Last racing day for the Dragons, double coastal race for the classics: Friday was undoubtedly the best day of the 37th Régates Royales – Trophee Panerai. Crews and organizers had to wait for a while but were then rewarded with excellent conditions, the wind progressively increasing to over 15 knots with flat seas, blue skies and warm weather. Germany’s Michael Schmidt is crowned winner of the Dragons, while MOONBEAM IV, CHOLITA, MARIGOLD and MANITOU dominate among the classics.
It took a while for the breeze to set in today, but at around 1300 a good wind set over the Bay of Cannes and the Golfe Juan enabling the two fleets to dock out, headed to their respective race areas. The Dragons had their final and decisive race on a windward/leeward course and the classics a long triangular coastal. As the day went on conditions improved, with the wind increasing to 12, then 15 and later 18 knots: a perfect setting for a sailing race. Schmidt is king of the Dragons Germany’s Michael Schmidt (M3) and his crew started their last race at the Régates Royales with a good margin, enough to play it safe and get the gold. The race area for the Dragons was not that easy to decipher, a shifty south-westerly of around 12 knots funneling between the Lerins Islands and the upwind mark, forcing tacticians to anticipate each and every little shift. First went to UK’s Yvan Bradbury (BLUE HAZE) who won the first race of the series, his countrywomen Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (JERBOA) getting silver and Estonia’s Mihkel Khosk (AAB FUN) bronze. Provisional leader Michael Schmidt (M3) finished in fifth, winning the overall 2015 series with a 14 point total score, distancing Yvan Bradbury (BLUE HAZE) by four points and Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (JERBOA) by five. The fight for the podium places was as tight as it could be, with German Michael Zankel (POWWOW) finishing fourth with 23 points…
Older is better. The day started well on board MARISKA, one of the four 15MI still sailing and a veteran of the Régates Royales, first out at the committee end of the line in first. The rest of the fleet kept scraping the cliffs, trying to profit from a good wind shift on the upwind leg. After three races, the older boats are on top of the provisional scoreboard in nearly all the classes: MARIGOLD among the gaffers, MOONBEAM IV in the Big Boats division, CHOLITA in the 15 metres Marconi class and MANITOU in the bigger Marconi division. All of them are looking good for the final victory. But the fight is still very open among the Vintage with EA keeping a slight two-point margin on SAGITTARIUS and in the Spirit of Tradition division, where HELISARA leads by two points on FREYA 2003. In the Tofinou class, Patrice Riboud (PITCH) will have to play his cards right tomorrow to avoid a comeback from Edward Fort (IPPA) who won today’s race.