2015 Régates Royales – A Very Special Day

September 24, 2015 – It was a very special day onshore, with the tribute to Florence Arthaud and the presence of Prince Henrik of Denmark. On the water excellent sailing conditions prevailed for both the Classics and the Dragons Thursday. Day three of the Regates Royales de Cannes has started with a cacophony of horns, bells, and sirens saluting Coeur Vaillant docking out.

The 8MI owned by Philipe Monnet left the harbor under mainsail only, her crew standing in line for a very special tribute to Florence Arthaud, hundreds of sailors on the bows and spectators on the quai. It was a very emotional moment to say goodbye to the legendary French female sailor. The Regates Royales, launched back in 1929 to honour King Christian X of Denmark, today also welcomed a special guest: his descendant and keen racer Prince Henrik, who was invited by Prince Albert of Monaco on board the 15MI TUIGA.

 

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Photo Credit: James Robinson Taylor

 

The second day of racing, after yesterday’s forced stop, at the Regates Royales-Trophee Panerai, represented an excellent opportunity for these powerful and stunning boats to show all their potential: a south-westerly of around ten knots on a little over twenty mile long coastal race. Upwind, downwind, reaching: all it takes for the crew to deploy their gaff sails, spars, jibs, staysails, genoas, balloons, spinnakers, gennakers… Once completed the first lap, the breeze started to pick up and shift and those who were not swift enough had some troubles. The gaff cutter VIOLA broke her mast just under the spreaders: everyone safe on board but some minor collateral damages to sort out. For the rest of the fleet, the stronger breeze meant a faster pace, especially for the most experienced crews, like MARIGOLD’S, the oldest racing gaffer (Nicholson, 1892) in the fleet who won with a nice margin. With the wind rising to twenty-plus knots and the chop increasing, some decided to take it easier. The huge J Class SHAMROCK V earned line honours once again, only to be beaten in corrected time by the the Dick Carter designed HELISARA. In the 15m Vintage Marconi class, victory went to CHOLITA, while in the bigger Marconi division it was MANITOU to cross in first, ahead of SKYLARK OF 1937. The finish between MOONBEAM IV and ELENA, the biggest yacht on the water, was close and spectacular. MOONBEAM IV, skippered by Mikael Creac’h took home its second consecutive win in the Big Boats division. In the Vintage class the Olin Stephens designed MARIA GIOVANNA II also scored a win.

 

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Photo Credit: James Robinson Taylor

 

In the highly competitive Dragon fleet their were two races today. The first started in the early afternoon with a nice south-westerly breeze of a dozen knots on a windward/leeward course, the perfect playground for the 1929 one-designs to speed downwind, using their spinnakers in “kite surf style”. Conditions were particularly suitable for the Russian crews, who had not started the series on a high. Anatoly Loginov (ANNAPURNA) scored a win in the fourth race ahead of his countryman Vasily Senatorov (EVEN BETTER) whilst Victor Fogelson (SUNFLOWER) finished in sixth. Germany;s Michael Schmidt (M3) finished in fourth behind the other German crew skippered by Michael Zankel (POWWOW)). The starting signal for the second race of the day was fired in a south-westerly of around 15 knots. On the windward/leeward course, after two and a half laps, the first to cross the line was Martin Payne (BEAR) from the UK, with the slightest margin over Ivan Bradbury (BLUE HAZE) and French Stephane Baseden (OUTLAW). As a result the overall top position is still in the hands of Michael Schmidt (M#) with a nine-point advantage, followed by a triplet of Britons (BLUE HAZE, JERBOA, BEAR) and Germany’s Michael Zankel.

Tomorrow is the last day for the Dragons at the 37th Regates Royales and the final podium will probably be decided among these five teams, with both Italy’s Guiseppe Duca (CLOUD) and Russia’s Anatoly Loginov (ANNAPURNA) already out of contention, 30 and 33 points behind the leaders respectively.

Photo Credit: James Robinson Taylor – Website

 

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