For a beautiful birthday, it was a beautiful birthday! 10 years have already passed since the Voiles de Saint-Tropez picked up the torch of the spirit of the Nioulargue, and the regattas of the week have in every respect been worthy of the event. In extremely varied weather conditions, 300 sailboats, Modern and Classic, have created the most ephemeral, but the most absolute works of art, festival of colors and animated lights, fireworks display of movement and aquatic elegance in the sunny setting of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. The Voiles 10th of the name have this year again evolved in the sublime, adding regattas after regattas the weight of images and the shock of times; crossing of large auric sails in the sun, fluidity of the bows in the blue chop, great flight of spinnakes of all shapes, sizes or colors…
MODERNS
5 validated races for the Wally
The spectacular and futuristic Wally had their own “round” and their own committee in front of Pampelonne. They were able to compete in 5 races this week despite the Mistral, and it is the Wally 94 Open Season that wins with 3 races, ahead of Y3K and Magic Carpet. The giant Esense marks its entry in the “Voiles” with a 7th place.
Rambler’s efficiency
The big American Maxi “Rambler” triumphed in a group of large IRC A boats that were particularly strong this year in Saint-Tropez, with high-tech boats led by crews that often come from the biggest international regatta teams. The skipper, David Georges, had secured the services of Peter Isler (ex BMW Oracle racing) for the occasion. The talent of the American combined with the power of the Reichel-Pugh design worked wonders, relegating Velsheda to a distant second place. Niklas Zennstrom placed the large British sloop Ran on the third step of the podium. The disqualification for rule 20.4.1 (a) in race 3 cost Ernesto Bertarelli and his successful Judel “Numbers” plan dearly. The Alinghi men, despite two race victories, only finished in 6th place. The great Tp65 Monney Penny and Numbers have undoubtedly given a strong sporting coloration to the Voiles; Paul Cayard, James Spithill and other Brad Butterworth reproducing off Pampelonne the confrontations observed on the most prestigious America’s Cup race courses. It was the very first time that these boats, usually based on the East Coast of the United States, had made the trip to Europe. They were able to cross swords with the record-breaking Atlantic sailing monohull Senso One (Mari Cha IV) or Sojana in Peter Harrison.
Noteworthy in the IRC B class was the great battle between Swans and Protos of 45 or 42 feet. It is the proto signed by Mark Mills Ngoni that finally wins. But 6 yachts were within a few points of each other in this category, which had 42 boats at the start. The Turkish sailboat Mat 12, for its first participation, is ranked 9th, to the great satisfaction of its crew. Promised, they will come back.
Didier le Moal and his J 122 J lance 4 finished with a great victory yesterday in the breeze. Not enough to dethrone the First 40 ;7 Pen Khalet IX to Georges Le Troquer more regular at the top of the rankings.
The Archambault 35s triumphed in Saint-Tropez by placing first in the IRC D Rebuff with David Marco and Tchin Tchin skippered by Jean Claude Bertrand. The J 109 Albacor IV of the Tropezian Jean Louis Pézin took the third place of a very competitive group.
The First 34,7 Super Ding Ding of the Monegasque Luc van Keirsblick won on the wire against the Sun Fast Zabriskie Point of Olivier de Roffignac in IRC E.
CLASSICS
The Moonbeam III surprise
After a major refit of its interior fittings last year at Fairlie, Moonbeam III returned to Saint Tropez with a new skipper, Erwan Noblet, and a desire to shine. It is done with a very nice victory in the “darling” category of the public and the media, the big auric sailboats. The 1903 Fife plan won, with a little bit of apology, in front of the imposing and majestic cutter Mariquita and the pretty schooner Altaïr. The sloop Marconi Rowdy, already performing well in Cannes, signed a nice victory for the Bermudans in front of ” The Blue Peter ” and ” Cholita “. “Bonafide”, “Oriole” and “Pesa” produced a dazzling show all week in the “small” auricas. In this order, they dress a prestigious podium full of maritime history. Tenth in the category of “small” auriques, the brand new Fyne built in Brittany by Hubert Sagnol on a Fife design from 1889, made a remarkable debut in the waters of the Tropéziennes. There were few surprises in Esprit de Tradition where the immense Shamrock V triumphed. His eternal adversary, Savannah, could not prevent the newcomer Sagittarius from stepping onto the podium.
Bellerophon, king of the Tofinou
Nicolas Edmiston and his Bellerophon will have trembled until the end to win against the armada of 15 Tofinou in competition this year in Saint-Tropez, these small “classic-modern” one-designs designed by Philippe Joubert. “Grey One”, owned by Hervé Margolis, in spite of two heat victories, was defeated due to a redhibitory 7th place last Wednesday. Equal in points but less well endowed with victories, Bernard Vilarem placed his “Cambronne” in third place…
And also (results continued) …
Anne Sophie in Marconi B, Mercury in Marconi C, Windhover in Marconi D, Crazy life in Classique marconi B…. so many deserving protagonists on the water, who have truly made the Voiles 2008, by their sporting commitment in regattas, and by their extraordinary involvement in preserving, enhancing and promoting a sail all in elegance and tradition, a dazzling testimony of more than a century of maritime know-how….
They came to the tenth edition of Les Voiles :
In alphabetical order: Francesco de Angelis (Ita), Isabelle Autissier, Ernesto Bertarelli (Sui), Yvan Bourgnon, Brad Butterworth (NZ), Paul Cayard (USA), Servane Escoffier, Jean Galfione, Peter Isler (USA), Karol Jablonski (Pol), Anne Liardet, Philippe Monnet, Bertrand Pacé, Marc Pajot, Bruno Peyron, Philippe Presti, Lionel Péan, Bruno Troublé
The “Belle Classe” and safety at sea
Altair, Amadour, Aschanti, Eilidh, Lulworth, Mariquita, Milena, Moonbeam IV, Oriole, Shamrock V, Sylvia, Thendara and Tuiga, had all responded last Friday to the invitation of “la Belle Classe” to evaluate the work put in place by “les Voiles de Saint-Tropez” regarding safety on the water, following the proposals summarized in the Memorandum of the “Belle Classe. All are pleased with the general awareness of the need to evolve the international racing rules and to adapt them to the specificity and disparity of these yachts. Anxious to pursue this safety approach, the skippers and shipowners of “La Belle Classe” will soon meet at the Yacht Club of Monaco for a one-day seminar with lawyers specialized in international maritime law.
They said…
André Beaufils, President of the Société Nautique de Saint Tropez….
“In terms of welcoming the competitors, of what we were able to put in place to satisfy them as best as possible, I think that 2008 was a good year. The show on the water was, as always, exceptional and we did our best to adapt to the weather conditions. As far as I am concerned, I want to continue… “
Georges Kohrel, Race Director…
“We have validated 3 races in the Classic category and 4 races in the Modern category, which, considering the cancellation of Friday’s races due to the strong Mistral wind, is quite correct and satisfied the competitors. This year we had totally revised our courses and the feedback I get from the participants is very positive. Each day, we had between 35 and 40 officials on the water, to support our three race committees, and give safely 10 to 12 starts per day… “.