Yacht Club de Cannes looks forward to 2025 season

Open Finn European Championship 2024, day 2 © Robert Deaves / www.robertdeaves.uk

After a great year in 2024, including the European Finn and 470 championships, then the famous Régates Royales, the Yacht Club de Cannes, founded in 1860 and one of the oldest clubs in Europe, is starting a new season, and continues to tack between organizing major international events, training young sailors (Optimist, ILCA, etc.) and supporting the club's champions in ILCA, 470, kitefoil, wingfoil, etc.

As every year, the Finn elite meets in Cannes for International Week, one of the most anticipated regattas of the season, held in the setting of Cannes with breathtaking views of the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps.

More than eleven nations are expected from February 11 to 14. Designed by Rickard Sarby more than 75 years ago, this 4.50-meter, 115-kilo solo sailor has been an Olympic series continuously from 1952 to 2020, having seen the greatest racers on the planet pass through, such as the Dane Paul Elvström and the Briton Ben Ainslie, two Finn legends. This dinghy, both technical and physical, has a carbon mast and a membrane sail, making it more accessible to people who do not weigh 90 kilos... and who continue to sail at a mature age. Although replaced by the kitefoil since the Tokyo Olympics, it has enjoyed resounding success with champions who wore out their dinghy suit during their adolescence, and come back to scrap until they are old enough.

Other highlights of the year include the 47th Régates Royales from 21 to 27 September, which needs no introduction, and the last event (grade 1) of the international Dragon circuit. Finally, at the beginning of October, a new offshore race, the "600 Miles Cannes Malta". This 600 nautical mile (1,111 km) rallying event for boats over 55 feet between the city of Cannes and Valletta, the result of a twinning between the Yacht Club de Cannes and the Royal Malta Yacht Club, also aims to invite even more yachts wishing to compete in the famous Middle Sea Race.

Jean-François Cutugno, President of the Yacht Club de Cannes: "The season got off to a flying start, with in particular one of the first events of the season in Dragon, then winter training on Tempest, knowing that the Yacht Club de Cannes will organize the world championships in 2026. The International Finn Week remains a sporting event that is both friendly and high-level, and the Régates Royales promise to be exceptional once again with the return of many yachts that last year attended the America's Cup in Barcelona. Finally, I believe a lot in this new big race to Malta, and I really hope that after this Vendée Globe which is currently ending, IMOCAs, just like Ultims, will come to the Mediterranean. We are working to make it a great event."