4th Gstaad Yacht Club's Centenary Trophy - Preview

Testing conditions are expected for the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy © Jurg Kaufmann / GYC

Less than four weeks to the fourth edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy, and more yachts are entering the regatta that can now be considered as the true rendezvous for the oldest ladies of the classic yachts circuit.

Scheduled for Thursday, 2nd October 2014 the event will once more be the focal point of classic racing at the Voiles the Saint-Tropez, hosting event of the regatta. For the fourth consecutive year the Centenary Trophy will gather one hundred years and more old yachts that will compete with an especially created handicap system in a pursuit race, a format that has proved extremely attractiveness for the sailors and the public, as it is easy to understand and follow with the first boat to cross the line off the St Tropez breakwater to be declared the winner.

As more owners confirm their participation, up goes also the number of yachts that are new to the event and will be fighting for the first time to be awarded with the exclusive trophy created by Wakely and Wheeler of London in 1911.

Among them is one of the best renown sailors worldwide and an icon of the America's Cup: Bruno Troublé, who will be able to join the "Centenary Club" this year as gaff cutter Olympian has finally turned 100 years old.

"I have been a friend of the Gstaad YC for years and a close friend of the Commodore Peter Erzberger... A friend of mine asked me to look for an historical boat and I found a ''P'' class, a smaller version of the 1930s America's Cup J class boats like Endeavour, Rainbow, Velsheda, Ranger. I came across the boat in Chicago, but she was a wreck, and we had to have some parts rebuild in Maine. But, now she is a real beauty! Olympian won one the most famous American races of the time -the Chicago to Mackinac race in 1913 and 1914- that is 100 years ago! I am very pleased to enter Olympian in the race this year and celebrate her 101 birthday! The owner, Philippe Oddo will be the skipper and I will drive the boat." declared an enthusiastic Troublé.

Among the new entries is also Rosalind, a 32 metres (105') gaff yawl designed and built in 1904 by Harry Thomas Stow & Sons at Shoreham for Charles Hellyer of Yorkshire, using the finest Burma teak on robust oak frames, typifying the best kind of cruising yacht of the period with first class materials and workmanship. After a long and at times hard life in the UK and Scotland, where she was discreetly moored during World War II to keep the Admiralty away from her precious lead keel, Rosalind was acquired by a Spanish owner, was renamed Rosalinda and underwent a full restoration in 1996/7 in Barcelona, Spain.

Phoebus, owned by Swiss Daniel Leutwyler, will be another "rookie" of this year's Centenary Trophy and one of the smallest boats on the starting line. Dating back to 1903, Phoebus is a 3 Tons, a typical racing boat from the Lake of Geneva, where her owners sail her almost every day during the spring and summer months. "We are really looking forward to be racing the Trophy, it will be our debut in the event, even if it will be the fifth time we will race in St-Tropez. Our crew is all made of members of the APL (Association Patrimoine du Léman) and in St-Tropez, we'll have 2 women and 3 or 4 men on board. Phoebus is one of the smallest boat, but small is beautiful and fast enough to play with the big yachts!" said Daniel Leutwyler.

The line-up boasts yachts that have just turned one hundred years old, like the small cruising gaff Schooner Morwenna owned by Mr Monnier for 26 years now, the 30M Marconi rigged Ludwig; Danish built fore and aft schooner Sif, and Jap one of the ten Cork Harbour One Design by genius William Fife III, all three dating from 1897. From the first decade of the 20th century comes the schooner Viola that was declared National Historical Monument in 1993.

The new entries list is completed by Silhouette, owned by one of the Gstaad Yacht Club members, Mr. Heine, who declared: "We do very much enjoy the excitement and magic which always comes along when doing something the first time. In particular it will be fascinating and thrilling to line up against similar yachts from the same age and share this experience and such intense moments with family and friends. Thus our team will consist, just to name a few, of Frederique and Marc Erzberger, Sandro Bolton, plus some more friends of us and my wife Claudia and me. Our particular aim is to do well at the Centenary Trophy and fly the flag for Gstaad Yacht Club. "

Silhouette is an International 8 Metre yacht, designed by famous William Fife III in 1910 and build in Germany at Abeking & Rasmussen for Otto C. Ernst, a German consul from Hamburg. In these early years she was named Woge IV and raced successfully in northern Germany. After being sold to Denmark and rediscovered by her last owner, Carl-Heinz Otto in the mid-eighties she was completely restored according to her original plans by the yard of Josef Martin in Germany. Over the last 20 years she was raced locally on Lake Constance but also internationally participating internationally in European and world championships.

"Last year we had the opportunity to buy Silhouette from her previous owner who dearly loved and cared for her. So today me and my wife feel very fortunate to be able to race and care for such a beautiful yacht for hopefully many years to come. Participating on board Silhouette is for us a dream come true and we are very excited to race her against the most beautiful classic yachts in the world." concluded Daniel Heine.

Younger or older they might be, there is no doubt that the stunning centenary yachts will stand out among the fleet in the old port of St Tropez and their racing will be followed closely by sailing aficionados as well as the general public.

Past winners are Italy's Five tonner Bonafide (launched 1899) that beat the strong competition in 2011, while in 2012 it was Richard Allan's fore and aft cutter Marigold (1892). Due to adverse weather conditions the 2013 race could not be sailed and the trophy was not awarded.

The event is organized by The Gstaad Yacht Club in co-operation with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez.