47th Régates Royales de Cannes - Day 4: Storm... of calm!
by Yacht Club de Cannes 26 Sep 2025 06:12 BST
21-27 September 2025
After three wonderful days of "champagne sailing" as the Anglo-Saxons say, the "fan" decided to take a break this Thursday. Not a breath of wind. Nothing. Nothing. Nada... At 3 p.m., the race committees blew the whistle for the end of recess, and everyone went ashore.
Mid-afternoon. The village is full of people, and the people of Cannes, tourists and onlookers who walk along the quays that are usually deserted at this time, are over the moon. They see each of the sailboats mooring, and don't miss a beat. Smartphones are heating up... The sailors are not taken umbrage, unloading the sails before meeting at the bar. The regatta is also the school of patience, and when there is calm, which in the jargon of sailors means no wind, well they adapt. To think that off the Azores, Cyclone Gabrielle is generating winds of force 12 and more at the same time, forcing the race management to cancel the first leg of the Mini Transat, so that the 90 competitors can take shelter as quickly as possible. And then for the crews' dinner, they won't suffer from aches or eyes reddened with salt. On Friday, the wind should be more understanding, if the thermal breeze coming from the open sea is not "crushed" by a northerly flow and nasty clouds.
Returning to his boat moored on Quai Laubeuf, he greets everyone with a gesture as discreet as it is friendly, shaking a few hands. Then carefully put down his shoes, and borrowed Recluta's coupée. This elegant man in a white polo shirt and black Bermuda shorts with a tanned complexion, silver hair and thick eyebrows, is Argentinian. In the industry, he is a living legend. His name is German Frers, and he remains one of the greatest naval architects of all time. He has designed more than 1,300 racing and cruising yachts, notably for the Nautor-Swan, Hallberg Rassy and Bénéteau shipyards, the America's Cup, the round the world race, the Admiral's Cup, etc. Many of "his" old IOR boats race here in Cannes. At 84 years old, German Frers leaves it to no one to helm his ketch Recluta which races in the "Marconi Era> 15 m" category. This 20.36-metre sailboat had been designed by his father German Frers Sr in 1943, but not completed. German decided to bring it back to life in 2016, and brought it back from Buenos Aires to Cannes via Martinique to compete in the Royal Regattas in 2021. He had vowed to come back before having to part with this sublime sailboat that he put up for sale. Yesterday Wednesday, in a strong breeze, Recluta won in real time, and in the overall ranking in corrected time, occupies 8th place just behind two yachts designed by the prestigious firm Stephens & Sparkman in New York... where a certain German Frers began his career as a naval architect at a very young age, before achieving worldwide success, then launching his son Mani in the line of this incredible family saga.
Finally, on Friday 26 September at 7.30 pm in the Régates Royales village on Quai Saint-Pierre, Gérard d'Aboville, president, the members of the board of directors: Pascale Bladier-Chassaigne, general delegate, Jean-François Cutugno, president of the Yacht Club de Cannes, and Damien Giguet, president of Shift Capital, will present the PMF-Shift Capital Maritime Heritage Prize.
All the results here: manage2sail.com.
47th Royal Regatta of Cannes: Institutional partners: AFYT French Association of Traditional Yachts, Cannes Sports, Department 06, FFVoile, Southern Region, City of Cannes, Yacht Club de Cannes. Official partners: HighField, Hotel Carlton Cannes, IGY Marinas - Vieux Port de Cannes, Marinepool, Palais des Festivals, Champagne Taittinger. Technical partners: DAB Beverages, Palm Beach Hotel Cannes, ICOM France, Key4events, SNSM Société Nationale Sauvetage en Mer, Trans Côte d'Azur. Media partners: Cannes Radio, France TV.