The 11th Voiles de Saint-Tropez was a sell-out, with all the seats in the gulf duly occupied by the 300 or so competitors of all eras and all classes that took part this year. For the 10th anniversary of this great event organized by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez and heir of the famous Nioulargue, modern and classic yachts at their best were served by summer conditions. For 10 days, the port of Saint-Tropez, unusually crowned with huge centenarian or futuristic masts, saw the cream of the racing world converge, including some of the great names in ocean racing, from Bruno Peyron to Peter Holmberg, as well as Catherine Chabaud, Lionel Péan, Marc Pajot and Alain Thébault.
Stories of duels…
Barely 15 days after its launch at the Charpentier shipyard in La Ciotat, the 15 m JI designed by Fife Mariska is already showing great promise in terms of performance and results. Long side by side last Sunday during the Yacht Club de France Autumn Cup with her prestigious counterpart Tuiga, the first of the four 15 m JI built at the very beginning of the 20th century is already inspiring respect by her beautiful speed, and augurs great jousts to come in her category of large auric yachts. Stung to the core, in the year of its centenary, Tuiga, flagship of the Monaco Yacht Club, made a point of racing “clean”, winning all the races of the week. Another spectacular duel was the comparison on the magical water of the Gulf between the two great replicas of Nathanael G Herreshoff’s schooners, Elena and Eleonora. Built in Spain at the Marin LuxurYacts shipyard, Elena was launched on April 22 and benefited from the construction know-how of her equally majestic predecessor, Eleonora, formerly Windward.
Y3K ruthless
The impression of cold power and absolute mastery that it deploys on the water is confirmed on the scoreboard; Even if it is not the biggest of the Wally, the 100 feet Y3K did not leave many laurels to its competitors. It won without contest this week after 5 validated races. The very recent Wally 130 on board which Luca Bassini was racing, did wonders, in vain however, to take away some of its glory. In its wake the two Wally of 27 and 28.50 meters Tiketitan and Open season.
Five Pen Duick in the Mediterranean
The five boats of the legendary Eric Tabarly, all of which are called Pen Duick (the Breton name for the black-capped tit), usually based in the Atlantic and of which only one is missing (the Pen Duick IV trimaran, which disappeared under the name of Manureva during the 1978 Route du Rhum, with Alain Colas at the helm), put an end, at the Voiles de Saint-Tropez, to a beautiful Mediterranean season. The fleet, which is maintained in sailing condition thanks to the Eric Tabarly Association and the support of the Banque Populaire, sailed happily all week in Saint-Tropez. The 1898 auric cutter – which became the Tabarly family boat and on which Jacqueline and Marie Tabarly used to race – (Pen Duick), the 1964 English Transatlantic race winning ketch (Pen Duick II), the “thousand victories” schooner now regenerated as a ketch (Pen Duick III), the small monohull with “all aluminium” ballast, winner of the 1969 Transpacific (Pen Duick V) and the huge 22 m ketch, which came first in the 1976 English solo transatlantic race (Pen Duick VI), were the stars of this 11th edition of the Voiles.
Whales and balloons…
Les Voiles” is definitely attracting a lot of interest, even from the marine animal world. Two whales have indeed invited themselves this week on the “rond des Modernes” off the Cap de Saint-Tropez. The Race Committee informed the competitors by VHF. As for the port, it was visited on Saturday by two small airships that came to play a few meters high between the masts and the rigging.
Cap Horniers Tropéziens !
This was the theme of a conference given on Saturday evening by Laurent Pavlidis, academic and historian of the city of Saint-Tropez, with the expert interventions of Brigitte and Yvonnick Le Coat. The epic of the Cap Horniers who faced the so dangerous cape between the middle of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century was narrated in detail, with a particular and rather unexpected “focus” on the Tropezians, heroes of this bygone era. We could learn that the record of the crossing between England and Chile was held by Leon Gardane, in some 54 days. This good-natured Tropezian crossed the great South American cape 14 times. Today, we have identified nearly twenty people born in the City of the Bailiff who lived these extraordinary adventures between Europe and South America, even California, on board large three or four-masted barks carrying emigrants or heavy materials.
Rolex Trophy – 4 races
1- Rowdy (sloop bermudien) Graham Walker
2- Tuiga (15 m) Bernard D’Alessandri
3- Oiseau de feu (cotre bermudien) Jean Philippe Lhuillier
Paris Première Trophy
1- Pamyra ben (Morgan 54) André Gumuchdjian
2- Jethou (Mini Maxi) Sir Peter Ogden
3- Velsheda (J Class) R De Warl
Les Echos du Yacht de Tradition” Limited Edition Award
Marikita
They said:
André Beaufils, President of the Organizing Committee
“The gods of the sea and the weather were with us. Sun, wind, and a very summery atmosphere marked this anniversary edition. My great satisfaction and my gratitude goes to all the volunteers of course, but also to the Race Committee who showed absolute mastery in the management and organization of the races, adapting to the whims of the wind in all circumstances. I have the feeling that the village, in its new configuration was very appreciated. I also note that the media interest in our event is not waning, with a significant increase in the number of French and international journalists.”
Georges Korhel, Race Director
“Judging by the lack of complaints at the end of the races, I can tell that the competitors enjoyed themselves. I am particularly pleased with the spirit of independence expressed on the water by all our race committees, Modern, Wally and Classic. Whatever the wind variations, they were able to adapt independently to launch races with the best wind. The Moderns didn’t race on Monday due to lack of wind, but everyone raced every day for the rest of the week.”
Fulvio Corrente, animations on land
“The village played its role of triggering the party in town. The sailors came in droves as soon as they returned from the regattas, before taking over the town’s bars and restaurants. The new configuration, with the new press area, was very popular and we are going to work in the same direction for 2010, with improvements according to the wishes expressed, especially in terms of displaying information and results.”