Numbers binned and Rambler takes honours

Final race decider at Voiles de St Tropez

It’s already been 10 years since Les Voiles de Saint Tropez picked up and then went on to brandish high the torch of the Nioulargue spirit, and this week’s races all did the event justice. In some extremely varied weather conditions, 300 yachts, Modern and Traditional raced on the waters off the bay of St Tropez.

The large American Maxi Rambler triumphed in a group of large refined IRC A boats this year at Saint Tropez with some latest technology yachts driven in the main by crews from some of the largest international racing teams. Rambler’s skipper George David was boosted by the navigational services of Peter Isler (ex BMW Oracle Racing) for the occasion. The American talent combined with the power of the Reichel-Pugh design stole the show, relegating the J Class Velsheda to second place. Niklas Zennstrom scored a third place with the British TP52 sloop Ran. So how about that for IRC racing?

Disqualification relating to rule 20.4.1 (a) - advertising - during race 3 cost Ernesto Bertarelli and his high performance Judel Vrolijk design Numbers very dearly (in all 20 yachts were disqulified for this infringement despite all being warned the day before). The men of Alinghi, despite two race wins, only managed a 6th place. Meantime the STP65 Money Penny and Numbers unquestionably added a splash of sporting colour to Les Voiles; Paul Cayard, James Spithill as well as Brad Butterworth produced some exciting moments and it was the very first time that these craft, usually based on the east coast of the United States, had made the journey to Europe.

Of note amongst the IRC B, the largest class, was the battle between the 45 and 42 foot Swans and Protos. With four races completed there was no discard and it came down to the final race with Tony Buckingham's Mills 40 Ngoni taking overall honours securing third in Saturday's race with their main rival Cuordileone a lowly 16th. The Turkish yacht Mat 12 ranked 9th in her first participation to the great satisfaction of her crew, the latter promising to return.

Didier le Moal and his J/122, J lance 4, sailed to a blisteringly fine victory in the breeze. However, this was not enough to dethrone Georges Le Troquer’s First 40.7 Pen Khalet IX, whose more regular performance lifted her to the top of the rankings.

The Archambault 35 triumphed at Saint Tropez by placing David Marco’s IRC D Rebuff at the head of the fleet along with Tchin Tchin skippered by Jean Claude Bertrand. On home waters the J/109 Albacor IV of Jean Louis Pézin took third place in a very competitive group.

The First 34.7 Super Ding Ding belonging to Luc van Keirsblick of Monaco stood out against stiff competition from Olivier de Roffignac’s Sun Fast Zabriskie Point in IRC E.

The spectacular and futuristic Wally had their own racing and committee off Pampelonne beach. They were able to contest 5 races this week and it was the Wally 94 Open Season which stood out after winning 3 races ahead of Y3K and Magic Carpet. The giant Esense also marked her entry into Les Voiles with a 7th place.

Traditional

After a considerable amount of renovation work to her interior fittings was carried out last year at Fairlie, Moonbeam III returned to Saint Tropez with a new skipper, Erwan Noblet, and a desire to shine. It proved to be a done deal with a very fine victory in the public and media’s “chouchou” or ‘darling’ category of large gaff rigs. The 1903 Fife design stood out, despite fierce competition in the form of the imposing and majestic cutter Mariquita and the pretty schooner Altaïr. The Marconi sloop Rowdy, which had already performed well in Cannes, scored a superb victory amongst the Bermuda rigs ahead of The Blue Peter and Cholita. Bonafide, Oriole and Pesa created a dazzling spectacle throughout the week amongst the ‘small’ gaff rigs. In this order they completed a prestigious podium which was steeped in maritime history. Tenth in the ‘small’ gaffers category, the brand new Fyne built in Brittany by Hubert Sagnol based on the 1889 Fife, made a remarkable debut in the waters of Saint Tropez.

There was little surprise in the Esprit de Tradition (Spirit of Tradition class) where the immense Shamrock V triumphed. Her eternal adversary, Savannah, was unable to prevent the newcomer Sagittarius from sneaking between them onto the podium.

Nicolas Edmiston and his Bellerophon were under pressure right till the end where they finally took victory against the armada of 15 other Tofinous in the running at Saint Tropez this year; the latter a “modern-classic” in the small one design fleet, designed by Philippe Joubert. Despite two race victories, Hervé Margolis’ Grey One admitted defeat after a prohibitive 7th place last Wednesday. On equal points but with fewer victories, Bernard Vilarem’s Cambronne took third…

Altair, Amadour, Aschanti, Eilidh, Lulworth, Mariquita, Milena, Moonbeam IV, Oriole, Shamrock V, Sylvia, Thendara and Tuiga, all answered the call from “the Belle Class” last Friday to assess the work completed by “Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez” as regards safety on the water, following proposals listed in the Memorandum of the Belle Classe. Everyone was congratulated on the general awareness about the need to develop the international race rules and adapt them to the specific nature and disparity of these yachts. Anxious to continue this approach towards safety, the skippers and owners of “La Belle Classe” will soon be meeting up at the Monaco Yacht Club for a seminar day in the company of legal experts specialised in international maritime law.


PRIZE-GIVING – And the awards go to…

EPOQUE (Pre-1950)

Gaff A : MOONBEAM III
Gaff B : BONAFIDE
Marconi A : ROWDY
Marconi B : ANNE SOPHIE
Marconi C : MERCURY
Marconi D : WINDHOVER

TRADITIONAL:
Marconi A : GALVANA
Marconi B : CRAZY LIFE
ESPRIT DE TRADITION : SHAMROCK V
TOFINOU : BELLEROPHON

MODERN :
IRC A : RAMBLER
IRC B :NGONI
IRC C : PEN KHALET IX
IRC D :REBUFF
IRC E : SUPER DING DING
WALLY : OPEN SEASON
12 M JI : SOUTH AUSTRALIA

THE TROPHIES :
SAINT-TROPEZ TOWN CUP : REBUFF
TROPHY HERBERS VON KARAJAN : EILIDH
TROPHY YACHT CLUB DE FRANCE : FÉLICIE
TROPHY GAASTRA : ESENCE
TROPHY SOCIÉTÉ NAUTIQUE DE SAINT TROPEZ : PEN KHALET
TROPHY LES ÉCHOS/SÉRIE LIMITÉE : SOUTH AUSTRALIA
UDACS : JAVA BLEUE
TROPHY SWAN : CUORDILEONE
TROPHY SNSM : VERONIQUE
TROPHY ROLEX : ROWDY
TROPHY SEEMAGEST :
PROCESSION : MARIQUITA
WOMEN’S TROPHY : HECTOR
IMPERIAL VOILES:
- GAFF : MOONBEAM IV
- MARCONI : ROWDY
TROPHY PARIS-PREMIÈRE : TUIGA
TROPHY SILLINGER : PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ TEAM

Full overall results here