At the end of five days of regattas under a radiant sun and a gentle, steady thermal breeze, the 39th edition of the Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai concluded with a gentle final race: a breeze of about ten knots, occasionally stronger offshore, for a round-trip in the Bay of La Napoule to wrap things up.
Like the 15mJI Mariska achieving the grand slam, the One Tonner Ganbare secured a hard-fought victory in its class against Il Moro di Venezia, the NY-40 Rowdy added another accolade to its already impressive record despite pressure from Cippino, and the 8mJI Carron II was quite comfortable in these conditions, much like Linnet among the Aurique boats…
And as it had been since the beginning of the week, the wind took its time to settle in front of the port of Cannes for this final race, which had to decide many competitors who were neck-and-neck in the overall rankings. The breeze eventually blew from the South-Southeast at about eight knots, slightly strengthening further offshore as the fleet tacked toward Pointe des Aiguilles near Théoule-sur-Mer. Once again, Mariska was particularly swift in these conditions, as were Viola (Fabien Després), Cholita (Bruno Catalan), and Cippino (Daniel Sielecki), who all performed well in these rather light conditions…
However, it was among the Classic Racers that this final race changed the standings, as the overall victory went to Don Wood’s One Tonner (Ganbare) at the expense of Massimiliano Ferruzzi’s Maxi (Il Moro di Venezia)! Finally, Jean-Pierre Sauvan (Maria Giovanna II) among the Classique boats and Karl Lion (Tabasco 5) among the Spirit of Tradition concluded their Régates Royales-Trophée Panerai with a victory that earned them the combined overall standings over five races…
