a Marconi rig.

These new rules pushed owners to start building again and a series of boats follow: Cotton Blossom II (designed by Johan Anker and built by Anker & Jensen in 1925), Rascal (J.G. Alden built by Hodgon Bros. in 1925), Hornet (Frank Paine built by Lawley in 1926), Taygeta (J.G. Alden built by Lawley in 1926), Nor’easter V (Q-10, designed by Francis Herreshoff and buikt by Lawley in 1928), Robin and Cara Mia (Q-11 and Q-12, Franck Paine built by Lawley in 1928), Hope (Q-13, J.G. Alden built by Hodgon Bros. in 1929), Questa (Q-14, Francis Herreshoff, built by Lawley in 1929), Falcon II later named Hayday, and Jour de Fête (Q-16, Frank Paine and Lawley 1930), Stormy Petrel (designed by F.C. Brewer and built by South Coast Boat in 1937) and finally Tantalus the seems to be the last Q-Class to be created (design N.S. Potter built by Fellows & Stewart in 1938)…

One boat a day
She's debuting at the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai 2012. Skylark is an Olin Stephens's design dating back to 1937, built in the same year John F. Kennedy launched Manitou, also known as “the floating White House” that he owned until 1955. Skylark, tough, is a 53 footer (16,20 metres), 12 feet wide (3,70 metres) while the US President's yawl measured 62 feet (18,50 metres). Built by shipyard Pendleton Yard in Maine, the boat is drawing number 146 by Sparkman & Stephens and was inspired by Stormy Wheather (1934 - drawing number 27) and Manitou (1936 - number 99) that opened the way to the following series of fast cruising yawls signed by the renowned American architects like Comet (1940 – design number 522) or Argyll (1948 – number 628). Owned by Tara Getty, Skylark displacement is 20,741 kg, her sail area is 184m2 and in Cammes she will be battling against her “compatriots” Manitou et Argyll…

Over the years the name Pen Duick has become the epitome of French yachting, since sailing legend, Eric Tabarly, decided to restore and totally rebuild the boat fifty-four years after her launch in Carrigaloe, Ireland. From then Pen Duick has not ceased sailing both in Brittany and in the Med as she will do again for the 34th Régates Royales, this time in the company of her “younger sisters”.

The Pen Duick's tale

The very first owner of the famous boat designed by William Fife III was Mr Neil Balfour who in 1898 had her built in Ireland by N&J Cummins et Bros and named her Yum. Four years later he sold her to Monsieur Hachette who changed her name to Griselidis just to sell her shortly later to a gentleman from Le Havre whose name still remains unknown. Later Pen Duick was bought by a member of the Cercle de la voile de Paris, Monsieur Mac Henry who sailed her on the Seine river up to qui Meulan, close to Paris. In January 1907, Mister Pierre Tacon purchased her and just six months later sold her to Georges Rus, who registered her under the name of Manda.

In 1909, Monsieur André Raillard took possession of her and named her Griselidis, flying the burgee of the Société des régates de Brest, in 1913 the boat changed owner again being acquired by Monsieur Cailleux but she remained four years without actually sailing during World War I. It was Monsieur Jacques Richepin who take her back to Brittany, where she will later be owned by Mr Ganuchaud and Mr Le Goff. The boats changed name again and became Astarée then Panurge in 1931. She was taken back to Le Havre in 1933 as Butterfly and finally on July 17th 1935 she was renamed Pen Duick by her new owner Jean Lebec.

In 1938 she lied abandoned on the Loire river bank when Guy Tabarly acquired her and delivered her to Bénodet. Éric Tabarly became her fourteenth owner in 1952 when his father gave her to him as a present. But the wooden hull was too ruined by the long war years spent in a shed at the Costantini shipyard in La Trinité sur Mer to go back into the water. Éric Tabarly thus chose to build a new fibreglass hull, using Pen Duick as a male mould. It will take three years for the fife designed boat to get back in shape before Tabarly can get her sailing after returning from his round-the-world circumnavigation onboard the French Navy's ship Jeanne d’Arc. In 1959 Pen Duick took part to the RORC in the UK and from 1962 to 1983 she underwent more works at Raymond Labbé's shipyard in Saint Malo. On July 6th 1989 the cutter was equipped with a brand new Oregon pinewood deck as well as a new set of sails produced by Victor Tonnerre. After Eric Tabarly's death in 1998, the boat went to his daughter's care and today is one of the main attractions at the Cité de la Voile-Éric Tabarly in Lorient. Together with the other Pen Duick and thanks to the support by Banque Populaire, the Fife designed classic participates to several races in Europe.

Pen Duick
Designer: William Fife III
Shipyard: N&J Cummins et Bros
Year: 1898 in Carrigaloe (Ireland)
Hull lenght: 15,10 m
Overall length: 10,04 m
Beam: 2,93 m
Draft: 2,15 m
Displacement: 10,000 kg
Ballast: 6,000 kg
Upwind sail area: 160 m²

Opening day opens... late

The forty-four Dragons were expected to officially open the 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai in a light south-westerly after a massive rainstorm hit Cannes in the morning. Unfortunately, the breeze played hide-and-seek well into the afternoon and the fresh south-westerly was late in setting, later increasing and gusting 25 knots, allowing the one-design fleet to finish only one race on the opening day.

There were some high-tension moments today at noon at the Vieux Port in Cannes as a huge, massive black cloud hovered over the pontoons and the race village, to release its charge of heavy, torrential rain. No more than half an hour of big raindrops, a gusting wind blowing at more than 30 knots and then the sun came out again, warm and bright, drying up the place. The wind also went back to a more acceptable intensity and the Race Committee decided to send the 44-boats strong fleet out shortly before 15. A south-easterly of around ten knots welcomed the sailors but, as the sun went slowly down, the breeze almost completely died out. Actually it was a new wind from the south-west to cause this patch of very light air. The boats were then moved to a different race area in looking for a decent breeze to race.

By 16:30 the situation changed dramatically and the Dragons were sailing in over twenty knots and choppy sea. The Committee quickly launched the starting procedure, as the wind gusted to 25 knots. The race, on a double windward to leeward course of 1,2 miles, was won by Russian expert Vassily Senatorov (I feel Good), followed by reigning champion Giuseppe Duca from Italy (Cloud) and by Denmark's Soren Pehrsson (Blue Lady) while the first French crew to cross the line was Gérard Blanc (Tsuica II) finishing in twelfth.

Old beauties in Cannes

There are seventeen “old beauties”, more than one hundred years old, at the 34th Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai. They are all splendidly maintained and restored and some have truly exceptional stories. The oldest of all is the gaff cutter Victory, designed by Hitchens and built in 1884 while the youngest one Esterel that is also a gaff cutter and is going to celebrate his hundredth birthday this year. Between them and rigorously by their birth date: Marigold (Charles Nicholson-1892), Avel (Charles E. Nicholson-1896), Nan of Fife (William Fife-1896), Lulu (Raibot & Caillebotte-1897), Pen Duick (William Fife-1898), Tigris (Alfred Mylne-1899), Bona Fide (Sibbick-1899), Iona (Willaim Fife-1899), Kelpie (Alfred Mylne-1902), Moonbeam of Fife 3 (William Fife-1903), Oriole (Nathanaël Herreshoff-1905), Véronique (AR. Juke-1907), Mariska (William Fife-1908), Wayward (Shepherd-1908) and Mariquita (William Fife-1911).

Twenty countries

Classic yachts sometimes come from very far away to be in Cannes, like the two Canadian boats especially delivered by cargo ship to participate to the Mediterranean circuit Aloha (Edson Shock-1923) and Lady Van (Charles Nicholson-1928). The most represented country at the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai is France with thirty-three boats, followed by the UK with twenty-seven and Italy with nine. Montecarlo (3), Canada (2), the Isle of Man (2), Malta (2), Holland (2), the Cayman Islands (2) are also present as well as the USA, Tortola, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland… not to mention the Dragons coming from Finland, Germany, Ireland, Russia and Sweden.

Dragons first

The famous bay of La Napoule is ready to welcome the 34th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai. Tomorrow, Monday, some fifty Dragons will set in motion the week long regatta while a hundred classic yachts to start the “big party” organised by the Yacht Club de Cannes.

The weather will be crucial this week as the forecast speaks of mixed and varied conditions, from light wind to stiff breeze, from sunny to overcast skies and even some possible rainstorms. A full agenda is planned for the 34th edition of the Régates Royales, the last rendez-vous of Trophée Panerai a true classic yachts world championship. Some one hundred fascinating boats are already moored in the Cannes Vieux Port: from small ones like Dainty, the1922 Westmacott designed 8 metre long vintage sloop, to the impressive 55 plus metre Elena by Nathanael Herreshoff. Along Quai Laubeuf, already packed with spectators and fans, one can also admire the late Eric Tabarly full Pen Duick fleet of boats, exceptionally reunited in Cannes. All go to sea on Tuesday from 11:00 with the classics starting the racing: gaffs, vintage Marconi (up to or over 15 metres), Spirit of Tradition, Big Boats, Classics…

“The best boats will once again be present, making the event really unique. Big boats side by side with small ones, all united in sportsmanship and fair play. And after racing at the race village everyone can enjoy the festive mood and take part to the numerous social activities.” Explains Jean-Claude Montésinos, President of the Yacht Club de Cannes.

The Dragons to start on Monday
Once again, it will be the Dragon fleet to kick off the 2012 event: some fifty boats will compete fiercely for a prestigious win at the “Régates”, as it is the case of Italy’s Giuseppe Duca on Cloud who is back to replay last year’s success but who will have to watch out for some serious contenders in the likes British experts Ivan Bradbury on Blue Haze, Ron James on Fei-lin’s Flirtation or Gavia Wilkinson-Cox on Jerboa. The strong Russian contigent will feature champions Anatoly Loginov on his Annapurna and Victor Fogelson on Sunflower, not to mention the French armada, ten crews will try to triumph on home waters among which Gérard Blanc on Tsuica II, Pierre François on Imagine or Joseph Varoqui on Rusalka. Action is guaranteed for tomorrow, with a light south-westerly breeze of around ten knots in the early afternoon…

From September 23 through 30 the world famous Croisette is once again going to be center stage of classic yachting for the Régates Royales -Trophée Panerai. With its 50 boats strong Dragon fleet and an armada of around 24 classic yachts, some over a century old, and its colourful show the event will bring to life the bay of Cannes.

Gaff rigs, schooners, cutters, sloops, yawls, J Class, one-designs from last century and 12 Metre Class will bring back the glorious years of yachting over five days of racing on the courses around the Lérins Islands. It will be an exceptional gathering, with some of the biggest and most famous yachts from the last century such as the majestic Eilean (designed by William Fife III), Mariquita (William Fife III), Cambria (William Fife), Moonbeam III and Moonbeam IV, winning in 2011 (William Fife), Mariska (William Fife III), Manitou (Olin Stephens) and the “tiny” Dainty (by Westmacott)…

“Every year, the most fascinating yachts sign in for the Régates Royales and every successive year this becomes a unique rendezvous. Big boats sailing alongside small ones, in a sporting atmosphere. After racing everyone gathers in the village to live and share its social events where the festive mood, laughter and good humour are always on hand.” Says Jean-Claude Montesinos, President of the Yacht Club de Cannes. The Régates Royales de Cannes is also the last annual event on the Panerai Trophy, the ultimate world championship for yachting.

The famous Pen Duick fleet symbolise French sailing, its tradition, the evolution of yachting and sail racing. These fascinating five boats all bring back the memory of a man: Eric Tabarly. For close to a decade, the Eric Tabarly Association in partnership with Banque Populaire works on a daily basis to maintain all the Pen Duicks in top form and from September the 23^rd, they will return to Cannes after two years absence.

The Dragons will rally to the world-famous bay this autumn for one of the most beautiful class gatherings where some fifty boats are expected to compete with Giuseppe Duca (Cloud), last year’s champion, returning to defend his title. The anticipation for Les Régates Royales is already growing…

In 2012, Cannes will celebrate the 34^th edition of the revived Régates Royales, one of the oldest races since the first edition was held in 1929 in honour of King Christian X of Denmark.

The Yacht Club de Cannes is also one of the oldest in France, having been founded in the spring of 1859 when Messieurs Béchard, Tripet-Skrypitzone, de Colquhoum and Bucquet created the Société des Régates and organised the first racing event in the bay of La Napoule where big vessels like Léro, Olga, Jeannette and Touriste rallied together with smaller sailing boats as well as several local fishermen’s rowing boats.

For the sixth time, during the 34^th edition of the Régates Royales, from September 23 to 29 September, the organisers together with the Yacht Club de Cannes and the City of Cannes, will launch an amateur photo contest. This year the chosen theme is: “The colours of the Régates Royales”. The award will also appreciate the values of sportsmanship, friendship and tradition.