In Saint Tropez today, the 250 boats out on the racetrack wrote the final chapter of this wonderful 2024 epic of Les Voiles, a fitting title for which might well be ‘135 years of naval architecture.’ Maxi, Modern and Tradition yachts set sail in summery sunshine with a lovely breeze for this the high point in what has been a truly exceptional week. The public who crowded along the Môle Jean Réveille this Saturday were treated to an absolutely magical show as this anniversary edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez rounded off as it began, in style! We get the low-down on the results prior to the jury for the numerous classes as well as the reactions from the sailors.
Modern yachts: A mix of emotion and victory
The wind once again proved to be very fluky when the first starting gun fired at 12:40 hours in front of the Portalet tower. The battle quickly got under way in IRC B (North Sails Trophy) between the TP 52s, Ker 46s and other Club Swans. At the end of a short 15-mile return leg completed in an hour and a half, it was the TP 52 Vudu, which secured line honours thanks to her stunning progress over the past four races. However, it was not quite enough to get the better of another of the TP 52s, Nanoq, skippered by King Frederik of Denmark. Last year’s winner in the racer IRC C class, his Nanoq snatched victory again this year and, despite not winning any races, she posted a very consistent performance in the second half the week where she twice finished second.
In IRC C for the BMW Trophy, the provisional overall ranking was very tight early this morning with fewer than two boats capable of securing a top spot. Ultimately, it was the Briton Michael Wilson on Shotgunn, third today, who took the crown at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. In this very hotly contested class that saw the best of the four Cape 31s out on the racetrack, Give Me 5 could not do any better than last year and just missed out on a podium finish.
There were no surprises in IRC D (Suzuki Marine Trophy) where Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez member, Gael Claeys on Expresso, won another bullet today. Having already been victorious in 2023, this JPK1010 is the only boat in her class to have won every race run, which speaks volumes about her utter domination. “It’s a team victory, she admitted this evening. We can already announce that we’ll be back for more next year because, to the best of my knowledge, the triple is yet to be a done deal at Les Voiles. That’s a big driver for us!”
Meantime, the situation in IRC E (Marines de Cogolin Trophy) was the most confusing today. With the wind rotating at the last minute, a handful of boats sought to position themselves at the committee boat end on port tack. In this way, yesterday’s leader Flower Power 2, which was forced to go around the committee boat to pay the penalty for overshooting the start to avoid colliding with the other boats, naturally had a bad race, leaving overall victory to Pride, the Graves family’s legendary Swan 44. This same boat challenged the 12mR Ikra to a race in 1981, unknowingly giving rise to the Nioulargue in the process, and she made her big comeback at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez last year.
Tradition yachts: Marga bags the Rolex Trophy in a breathtaking final
Great weather, smooth seas and a nicely established breeze provided the perfect conditions for the Tradition yachts to celebrate this last day of the competition. First out of the blocks, the Epoque Aurique vied for the Rolex Trophy with real panache.
Since the disqualification of Oriole in this category after colliding with Lulu in Tuesday’s race 2, the match for outright victory pitted the 10mR Marga, helmed by Brazilian Torben Graël against the P Class Olympian. These centenarians are competitively and stylistically opposed with different rule measurements to boot. Indeed, Marga weighs in at nearly two tons more than the P Classes, which were designed according to Herreshoff’s Universal Rule and geared up for races in New York Harbour. Restored at John Anderson’s in Camden, Maine, at the instigation of French legend Bruno Troublé, the four P Classes have certainly made their mark on this edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez 2024. Formidable in light airs with their overlapping genoa, the P Classes nevertheless owe a lot of time to Marga: “5 minutes 10 per hour of racing to be precise!” explained Cécile Poujol, tactician aboard Olympian, before this morning’s start. “Suffice to say that we’ll be on the finish line to time the boats today as the prospect of beating Torben Graël for once in his life is rather exciting.”
We have to go back a bit first though because after two hours of racing, there was less than five minutes between the two boats and just one point, five-time Olympic medallist Torben Graël hands victory to Marga! It’s a victory which “means a lot” to her owner Matteo Tacconi: “It’s taken nine years of sailing this boat, firstly to understand her and then to develop her each year. This season was the winning one. After our podium in Antibes, victory this evening in Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez feels like a dream come true.”
In contrast, there were no surprises in the Grand Traditions category where Belle Aventure nailed another bullet today, snaffling victory at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez after winning every race. It was the same punishment among the 12mRs with Crusader uncompromising in the three races run, despite the very stiff opposition. It was the fourth regatta of the year for the crew of Sir Richard Matthews, a familiar face at Les Voiles, which he has competed in several times aboard his Fife design Kismet. “I love coming to Les Voiles. Crusader is already up for sale but if the UK win the America’s Cup, I promise to keep her and come back here!”he enthused this morning as he cast off from the dock. The British crew managed to keep ahead of French Kiss, whose crew included Albert Jacobsoone, one of the crew of France’s 1987 Cup campaign in Perth, who explains all: “These boats remain complex and crew coordination is more important than outright performance. From that perspective, Crusader had the edge on us. I hope that the dynamism in this 12mR class continues. Kookaburra III is in France so she may join us, Kookaburra II is in Italy and there’s also Italia, so why not have 7 or 8 boats from this generation at next year’s Voiles?!”
With no crushing victories among the BIG boats, the prize ultimately went to the most consistent performer, Tuiga. Second today behind Viveka, the Yacht Club de Monaco’s 15mR secured a dazzling win in her class and the match, which saw her vying with her counterpart Mariska in three excellent races.
Among the Marconi yachts, in both Epoque (pre-1950) and Classic (post-1950), this morning’s start was dripping with suspense off the Portalet tower with the top two boats tied on points. The leaders kept a steady hand on the tiller though with Eugenia V taking the win in the Classics and Stormy Weatherfollowing suit in Epoque B. In Epoque Marconi A, it was a textbook case: Blitzen ending up tied on points with Carron II. Each of them won one race and finished third and seventh once. Completely even then, the only way to split them apart is to go on the results from the last race. Today, Blitzen was in front and so she scoops the cup!
To get a full house of results for the Tradition yachts, we must not forget that in IOR,Il Moro di Venezia was victorious. The same was true for Flica 2 in 12mR Vintage and Dainty took the win among the lnvités guest category.
Maxi yachts: The favourites hold form
In the bay of Pampelonne like the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, the breeze took a moment to settle itself into position today but each class was able to complete their racing programme, either with a coastal course for classes A and B or with a windward-leeward for classes C and D.
In Maxi A (Byblos Trophy), Jethou was supreme this Saturday on a course which will be remembered for Black Jack 100’s thundering start and My Song trawling the mark! Sir Peter Ogden’s 77-footer nevertheless left outright victory in the safe hands of Jolt, second today, having posted an impressive performance throughout these Voiles de Saint Tropez on the fastest of the Maxis.
Lyra sealed an even more convincing win in Maxi B (La Mer Trophy). She took victory today having only let one win slip out of her reach in six races. It’s a hugely satisfying performance for her owner-helmsman Terry Hui and a repeat of last year’s result. “This result is largely down to my crew, which has been fantastic. Everything seems simple and fluid with people like this and our tactician Nicolai Sehestead was a real bonus once again in terms of performance.” With the rest of the podium still within anyone’s grasp this morning in this class, second place finally went to Kallima, the Belgian Swan 82, ahead of Geist, the impressive 111-footer with classic vibes, which has always been on the pace since Monday.
In the Maxi Cs (Barons de Rothschild Trophy), Wallyño outpaced the others on the only windward-leeward of the day but Yoru snatched the overall win by just one point. Skipper of the grey Wally and president of the International Maxi Association, Benoit de Froidmont came achingly close to securing the double but his main takeaway from this edition of Les Voiles is “the exemplary nature of the hospitality and the organisation. Everyone is happy to sail in these mild conditions. The standard was high and the atmosphere was excellent. We are sure to be back in force for more of the same next year.”
Naturally, the success of the British Swan 65 Six Jaguar in Maxi D (Brig Trophy), a newcomer to the class this year, is sure to attract other owners to come and line up at Les Voiles aboard their Maxis, no matter their spec or their age.
PROGRAMME for LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ 2024 (details of the programme on shore can be viewed on the event’s website)
Sunday 6 October: Prize-giving ceremony for Modern and Classic yachts
Photos:
Kurt Arrigo
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