Despite the capricious conditions – with the 200 boats and over 1,500 sailors forced ashore for two days due to strong winds – the 40th edition of the Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai will remain in the regatta’s history books as one of the most contested ever.
Teams coming from all over the planet to grab the much longed for trophies and eight winners were crowned during the crowded prize-giving ceremony.
The classic yachts gathered in Cannes for the closing day of the 40th Régates Royales – Trophée Panerai.
A light southerly, not exceeding 5 knots, forced organisers to shorten course between Cannes, Mandelieu and the point of l’Esquillon. However, the elegant boats sailing in slow motion made a great show for the many spectators taking advantage of the warm, sunny early autumn day on the Cote d’Azur.
And the winners are…
Two first and a third enabled the huge Elena of London to be crowned 2018 winner in the Schooner division, with Naema and Mariette completing the podium.
Despite scoring a fourth on Sunday, Moonbeam of Fife maintained the top spot among the Big Boats, thanks to a better score (two wins) leading Mariska and Moonbeam IV.
In the gaff cutter division, Alfred Mylne’s designed Kelpie showed great consistency -one win and two thirds – to beat Kismet and Viola, celebrating her 110th anniversary in Cannes with a podium spot.
The Classics’ podium remained an almost all Spanish affair with Eduardo Mendez’s Argos and Pepe Negrete’s Yanira prevailing over local skipper Philippe Monnet on Lys.
An Italian crew on Resolute Salmon kept their focus to finish second in the last race, whilst early leader, Sagittarius, couldn’t do better than a seventh and slipped back to second overall, with the last win going to French 12m I.R., France.
Argentina’s Cippino was the undisputed leader of the Marconi over 15 metres class, finishing 5 points ahead of Wendy Schmidt’s Santana from the USA and 14 points ahead of Blitzen, whose crew comprised popstar Simon Le Bon and offshore female sailor Abby Ehler.
Famous Argentinean designer, German Frers, led his Fjord III crew to victory in the Marconi, Arrow was second and France’s Ellad in third.
Finally, Patrizio Bertelli’s Vanessa, with Olympic, offshore and America’s Cup star Torben Grael at the helm, won her first title after recently being relaunched, leading Italy’s Freya and Switzerland’s Scherzo in second and third respectively.
Final results:
Aurique
1-Kelpie (Olive Pelham)
2-Kismet (Richard Matthews)
3-Viola (Fabien Despres)
Big Boat
1-Moonbeam of Fife (Erwan Noblet)
2-Mariska (Benjamin Redreau)
3-Moonbeam IV (Mikael Créac'h)
Classique
1-Argos (Eduardo Mendez)
2-Yanira (Pepe Negrete)
3-Lys (Philippe Monnet)
Classic Racer
1-Resolute Salmon (Andria Zaoli)
2-Sagittarius (Thierry Laffitte)
3-France 1 (Thierry Verneuil)
Marconi under 15 metres
1-Cippino (Daniel Sielecki)
2-Santana (Wendy Schmidt)
3-Blitzen (Charles Dunstrone)
Marconi over 15 metres
1-Fjord III (German Frers)
2-Arrow (Philippe Plumtree)
3-Ellad (Stéphane Richer)
Schooner
1-Elena of London (Stephen McLaren)
2-Naema (Florian Franke)
3-Mariette of 1915 (Charlie Wroe)
Spirit of Tradition
1-Vanessa (Patrizio Bertelli)
2-Freya (Luca Celeghini)
3-Scherzo (Laurent Schenk)
Dragon
1-Annapurna (Anatoly Loginov)
2- Blue Haze (Ivan Bradbury)
3-NN (Niocla Friesen)
Full results: www.yachtclubdecannes.org/fr/produit/40-eme-edition-des-regates-royales-tradition-metrique/
