While for many of us October sees our thoughts turn to bringing boats ashore or preparing them to overwinter, in Saint-Tropez some 2,500 sailors are enjoying a 10-day international regatta in T-shirt weather.
This year saw Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez celebrate its 25th anniversary, though its history stretches back further, stemming as it does from the Nioulargue, which began in 1983. Over 40 years the event has established a precedence as being the first and finest regatta of its kind in the Mediterranean, with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez (SNST), managing to create a world class sailing spectacle from its modest clubhouse in this former fishing port. The south of France town usually hosts a population of just 3,600, its numbers swelling to almost double that for 10 days during the regatta.
And the little harbour is full of yachts – 250 of them from large classic schooners to dayboats. With a mix of maxi, modern and classic yachts the roads off the small port are a jostling jamboree of designs from the latest launches to the gaff-rigged gentlemen’s yachts of the late 19th century.
Unsurprisingly, the event is a photographer’s paradise. The late summer light is just beginning to suffuse slightly at either end of the day, while the Golfe de Saint-Tropez often enjoys a slight swell which gives a boat a ‘bone in her teeth’ or even a proper bow wave with lots of spray. It was the iconic photographs from those early runnings, published around the world, which drew yachtsmen of all waters to sail here.
Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Yachting World.
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Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Yachting World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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