Les Voiles de Saint Tropez - Classics enchant the bay

by Les Voiles de St Tropez on 2 Oct 2014 Today the big circus of Les Voiles de Saint Tropez played host to the stars with names that reflected the golden age of yachting, often dating back to before the two World Wars, such as Marigold, Phoebus, Silhouette, Partridge and Véronique… 130 Classic boats, lively creations echoing 140 years of creative naval genius, cut quite a dash as the white foam combined with the blue sea under the beating sun.

Yesterday’s stormy interlude gave way to a totally soothed race zone, and all it took was the westerly wind to kick in to fuel the passions of the sailors. From midday, the Race Committee for the Classics released the eleven classes on a pretty little coastal course bathed in light. Marconi, gaff and Gunter rigged, these sublime boats were really able to show what they were made of from eight to 10 knots of breeze, once again highlighting the fact that beneath their marvelous elegance and style they have some exceptionally seaworthy qualities.

The ten Classes, which make up the so-called ‘traditional’ fleet in Saint Tropez, all have the utmost respect for sporting equity, enabling the skippers and owners to race within compact and particularly coherent groups of 12 to 15 craft. The ‘little’ Marconi rigged yachts (large triangular sail), were the first to set sail at midday in a gentle westerly of around ten knots; perfect when the sea is flat to get the best out of their slender hulls as they slice through the waves. The 12 mJIs, which were raced in the America’s Cup from 1958 through to 1987, were really able to strut their stuff in today’s conditions. Quite naturally then, Wings, (12 MJI 1937) and Vim (1939), were leading at Portalet after a little over two hours of racing, accompanied by the still quick Manitou, the former Bermudan yawl belonging to the Kennedy family.

The last to leave, the large gaff cutters and schooners had a ball, linking together a series of close-contact tack changes before doing a horizon job on exiting the bay. In this way, onlookers were able to witness the magic of the formidable battle between the giants Elena of London (Herreshoff 2009), Mariquita (Fife (1911), Altaïr (Fife 1931) and Moonbeam IV (Fife 1914). Orphans of the fine Tuiga (Fife 1909), the 15 m JIs, which are competing in the final race of their Annual Trophy at Les Voiles, were all gunning for glory. The domination of the Britons on The Lady Anne (Fife 1912) at the start of the week, really stung their adversaries, and Mariska (Fife 1908) and Hispania (Fife 1909) were particularly keen for Event website