80 vintage sails will inaugurate the 14th Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge at Les Voiles d'Antibes. From 30th May to 3rd June, in fact, the French town of Antibes will welcome a fleet of around 80 vintage sailing yachts on the occasion of Les Voiles d'Antibes, the first stage of the Mediterranean Circuit of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the most important circuit reserved for the Ladies of the Sea sponsored for the fourteenth consecutive year by the Florentine haute horlogerie sports watchmaker of the same name. The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge season opens in Antibes with an exceptional guest, Guillaume Néry, the French constant-force diving champion who, as of this year, is a Panerai brand ambassador. On his wrist, Guillaume has chosen to wear the Luminor Submersible 1950 Amagnetic 3 Days Automatic Titanium PAM1389, a model from Panerai's Divers Professional watch collection that is water-resistant to a depth of 300 metres. This two-year partnership further strengthens the historic link between Panerai and the world of the sea. Between June and September, the world's most beautiful and admired wooden boats will compete in four events, two in Italy and the same number in France, to win the coveted seasonal trophy in the following categories Big Boats (sailing giants over 30 metres long), Epoch (pre-1950 launch) and Classics (launched between 1950 and 1975). Also racing in Antibes will be the boats belonging to the grouping Spirit of Traditionmore recently built hulls whose lines and characteristics echo designs from the past, and the Tofinou, the racing/cruising monotype with classic lines, 9.50 metres long, designed by architects Joubert-Nivelt and particularly popular in France. On Wednesday 30 May, the participating boats will assemble at the old port of Antibes. From Thursday 31 May, the four scheduled regattas will take place, one per day, along coastal or triangle courses depending on the weather conditions. On Sunday afternoon, 3 June, the prize-giving ceremony will take place at the end of the last race. Every day, the public will be able to access the docks to admire the hulls at berth. There will be no shortage of ketch in Antibes Eilean of 1936, restored and used since 2009 by Officine Panerai to promote the brand and the culture of classic sailing, also designed and launched by the William Fife shipyard. The Antibes fleet will be made up of yachts ranging from 9 metres in length to Brynhilde of 1958 and the 40-metre Cambria, a 1928 Bermudian cutter designed by the Scotsman Fife, one of the most important and influential dynasties of naval designers internationally. As chance would have it, this year all the Big Boats registered in Antibes were launched by the Fife shipyard. Among these Moonbeam IV of 1914, winner of four season titles, Mariska, Moonbeam of Fife, Tuiga of Prince Albert of Monaco and Hallowe'en of 1926, which will attempt to regain the category trophy won for the first time in 2017. Next stop on the circuit, the Argentario Sailing Week scheduled from 13 to 17 June.
