Dragon extravaganza

260 boats and European royalty expected in St Trophy for class' 75th anniversary regatta

The Dragon class are celebrating their 75th birthday this year with a mega-regatta in St Tropez where 260 boats are expected.

Parties at the glamorous Cote d'Azur hotspot have been busy organising the necessary infrastructure for the event, not only for the large number of boats but because several European royals will be taking part, alongside a number of Olympic medallists as well as Russell Coutts.

"The miracle has been achieved: the exceptional prestige of the Dragon and the very strong attraction of [coming to] Saint-Tropez and its bay, have served as a magnificent stimulus to some of the best crews in the world. 31 countries will be present in the 75th regatta year," explains Julien Desmet, president of the AFSID (the French Association of the International Dragon Series) and chief organiser of the event. "When the name Saint-Tropez was mentioned for the first time in front of the authorities of the International Dragon Association, it seemed like rather a crazy idea. Yet the case file that we then prepared was finally unanimously accepted during a meeting in London at the end of 2002."

Amoong the VIP guests it has been confirmed is HRH The Princess Royal, who will be on the water in Saint Tropez on Thursday 14 October for the main 75th anniversary race. Over the Dragon's 75 years the British Royal family have shown much enthusiasm for the Dragon. In the first years of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II acquired a Dragon called Blue Bottle which the Duke of Edinburgh campaigned enthusiastically. The impressive list of VIPs also includes the Kings Juan Carlos of Spain and Carl Gustav of Sweden.

In St Tropez the necessary logistics to launch and then lift the large fleet of keelboats is in place. The quay at the Vieux Port will be entirely cleared to accommodate all the boats - something that has never been seen before. Similarly the harbour master is arranging the berthing so that all competitors can group together in front of the Harbour Master’s Office and on the primary pontoons. The most complicated part of the operation with be the launching and liftig which will take place in front of the Nautical Society’s Club House. Four cranes have been brought in especially for the event with boat towed to the crane site by 4x4 BMW X3 and X5s enabling individual's cars and trailers to be parked in a specifically designated area in the port car park.

Program (French times)

Saturday 9 October from 0700 hours : Arrival of the competitors in Saint-Tropez (The Dragons taking part in the Royal Regattas in Cannes will be able to remain on their trailers in the Marines de Cogolin until this date)
Sunday 10: Greeting of competitors, cranes, 1700 hours the official opening of the 75th anniversary (on invitation)
Monday 11: Regatta from 1000 hours, 1500 hours, bowling competition - Places des Lices (reserved for participants)
Tuesday 12: Regatta from 1000 hours, golf for those accompanying the racers, "1960s evening music and disco" evening in the marquee (reserved for participants)
Wednesday 13: Regatta from 1000 hours, 1800 hours, reception at the Town Hall (on invitation)
Thursday 14: Regatta for the 75th anniversary (all the Dragons together), 2000 hours gala evening (on invitation)
Friday 15: Regattas from 1000 hours, "discovery" tasting in the marquee (reserved for participants)
Saturday 16: Regatta from 1000 hours, 1800 hours, prize giving in the marquee (on invitation), lifting of boats.

Initially the Dragon fleet will be divided into four groups which will play each other off in turn enabling the determining of the ‘gold’, ‘silver’ and ‘bronze’ fleets for the final phases. In addition, around 35 'Classic' Dragons, built before 1972, will have their own racing. For the main 75th Anniversary Regatta on Thursday 14 October, all 260 participants will take the same start line.