A little over a year
after Barbara’s return in the sea, that took place in Viareggio in May 2018,
and after participating in some of the most important vintage regattas of 2019,
the 19-meter yacht Barbara, that was originally launched in 1923 at the historic
English shipyard Camper & Nicholsons of Gosport, won the AIVE Cup (Italian
Association of Vintage Sails, representative in Italy of the CIM, International
Mediterranean Committee of Yachting) of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the 'Vintage
Yachts' category. A result that is not only a great reward to the commitment of
the crew that is mainly from Tuscany and Sardinia, but also has brought
recognition to the Vele Storiche Viareggio Association that Barbara represents.
During
the year, Barbara participated in six
regattas, consequently, 1,500 miles
traveled, 14 trials and 30 crew members who took turns on board
between May and October. Numbers that, combined with the ratings, allowed
Barbara, a 19-meter-long (including
the bowsprit) Bermudan yawl launched in England in 1923 by the Camper &
Nicholsons shipyard of Gosport, designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson, to
win the AIVE Cup of the Tyrrhenian Sea
2019 in the category 'Vintage Yachts' (launched before 1950), the trophy
established annually by the Italian
Association of Vintage Sails.
A victory that rewards the efforts of all the
passionate sailors who sailed on Barbara and that makes the Viareggio Historical Sails Association
proud, the association was established in 2005 to promote and enhance the
tradition of vintage yachting and the historical and cultural heritage that
associated boats represent. For the record, the AIVE Cup in the "Classic
Yachts" category (launched between 1950 and 1975), went to the 1974
Sangermani Chaplin, the Italian Navy
school boat. "Never like this year",
declared the president of AIVE and General Secretary of CIM Pier Maria Giusteschi Conti, "the victory was really due to consistency
and we hope that this will encourage more vintage and classic boats to return
to participate in the regattas".
THE VICTORY AFTER THREE YEARS OF RESTORATION
Barbara,
project number 318 of the well-known
English yard, is built in teak and pitch pine planking on oak decking. Designed
by the genius Charles Ernest Nicholson,
the sole designer of the America's Cup challengers for four editions from 1920
to 1937 (Shamrock IV and V, Endeavour and Endeavour II). Endeavour was
recognized faster than the American Rainbow in 1934 and Endeavour II was the
only one to beat the winner Ranger in the America's Cup of 1937.
Among
Barbara's famous owners there are such prominent people as Baron Amaury de la Grange, which since 1928 was based in Cannes,
and Count Jean de Vogue, owner of
the magnificent French castle Vaux-le-Vicomte, who sailed Barbara until the
1960s. In 1982 it was used as a support hull for the Atlantic windsurfing crossing, completed in 24 days. Found in
Spain at the end of the 1990s, it was later entrusted to the care of the Francesco Del Carlo shipyard in Viareggio,
which completed the philological restoration of the boat between 2015 and 2018.
"BARBARA" in 2019
Barbara's
sailing season began at the end of April 2019 in Livorno on the occasion of the
"International Sailing Week Naval
Academy City of Livorno", where she was ranked first in the
"Vintage" class. In June, at Le Grazie in Porto Venere, she
participated in "Le Vele d'Epoca
nel Golfo" (5th in class 'Vintage') and at the "Argentario Sailing Week" in Porto
Santo Stefano (6th in “Bermudan Vintage” class ). In September, after the
summer break during which she cruised between Sardinia, Corsica and the islands
of the Tuscan Archipelago, Barbara raced at the twenty-first edition of "Le Vele d'Epoca di Imperia", where
she finished seventh in the “Bermudan Vintage 2” class.
In the same month she
moved to La Spezia, where at the "Mariperman
Trophy" she finished fourth in the “Vintage” class. And finally in
October, she took part in the fifteenth edition of the "Viareggio Historical Regatta",
where it finished sixth. Other events, such as the French Admiral Trophy, the Riviera
Trophy and the Monaco Classic Week,
were used to adjust the boat, improve its performance and train the crew.
A POWERFUL BOAT
"The
yawl Barbara," said tactician Saverio
Giangrandi, "does her best with winds of intensity greater than 10
knots. On these occasions she is very powerful on the wave, while in slow wind
with waves her performance suffers. She is always
one of the first ones at the departures, in the load-bearing gaits she is
stable and fast”. "Over the next few months," Giangrandi continues,
"we will introduce some improvements to the sail management and on-board
weight distribution."
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