It doesn’t get much better than the conditions off Saint-Tropez today – sailors and photographers live for days such as this, with 25-30 knots of wind, sunny skies and a fleet of the most beautiful sailing yachts in the world. After a week of extremes: too much wind or too little, the competitors were delighted to awaken to a fresh breeze that, for the classic division, continued to build throughout the day.
Many of the yachts revel in these conditions, so it was no surprise that only a handful of boats chose to remain in port. Among those was the largest gaff cutter afloat, the stunning 46-meter (152′), Lulworth. Re-launched and sailing in its’ first regatta this past June, the plan has been to take it easy and not push the boat the first season.
The 16-nautical mile course provided a fair amount of off-the-wind sailing. With the northwest wind breezing from the head of the bay, the race committee set an offset windward mark a short distance up the bay. Though it only required one tack out to fetch – the mark served to keep the yachts from running back down through the race course during subsequent starts. From there is was a reach to the gate at De la Seiche and on to a mark at Les Issambres; the fleet gybed onto port carried on a fast reach to Le Verhuge, and then on the wind to pass La Moutte to port, through the gate at La Ribou and back to the finish off la Tour du Portalet in the city.