Régates Royales, Saint Tropez, Laser Masters, the VOR and more

by Rob Kothe, Dan Ibsen and the Sail-World Team on 1 Oct 2014 Today we are running Part 1 of our retrospective with outgoing Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones.

But our focus today is on Europe. The 36th edition of the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai drew to a close last weekend. The five day long regatta ended in grand style and in typical Cote d'Azur conditions, with blue skies, warm weather and light airs. On the final day the Régates Royales crews enjoyed almost summer-like conditions with light winds.

View fantastic images from the event and the spectacular classic yachts:

• Régates Royale – Tropheé Panarai concludes in grand style click here)

• Images from Cannes: Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai – Images by Eugenia Bakunova click here)

• Les Regates Royales Trophee Panerai- Cannes - Images by Ingrid Abery – click here)

Wind and sunshine coloured the opening day at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez this week. With the stylish, elegant arrival of 62 classic beauties from Cannes within the context of the Yacht Club de France’s Coupe d’Automne, the line-up for Les Voiles de Saint Tropez is once again full and readying itself for a timeless week of sport and friendship for those who love classic boats and fine racing.

Follow the event with Sail-World and look at the images of the stunning boats:

• Images from St Tropez: Day 1 at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez – Images by Eugenia Bakunova click here)

• Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez - Day 1 images by Carlo Borlenghi click here)

• Les Voiles de Saint Tropez - Day 1 action shots by Ingrid Abery click here)

This weekend the Volvo Ocean Race steps up a gear with the first In-Port race in Alicante. That will be followed by the start of Leg 1, the following weekend, as the seven boat fleet heads to Cape Town in South Africa.

The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race will be the first sailed in One Design, single manufacturer boats. The hulls have been built by a builder consortium to a stock design from Farr Yacht Design. The sails are from North’s and the spars and rigging from Southern Spars. One of the features of the VO65 is that the boat has been designed around production of on-board media content.

Quite how the Volvo Ocean Race shapes up remains to be seen. Every race is different - most preconceptions get blown out of the water on the first night, and certainly in the first week.

The Sail-World team is in Alicante now. Today we will be interviewing amongst others Will Oxley, the Townsville sailor, who is one of the best known navigators in the world. Our aim is to bring Sail-World readers the best possible view of the Race - what has happened and what is predicted to occur.

2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race includes four European teams out of seven boats:

• Mapfre – Spain – is back thanks to Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez. This time they have one clear objective – to claim the nation’s first victory.

• Team Brunel – Netherlands – Six-race veteran Bouve Bekking has yet to win. Back with a crew of young guys – and this time he aims to win.

• Team SCA – Sweden – who said sailing is a masculine sport. The women from TEAM SCA is the first female crew to enter the race in more than a decade. With reduced crew numbers for the men down to eight, the women will have 11 and that might prove to be a big advantage, in the long haul.

• Team Vestas Wind – Denmark – with Australian Chris Nicholson at the helm. The four time veteran leads the very late entry and campaign sponsored by Vestas, the worlds leading wind energy company. The team won Leg 0 by seconds ahead of Team Brunel.

The American team on Alvimedica has a Turkish sponsor. We will be talking to skipper Charlie Enright today. The other boats being Dongfeng/China and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing/Emirates – both having European skippers from respectively France and the UK. Had a long chat with Ian Walker and Sifi, Simon Fisher from Abu Dhabi and will bring you those interviews in the next few days.

63 Australians, will be sailing in the Laser Masters in Hyeres France next week, we have the full list.

Lots more news from Oz and beyond today.