The
38th Régates Royales de Cannes -Trophée Panerai
celebrated the anniversary of some of the oldest yachts on the international
circuit: Nan of Fife and Eva at 120 and 110 years old,
or the two New York 40s Chinook and Rowdy that just turned
centenarian. Day
3 was a beautiful, albeit pretty complicated day for the 150 boats taking
part in the event. Thanks to south-easterly breeze in the bay of La Napoule
and in the Juan gulf, the classics, the Dragons and the 5.5 Metres all
had good, close racing.
The
game is not over for the classics, though it possibly is for the Dragons
that have raced eight races already and had three today in a good south-easterly
that veered to the south and increased, enabling the Dragons to exploit
their full potential. The leaderboard is taking a more defined shape and
it looks like it will be a duel between the Germans on Smaug and
the Russians on Annapurna, despite some other surprising crews
like Estonia's Vitamin-One that won today's first match, despite
a very bad start at the Régates Royales.
Russian
veteran Anatoly Loginov won the second race with ease in front of the German
crew of Powwow, scoring a break point before the last match of
the day because both Smaug and Even Better had a bad
race, whilst the UK's Storm bounced back and climbed on the third
step of the provisional podium. The updated overall results will be available
later tonight.
The
Masters of the Metre class
The
5.5 Metre class benefitted from a great day on the water, with a good south-easterly
that enabled them to complete three races. Taking advantage of the occasional
sudden gust on the race course, Germany’s Prettynama (that
also won last week's Régate en Mer de la Société Nautique
de Genève) showed its predilection for the stronger breeze, as did
compatriots Atari and Silver Fox that finished in 2nd
and 7th respectively in the first match of the day. The second
race went to Hannes Waimer, Markus Koy and Diego Negri on Atari, who
climbed into first place on the overall leaderboard. Close racing was on
the menu for the third race with four teams on top: Atari
(GER-6 points), Société Nautique de Genève (SUI-7
points), Feng Shui (NED-8 points) and Prettynama (GER-8
points).
Sentimental
waves
For
once David beat Goliath... The weather forecast for today in the bay of
La Napoule was for light wind, while to the crews' joy it blew stronger
than expected, with twelve to fifteen knots. After a short postponement,
the race committee fired the starting signal for the day's race on a one-lap
triangular coastal course. Unfortunately, shortly after the start of the
Classics, the UK's Outlaw and Spain's Giraldilla collided.
Nobody was injured but the two boats were forced to go back into port to
evaluate the damage.
In
the 12 Metre class, France was once again beaten by her sparring
partner Sovereign that managed to squeeze inside the downwind
mark, just a few metres away from the finish line and cross in first place.
With another win for the crew skippered by Claude Perdriel. their adversaries
will not catch up so easily.
Full
results will be available at www.regatesroyales.com
Anniversaries,
anniversaries...
There
are no less than eighteen centenarians taking part in the 38th
edition of the Régates Royales, and many more are celebrating important
anniversaries during this last rendezvous of the Panerai Classic Yachts
Challenge. Among the oldest boats still sailing are Marigold, the
yacht designed by Charles Nicholson and built in Gosport at
Camper & Nicholson's in 1892 and Nan of Fife, that is celebrating
120 years from her launch. Conceived by William Fife III in 1896, this
gaff cutter is very similar to Éric Tabarly's Pen Duick and
was owned by Philippe Menhinick's father until 1952. She was found
in Port-Camargue in France at the end of the last century and underwent
a total refit in Saint-Malo in 2001 before being taken to the Mediterranean.
Eva,
celebrating her 110th birthday in the bay of Cannes, is a design
by William Fife III. She was conceived according to the Linear Rating Rule
and launched the very same year the IYRU was born and the metre class was
adopted. She is very similar to an 8 Metre but is in fact the third boat
built to this design. William Fife III was so satisfied with this project
that he built a boat even before having sold it. Renamed Valona
in 1913, she was owned by a member of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club until
1938. Almost totally restored by Fairlie Restorations in 2001, today only
a piece of the original oak keel still remains, but Eva respects
in full the original drawings.
Chinook
(NY48) and Rowdy (NY49), the two New York Yacht Club 40 one-designs
drawn by Nathanaël Herreshoff back in 1916, have also turned one hundred
years old. Called Fighting Forties, they still are among the fastest boats
on the racing circuit and have always shone at the Régates Royales,
being at ease in both light and heavy airs thanks to their large beam.
Ten
years younger, the Marconi-rigged Hallowe’en is an excellent
example of the evolution in rig design.. Inspired by the 15 Metre class,
this cutter designed by William Fife in 1926 and built in Fairlie won the
second edition of the famous Fastnet Race, the same year she was launched.
Eilean,
epitomizing Panerai's involvement in classic yachting since 2005,
is one of the latest boats designed by the Fife dynasty and was built in
1936 in Fairlie. This elegant yawl is also popular for the rock band Duran
Duran's 1982 videoclip that was filmed aboard. She has crossed the Atlantic
several times.
A
few metres further down the quai Laubeuf, Comet well illustrates
design evolution in the post-war period: designed by Sparkman & Stephens
in 1946 she is an almost-sister ship to Stormy Weather and Skylark,
two boats that made the New York based study famous worldwide.
And
finally Paulena and Jalina are also celebrating their
fiftieth anniversaries. Paulena is a Marconi-rigged yawl
by Italian designer and builder Cesare Sangermani that has sailed extensively
in different corners of the planet. Jalina was designed by French
architect Eugène Cornu. She won the Cowes-Dinard race
just one year after her launch and three years later the famous Giraglia
in the Mediterranean.
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