With a very beautiful Thursday under a zephyr finally established at about twelve knots, the classic yachts were able to easily complete a double triangular course in the bay of La Napoule: in each category, the hierarchies are starting to form in favor of those more comfortable in light winds, such as the Maxi IOR Il Moro di Venezia or the 15mJI Mariska…
And over in the Gulf of Juan, while the breeze struggled to find its rhythm before the early afternoon, two races were still able to be launched for the Dragon, the 5.5mJI, and the Tofinou…
Though the scenario played out once again according to the same patterns (calm in the morning, south-southeast wind around noon strengthening in the early afternoon up to 12-14 knots before easing before evening), this third episode of the Rรฉgates Royales-Trophรฉe Panerai was energized by a more consistent and especially more regular flow.
And this first upwind leg confirmed that it was necessary not only to find the right spot to start but also to execute tacking with precision. Mariska proved to be the most incisive, winning once again in real time among the largest units, as the 23mJI Cambria could not keep pace with its less efficient sail plan.
A beautiful showdown, however, among the Auriques with Torben Grael (Linnet) being imperial on his NYYC-30, allowing him to take the lead in the overall standings ahead of Marc Audineau’s Class-P (Olympian) and the two “New Yorkers” designed by Nathanael Herreshoff, Jonathan Greenwood’s NY40 (Chinook), and Justin Burman’s NY50 (Spartan).
And among the Classic, Luigi Pavese (Samuraรฏ) made a nice move even though he finished only fourth in this race won by Philippe Monnet (Lys), as he takes the lead overall ahead of Jean-Pierre Sauvan (Maria-Giovanna II).
Brendan McCarty (Rowdy) has some concerns in the Marconi even though he finished in second place this Thursday, as Daniel Sielecki (Cippino) and Mauro Piani (Leonore) remain very pressing in the overall standings, which is not the case in the category below for Angelo Mazzarella (Carron II), who, even though he left the victory today to the Argentine architect German Frers (Fjord III), has a good cushion of lead over three races. Weather conditions are expected to be slightly more favorable for Friday with a somewhat stronger southeast breeze…
After a few hours of patience, a light breeze settled in the Gulf of Juan, but two crews were too impatient and were eliminated under the black flag: the Frenchman Stรฉphane Baseden (Outlaw) and the Russian Vasily Senatorov (Even Better)… And once again, the match turned into a duel between the Briton Yvan Bradbury (Blue Haze) and the Russian Annatoly Loginov (Annapurna), refereed by two French crews: Jean Brรฉger (Ulysse) and Gรฉrard Blanc (Tsuica II)…
But a second race was launched to follow and confirmed the hierarchy at the end of this windward-leeward course: the Russian and the Briton were almost assured of stepping onto the final podium tomorrow, Friday, the last day of competition, while the third place was still very open between the German Pedro Rebelo de Andrade (Pow Wow), who secured a fine win after a lukewarm first round, and the Frenchman Jean Brรฉger (Ulysse), the Briton Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (Jerboa), and the Russian Igor Goikmberg (Zenith)…
