Enter the classics

Full fleet gets sails at the Voiles de St Tropez

Boats racing under IRC in the Modern classes today were faced with a 22 mile course around buoys either side of the Gulf of Frejus. George David's supermaxi Rambler, romped around the course to take line honours followed several minutes by a gaggle of boats including the STP65s Container and Moneypenny, the Welbourn maxi French Spirit One, Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi crew on Numbers and giant former of the former Mari Cha IV, Senso One.

Despite coming home in second place, Moneypenny was disqualified under a black flag infringement. However on corrected, it was the Russian TP52 Valars, steered by Serguei Chevtsov that pipped Rambler to the post with Container third and Numbers an uncharacteristic fourth, followed by the two Brit crewed TP52s Rio and Ran with the latter getting the upper hand.

Having come home second yesterday it was the turn of Tony Buckingham and his crew (including thedailysail's own Andy Nicholson) to take honours in IRC B aboard Ngoni, ahead of Leonardo Ferragamo's Swan 45 Cuordileone.

However the most attention was being paid to the giant classics who had their first day of racing under bright sun and almost summery conditions. With a promising breeze at the start that later fell, the Classics were racing over a 24-mile coastal course. Leading the fleet home were Altair and Rowdy within a hair's breadth of one another.