47th Cannes Royal Regatta: An exceptional vintage
Generally speaking, the last week of September in Cannes is favorable for sailing, as previous editions have proven... but this year, the weather was simply exceptional, with winds between 5 and 25 knots or more, blowing from the south to southwest, lifting a sometimes steep sea for an XXL spectacle.
Saturday, snack time. It's hard to make your way through the dense crowd lining the quays. Weather-beaten, the crews struggle to unload tons of sails, then load the deck equipment needed to “dress up” these magnificent sailboats once they reach port. You can hear champagne corks popping, shouts of joy, and applause. The atmosphere is not just friendly, it is jubilant. In any case, when you come to compete in the Royales, you know you're not going to be treading water... and with weather like this, it's the “icing on the cake,” as Loïck Peyron likes to say. And if taking part is what counts, hats off to the five crews who won every single race in their category: Inigo Strez on Hallowe'en (Big Boat), Baptiste Garnier on Eugenia V (Classic Yachts Cruiser), Paul Serhal on Schanensee (Modern Classic), and finally Patrice Riboud on Pitch (Tofinou).
Finally, yesterday, Friday, September 26, at the Régates Royales village on Quai Saint-Pierre, adventurer and sailor Gérard d'Aboville, members of the board of directors Pascale Bladier-Chassaigne, general delegate, Jean-François Cutugno, president of the Cannes Yacht Club, and Damien Giguet, president of Shift Capital, presented the PMF-Shift Capital Maritime Heritage Award to Alain Beaume, skipper and one of the nine co-owners of Lulu, an iconic competitor in the Régates Royales, whose emerald green hull bears the boat's name. This gaff-rigged cutter, designed by Thomas Rabot with the help of painter and architect Gustave Caillebotte in 1897 near Argenteuil in western Paris, has been classified as a historic monument since 1993, has been awarded the BIP (boat of heritage interest) label, and is based in Sanary-Sur-Mer in the Var.
When we bump into Jean-François Cutugno just a stone's throw from the VIP yacht Thelas, his eyes are sparkling: "This is my fifth Régates Royales as president of the Cannes Yacht Club, and it's definitely the one with the best weather ever. Apart from one day, when the wind dropped, allowing the crews to take a breather, we had medium to strong winds all week. As a sailor myself, I was amazed by the quality of the crews, especially in the breeze that sometimes reached 30 knots, as well as by the impeccable organization on the water. I would also like to tip my hat to the club's volunteers and permanent staff, who spared no effort to make this 47th edition a magnificent success."
Demain dimanche 28 septembre à 11 heures, la 36ème
Coupe d’automne Yacht Club de France par Façonnable, course de ralliement de 25
milles vers Saint-Tropez, partira de Cannes pour les concurrents disputant dans
la foulée les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.
47ème Régates Royales de Cannes : Tous les résultats ici : manage2sail.com
Institutional partners: AFYT French Association of Traditional Yachts, Cannes Sports, Department 06, FFVoile, South Region, City of Cannes, Cannes Yacht Club. Official partners: HighField, Carlton Hotel Cannes, IGY Marinas – Old Port of Cannes, Marinepool, Palais des Festivals, Champagne Taittinger. Technical partners: DAB Boissons, Hôtel Palm Beach Cannes, ICOM France, Key4events, SNSM Société Nationale Sauvetage en Mer, Trans Côte d’Azur. Media partners: Cannes Radio, France TV.
Royalty-free photos for the press: Didier Ravon/YCC (credit required)
