LUXURY LIVING SPORT u
THIS YEAR’ S WINNERS AND RACERS:
ROLEX: MOONBEAM IV
Mickael Créac’ h, boat captain and skipper of Moonbeam IV, held their place at the top of the leader board over the first three races, but were still dreading this last day of racing, which was forecast to be rainy with little breeze. Fortunately, a light S’ ly breeze enabled the Race Committee to launch a short, technical sprint at the given time bound for Les Issambres. With Moonbeam IV fully powered up out of the starting blocks, to windward of the massive schooner Elena of London, she rounded off her week in style, leaving the rest of the fleet in her wake to take victory in the 13-mile race. And so it is that the much coveted Rolex Trophy went to the big Moonbeam( Fife 1914). The eldest of the Moonbeams, the No. 3, otherwise known as Moonbeam of Fife( 1903), secured a splendid second place, alongside the large Bermudan cutter, Halloween( 1926), she too a Fife.
BMW TROPHY: OPEN SEASON
Dominating play with two superb victories and one 2nd place during the windwardleewards, the crew on the Wally 107 Open Season were fearful of the coastal race line up for the final day. Indeed, in this the 6th race of the week for Luca Bassani’ s designs, Magic Carpet Cubed was the race favourite after an impressively consistent performance round the cans and offshore. However, with the medium breeze off Pampelonne, Michael Atkinson was a surprise victor on Open Season. Magic Carpet Cubed and Sir Lindsay Owen Jones took second place, while Piers Richardson and J One scored a very fine 3rd place, just pipping Tango to the post.
EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD GROUP TROPHY: TP 52 TEAM VISION.
A battle royal reigned in this category with just one point separating the Russians on the TP 52 Frescia Rossa led by Vadim Yakimenko and the French on Team Visionskippered by Jean Jacques Chaubard on the eve of the final day of racing. Both gave their absolute but ultimately the French crew just did enough to take home the Edmond de Rothschild Trophy. Arobas, the Botin design, earned a much deserved third place in an extremely tough line-up of 24 boats.
TROUBLE AMONG THE MODERN BIG BOYS.
Photos: Thomas Campuin and Gilles Martin-Raget
Though the hierarchy for this very elite group of large Modern yachts may have originally seemed like a foregone conclusion, throughout the competition it has been turned on its head thanks to the excellent performances posted by the challengers and the medium conditions, which have left no room for error. The 100-foot Farr design Leopard managed to live up to expectations despite a blip early on, but her companions on the podium are somewhat unexpected: Velsheda, the 1933 J Class got the better of the other giant in her category, Lionheart( Hoek 2010) and ended up just one point behind Leopard. Logically Rambler88 was a big contender for third place, but it’ s Lionel Péan’ s VOR 70 S that takes it after a great week despite her disastrous rating.
A YACHT OF DISTINCTION: MIGNON
Mignon was built in 1905 in Norway to race in the 7 M JI category, a class with few takers that quickly disappeared. She’ s a 16m45 wooden sloop designed by August Plym. Originally gaff rigged, the boat was transformed into a 7 / 8 Marconi back in 1911. The first owner was an English captain and the boat was based in the Solent. After a string of different owners and ports of registry, she was restored in Italy and then, more recently, Marseille, and has just started racing in the Mediterranean. Her name harks back to an enigmatic Goethe character familiar to Ambroise Thomas and Richard Wagner operas.
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