Around 90 boats will be competing from tomorrow to 28 September at the 35th edition of the Régates Royales in Cannes, the final stage of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge. After the regattas in Antibes, Porto Santo Stefano, Naples and Mahon, the coveted final trophies in the Vintage, Classic and Big Boat categories will be awarded at the famous Côte d'Azur resort. The winning boats will be able to write their names in the Roll of Honour of the Mediterranean Circuit of the international competition reserved for classic and vintage boats, sponsored for the ninth consecutive year by Officine Panerai. The participating yachts, the oldest of which dates back to 1896, come from over ten nations and represent more than a century of yachting history, from the early days to the present day. The shapes, types and different sail rigs of these boats, mostly made of precious woods such as mahogany and teak, are the result of the design flair of the best naval architects ever, from the Americans Olin Stephens and Nathanael G. Herreshoff to the Scots Fife of Fairlie, from the English Camper & Nicholson to the Italians Cesare Sangermani and Carlo Sciarrelli. Each boat has its own story to tell, often full of sailings in all the seas of the globe, challenges in major regattas such as the America's Cup, or long cruises in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe or across the oceans. It is precisely from the Atlantic Ocean that White Dolphin, the winner of the Panerai Transat Classique 2012 transoceanic regatta, and The Blue Peter, the 1930s Bermudian cutter that has been a loyal participant in the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge since the first editions, have returned to the shores of the Mediterranean. The owner of White Dolphin will present at the stand set up by Officine Panerai, where owners, crews and journalists from all over the world are welcomed every day, the trophy won a few months ago in Barbados, at the finish of the Panerai Transat Classique 2012. The cup, which bears the names of the winners of the two previous editions, will go to the winner of the next Panerai Transat Classique, scheduled for the winter of 2015. The spectacle at sea will be ensured by the presence of yachts ranging in length from the 7.62-metre small auric sloop Wianno, to the 50-metre majestic schooner Elena, recently built in Spain on original 1911 plans. Among the large yachts taking part were the 50-metre long auric schooner Eleonora, the 1931 Altair and the 1930 Shamrock V, the fifth and last America's Cup challenger of English tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton and the only survivor of the wooden-built J-Classes. Cambria (1928), Emeraude (1975), Leonore (1925) and Naïf (1973) will return to Cannes after having already won the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge at previous editions. The sea performance of Chinook (formerly Pauline, then Banshee), a 20-metre Bermudan sloop launched in the USA in 1916 to a design by the famous Nathanael G. Herreshoff, is highly anticipated. A few months ago the boat, belonging to the New York 40 class, underwent a complete restoration carried out in Tunisia. Two important anniversaries will also be celebrated at Cannes: while the French auric cutter Nin will celebrate 100 years since her launch, Outlaw from 1963 will instead celebrate half a century of life. Among the fifteen or so Spirit of Tradition present will also be RùM, a 13-metre long auric sloop built in wood by the Dutch Vels yard in Medemblik using the strip-planking technique. The boat, a D&D One Design model, is inspired by the lines of the hulls built by the legendary Fife yard in Fairlie, Scotland. The final event of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge 2013 will obviously not be without Eilean, the two-masted wooden yacht built in the Scottish Fife shipyards in 1936, recovered in the Caribbean and restored by Officine Panerai. For the haute horlogerie Maison, Eilean is not only the brand ambassador but also the ideal platform for organising "Capitano per un giorno" (Captain for a day), the itinerant initiative realised in collaboration with various non-profit associations - in Cannes, the partner will be, for the second year running, the Les Enfants de Frankie Association of Monte Carlo - thanks to which less fortunate youngsters can experience being the skipper of a vintage boat for a day. The event will be framed by a series of events on the quayside, including daily cocktails hosted at the Panerai Lounge and some open-air concerts. It will also be possible to visit the stands of painters and photographers set up right in front of the boats. The fleet present in Cannes will also be joined by 40 Dragons, hulls approximately 9 metres long. Even today, dozens of regattas are still organised around this former Olympic class, designed in 1929 by the Norwegian Johan Anker and distributed in thousands, every year all over the world.
