The Royale Regates, organized by the Yacht Club de Cannes, ended this Saturday, September 25th. After five days of delightful sailing in shorts and T-shirts, the 43rd edition is now in the annals of history.

Karine Grené Regates Royales – Until late Friday evening, the crews were busy finishing craning Dragon and 5.5 MJI at the Yacht Club de Cannes, while others enjoyed a few pints of beers quai Saint-Pierre. On the quays, the crews are busy. As always, it is necessary to polish the brass, check sheets and other ropes, disembark the light-air sails, prepare the refueling, and gently brief the guests and other VIPs invited on board for this final day of the Royal Regattas. The wind announced is punctuality of a TGV, between 15 and 18 knots in addition to a few gusts to 22 at the end of the course.

There is something to be amazed at by the general quality of the maneuvers on these sailboats. Just after racing, in front of a crowd as dense as at the end of a concert,the boats moor one after the other. Faces are weathered, sunscreen sellers must have done good business… In the cockpits, the regatta is being relived, according to a motto still in vogue by athletes around the world: “After the effort, comfort!

With VHF in hand, Jérôme Nutte, coordinator of the regatta and race committees, displayed a smile that speaks volumes:

“I am happy. It’s a great edition. It had been a long time since we had had such conditions, and the forty volunteers of the Yacht Club de Cannes – a hell of a bunch of friends – did a remarkable job, allowing the Classics to compete one race a day as planned, and for the other series several rounds. This is not common, the Dragons and 5.5 MJI even came to congratulate us on the quality of the regattas that we had concocted for them. I admit that it touched me…”

”Jean-François Cutugno, president of the Yacht Club de Cannes, who organized his first“ Royales ”there,just had time to take off his sea attire for the white blazer and tie pants to launch the awards ceremony in the bandstand near the town hall. It must be said that this brilliant “multi-tasking” racer took the helm in the Gold Cup in Smeralda these days, finishing on the podium. “We were very lucky with the weather, it’s true, and suddenly this 43th edition was simply exceptional. I was impressed by the way these crews get the best out of their boats, and admit that I haven’t seen such a level of racing often. It should also be noted that the Régates Royales are not just a Franco-French event. The proof….the winners came from eight different countries. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better scenario, and I admit being proud of what has been put in place by the club, with the support of the city and our partners. “It must be said, the awards ceremony are most often soporific … None of that in Cannes, where the crews showed their joy to go up to collect their trophies in an atmosphere of the end of a rugby match, skippers, team members as owners. Why ? Because they have had an absolutely exceptional week of sailing. Forecasted for tomorrow’s (Sunday September 26th) weather, thunderstorms and heavy rains have decided to invite themselves to the harbor of Cannes… Yes, the planets were really perfectly aligned this week. Roll on 2022!

The winners in each class:

• 5.5 MJI French Open de France: Aspire (Mateuz Kuskinierewicz / Pol)
• Dragon French Open de France: Bande à part (Gery Trentesaux / Fra)
• Tofinou: Pitch (Patrice Riboud / Fra)
• Smeralda 888 Gold Cup: Millenium Falcone (Marco Favale / Mon)
• Marconi class – 15 m: Argos (Eduardo Mendez / Esp)
• Marconi class over 15 m: Il Moro di Venezia (Massimilio Ferruzi / Ita)
• Auric 15m and under: Oriole (Juan-Carlos Eguiagaray / Esp)
• Auric over 15m: Scud (Patrizio Bertelli-Torben Graël / Ita-Arg)
• Big boat: Tuiga (Daniel Pereira / Mon-Dan)
• Marconi over 15 m: Comet (William Woodward-Fisher / GB)
• Marconi 15m and under: Carron II (Angelo Mazarella / Sui)
• One Ton Classic: Resolute Salmon (Beppe Zaoli / Ita)