Last day of the Régates Royales for the Dragon fleet, which managed to conclude with a light breeze from the south sector in the Gulf of Juan: Ivan Bradbury (Blue Haze) narrowly edged out Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna).
As for the classic yachts, the Cannes zephyr provided them with a triangular course that was quickly covered, often creating a break in the overall classification accumulated over four races.
The final round on Saturday for the eighty-one crews under a once again radiant sun and in a somewhat more cooperative breeze until solar noon…
Even before rallying to the waters off Palm Beach’s eastern side, the Dragon sailors suspected that this last day could still offer a chance to gain a few places or preserve their standings after five days of fierce battles in often tricky, occasionally erratic winds.
Admittedly, Yvan Bradbury (Blue Haze) could afford to relax on this last day with an eleven-point lead over Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) if only one race were held, but there could be two to conclude these 39th Régates Royales!
The final race was thus crucial to separate the duelists, just as it could still allow the first French crew to climb to fourth place, with two points separating Jean Bréger (Ulysse) from the Briton Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (Jerboa). And at the end of a shortened race due to overall exhaustion on the water, Ivan Bradbury (Blue Haze) concluded with a fourth place while Anatoly Loginov (Annapurna) only reached the twelfth position.
The Briton thus emerged as the grand winner of the Régates Royales in Cannes, followed by the Russian, who barely saved his runner-up spot, while the German Pedro Rebelo de Andrade (Pow Wow) managed to finish second in this final race, just one point behind the Russian in the overall standings!
For the 5.5mJI, Merk Holowesko (New Moon) brilliantly flew the flag for the Bahamas: six races out of eight in first place! The Swiss Christian Bent Wilhemsen (Otto) had to settle for the runner-up spot. And in the Tofinou class, it was ultimately the Frenchman Patrice Riboud (Pitch) who prevailed after a fine battle with the Briton Edward Fort (Pippa).
