A dazzling finale to Act 1 of Les Voiles Trophies and rewards for the Classic stars: Shenandoah, Scud, Skylark, Sumurun, Jap, EugeniaV, Espar II, Lulu and Bona… Nanoq takes the win once more in the BMW Trophy
A dazzling finale to Act 1 of Les Voiles Trophies and rewards for the Classic stars: Shenandoah, Scud, Skylark, Sumurun, Jap, EugeniaV, Espar II, Lulu and Bona… Nanoq takes the win once more in the BMW Trophy
Chic classics! For this final day of competition, the gulf served up some stunning racing on calm to rough seas, blown by a moderate to strong W’ly wind. Their starts under spinnaker, on port tack for all the classes, were just sublime, leading to a series of decisive jousting at the head of each of the groups. Between the Mistral at the start of the week and Thursday’s Challenge Day, the Classics completed two races, each of them contested in very different contexts: moderate wind yesterday and a building Mistral today. As such the sailors had to really push their steeds in very different ways on an extremely changeable race zone, forcing them to put in a number of high-pressure manoeuvres and sail changes. With spinnakers aloft downwind, genoas on a reach, then a beat towards the far end of the gulf and Le Portalet under jib and genoa, the spectacle out on the water and along the piers was really something special today. There were many momentous occasions, including the three 12mRs Il Moro di Venezia , France and Ikra embroiled in the most spectacular of speed runs. France just got the better of Ikra , albeit it by just a few seconds, but she didn’t have quite enough of a lead to finish ahead of Eugenia V (Rhodes 1968) in corrected time. This scenario was echoed in the Epoque Aurique Group which Spartan , the speedy Herreshoff designed New York 50, dominated play on the line, but her handicap let her down against Torben Grael’s formidable Scud (Herreshoff 1903). Shenandoah of Sark , the impressive three-masted schooner (Ferris 1902), was the big threat in the group vying for the Rolex Trophy. Beaten in race 1 by the amazing Paine design Viveka , she came right back into the game in the breeze, securing victory in today’s race and with it the prestigious Rolex Trophy. 8 other Trophies were awarded this evening to the champions in the 8 remaining groups of Classics: Torpez Trophy (Classic Marconi A), Eugenia V (Rhodes 1968), Turquoise Trophy (Classic Marconi B), Espar II (Sangermani 1968). Mercantour Trophy (Epoque Aurique A), Scud (Herreshoff 1903) Byblos Trophy (Epoque Aurique B), Lulu (Rabot 1897), Marshall Trophy (Epoque Marconi A) Skylark 1937 (Olin Stephens 1937), SNSM Trophy (Epoque Marconi B) Bona (Baglietto 1934), Besserat de Bellefon Trophy (Grand Tradition) Sumurun (Fife 1914) and the Pierre Basset Trophy, won by Jap (Fife 1897) for the best yacht in the ‘Guests’ group.