Spartan wins the Gstaad Yacht Club’s Centenary Trophy at photo finish

by Gstaad Yacht Club on 30 Sep 2016 USA's flagged NYYC50 Spartan has won the sixth edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy in an exciting photo-finish with 2014 winner Olympian, skippered by Bruno Troublé.

The USA-flagged NYYC 50' class Spartan, dating from 1913, has won the 2016 edition of the Cen-tenary Trophy, the prestigious regatta raced during the Voiles de Saint-Tropez's and reserved to clas-sic yacht one hundred years or more old.

The regatta, raced in a pursuit format with staggered starts, began at 12.30 with the 19 yachts starting staggered defined by a special handicap system, considering their age, size and type of rig. Thanks to a good south-easterly wind of a dozen knots all the boats covered the nine-mile long course in less than two hours.

Spartan, sailed by an American-Finnish crew and debuting in the Mediterranean circuit, was the first on the finish line, off the French village's breakwater, beating 2014 winner Olympian, skippered by Bruno Trouble, for just a few seconds, proving once more that the format is ideal for such a varied fleet and guarantee fair competition and great show.

Third on the finish line was another Herreshoff design, the NYCC 40 Rowdy, at her first participation in The Centenary Trophy that just came of age, having been launched in 1916, exactly one century ago.