Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez - Overall
by Maguelonne Turcat 2 Oct 2016 07:11 BST
24 September - 2 October 2016
-202403121604.gif)
Already tinged with nostalgia, there was still everything to play for among a number of the Modern and Classic yacht crews in Saturday's final racing in what has been an exceptional edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Indeed, victory in Saint Tropez is increasingly cherished by the racers, as are the specific Trophies, which notably reward the winners of the Grand Tradition (Rolex Trophy) and Wally (BMW Trophy) categories as well as IRC C (Edmond de Rothschild Group Trophy). Though a light cloud veiled the sun this Saturday for the first time in 6 days of racing, the wind had just enough puff left to enable the final races to be run from Pampelonne to Les Issambres and the integration of a final course was eagerly devoured by all the competitors. In this way, some 4,000 sailors, skippers and owners will tomorrow celebrate the winners in what has been an action-packed week embellished by sunshine and friendship. Freccia Rossa (TP 52), Open Season (Wally), Moonbeam IV (Grand Tradition), Spartan (Epoque Aurique) and Rowdy (Epoque marconi) are among the big players who will leave the little port in southern France's Var region with renewed pride, eager to repeat their performances at next year's edition of Les Voiles de Saint Tropez.
Full house
The summer just seems to go on forever in Saint Tropez. The skippers of 300 of the most beautiful Modern and Classic yachts in the world have enjoyed every minute of it, united in the eternal spirit of yachting, just as Patrice de Colmont imagined in 1981. The glorious sunshine and good breeze have enabled nearly all the races to be run in and around the bay, where 4,000 sailors from over 20 countries have relished the camaraderie and the festivities both on land and at sea. With 6 races validated off Pampelonne, the Wally's have contested the greatest number of races, alternating between windward-leeward and coastal courses. Split into 5 IRC groups, the Modern boats managed to rack up four races, as did the Classic yachts.
The big prizes at Les Voiles:
Rolex: Moonbeam IV
Mickael Créac'h, boat captain and skipper of Moonbeam IV, at the top of the leaderboard after the first three races, was still dreading this last day of racing, which was forecast to be rainy with little breeze. Fortunately, a light S'ly breeze enabled the Race Committee to launch a short, technical sprint at the given time bound for Les Issambres. With Moonbeam IV fully powered up out of the starting blocks, to windward of the massive schooner Elena of London, she rounded off her week in style, leaving the rest of the fleet in her wake to take victory in the 13-mile race. And so it is that the much coveted Rolex Trophy goes to the big Moonbeam (Fife 1914). The eldest of the Moonbeams, the No.3, otherwise known as Moonbeam of Fife (1903), secured a splendid second place, alongside the large Bermudan cutter, Halloween (1926), she too a Fife.
BMW Trophy: Open Season
Dominating play with two superb victories and one 2nd place during the windward-leewards, the crew on the Wally 107 Open Season were fearful of the coastal race lined up for this final day. Indeed, in this the 6th race of the week for Luca Bassani's designs, Magic Carpet Cubed was the race favourite after an impressively consistent performance round the cans and offshore. However, in today's medium breeze off Pampelonne, Michael Atkinson was a surprise victor on Open Season. Magic Carpet Cubed and Sir Lindsay Owen Jones took second place, while Piers Richardson and J One scored a very fine 3rd place, just pipping Tango to the post.
Edmond de Rothschild Group Trophy: TP52 Team Vision
A battle royal reigned in this category with just one point separating the Russians on the TP52 Frescia Rossa led by Vadim Yakimenko and the French on Team Vision skippered by Jean Jacques Chaubard on the eve of the final day of racing. Both gave their absolute all today but ultimately the French crew just did enough to take home the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy. Arobas, the Botin design, earned a much deserved third place in an extremely tough line-up of 24 boats.
Trouble among the Modern big boys
Though the hierarchy for this very elite group of large Modern yachts may have originally seemed like a foregone conclusion, throughout the past week it has been turned on its head thanks to the excellent performances posted by the challengers and the medium conditions, which have left no room for error. The 100-foot Farr design Leopard did manage to live up to expectations despite a blip on Wednesday, but her companions on the podium are somewhat unexpected: Velsheda, the 1933 J Class got the better of the other giant in her category, Lionheart (Hoek 2010) and ended up just one point behind Leopard. Logically Rambler88 was a big contender for third place, but it's Lionel Péan's VOR 70 S that takes it after a great week despite her disastrous rating.
A yacht of distinction: Mignon
Mignon was built in 1905 in Norway to race in the 7 M JI category, a class with few takers that quickly disappeared. She's a 16m45 wooden sloop designed by August Plym. Originally gaff rigged, the boat was transformed into a 7/8 Marconi back in 1911. The first owner was an English captain and the boat was based in the Solent. After a string of different owners and ports of registry, she was restored in Italy and then, more recently, Marseille, and has just started racing in the Mediterranean. Her name harks back to an enigmatic Goethe character familiar to Ambroise Thomas and Richard Wagner operas.
Kilroy was here!
The late lamented John "Jim" Kilroy, owner of the Kialoa Maxi Yacht saga, who sadly died on Thursday and was a great force at Les Voiles, adopted a strange maxim that decorated the transom of all his Kialoa Maxis. "Kilroy was here" depicted a bald-headed man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall. Commonplace worldwide, in WWII it was used by the GIs to lay claim to supposedly new territories and is accredited to an American metallurgist, he too known by the name of James Kilroy, who used it to mark the spaces on the ships that he'd inspected at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Today's partners:
Byblos - Saint Tropez' palace partners Les Voiles every year without fail. Nestled between the Citadel and the Place des Lices square, Hotel Byblos opens its doors from April to October to the great delight of its guests who come from all over the world. The colours of the Mediterranean are conveyed in the hotel's 91 rooms and suites. The establishment boasts a Spa by Sisley Cosmetics, a restaurant beside the pool, a gym, a treatment centre and a night club, among its many other excellent services. Its restaurant "Rivea at Byblos" offers authentic cuisine from top chef Alain Ducasse, which sublimates the products of Provence and Italy. A charming hotel for a decadent stay in Saint Tropez, the Byblos also hosts tailored events, weddings, receptions and conferences.
Jetfly - A new addition to Les Voiles' partners' club, Jetfly provides flights for business and private users. Jetfly manages Europe's largest fleet of PC 12s, small business planes able to take off and land on relatively short runways. The planes operate on a joint-ownership basis and are readily available to the joint owners, which is why there are a number of them in and around Saint Tropez. "This is why we were keen to approach Les Voiles," explains Cédric Lescope, CEO of Jetfly, "as a number of our joint-owners sail here year-round. Since the start of the year, we've landed at Saint Tropez airport over 500 times. Moreover, 8 of our planes are on stand-by in Saint Tropez throughout Les Voiles, at the disposal of our clients and owners..."
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr