The distinguished name dates back to the event’s origins. In 1929, King Christian X of Denmark initiated this event. He wished to organise an autumn regatta for a select circle of friends and acquaintances, predominantly members of European royal families, and approached the Yacht Club de Cannes with his request. The club offered to host the regatta but asked for permission to call the event the ‘Régates Royales’ – and the King agreed.
The name has survived to this day, as has the connection to the crowned heads of Europe. King Harald V of Norway, a keen regatta sailor who competed in the 5.5-metre and Soling classes at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games, and his father, King Olav V – the 1928 Olympic champion in the 6-metre class – were both closely associated with the Régates Royales Cannes.
Day 1: The Dragons kick things off
As is tradition, the Dragons kicked off the event. 34 boats from 14 nations – one of the largest fields in the class this season – took to the water on Tuesday 22 September in the western bay of Cannes. The 8.90-metre keelboats, designed by the Norwegian Johan Anker in the year the Régates Royales were founded, were an Olympic class from 1948 to 1972.
Whilst the dragon boats were racing, the classic yachts in the six other classes – Big Boats, Époque Aurique, Époque Marconi, Modern Classic and Tofinou – were preparing for action: measurement, safety checks, stocking up on provisions. Curious passers-by crowded the jetties whilst crews manoeuvred bags containing light-wind sails and running rigging through the crowds.
Day 2: “Eilean” returns
The second day was all about “Eilean”. The 25.60-metre Italian Bermuda ketch – designed in 1936 and built of teak by William Fife III in Fairlie, Scotland – made her long-awaited comeback at the Régates Royales after a prolonged absence. The Yacht Club de Cannes and the competitors in the Big Boats class gave her a warm welcome.
In 2007, the watch brand Panerai acquired the vessel in a state of disrepair and had it fully restored by 2009 at the renowned Francesco Del Carlo shipyard in Viareggio. Today, the “Eilean” is sailed by an all-Italian crew under Captain Stefano Valente.
But the weather didn’t play along. The 85 participants waited for three hours under the blazing sun for the wind – in vain. The afternoon thermal wind was blocked by a dominant south-easterly flow. The race committee eventually called off the event. Not a single race was completed.
A slide show was held at the regatta venue that day as a tribute to the Italian Carlo Borlenghi – one of the most important international sailing photographers, who had passed away at the end of the summer. Borlenghi had documented the Régates Royales through his photographs for decades and had captured many of the iconic images from this event.
Day 3: “Shamrock V” v “Cambria”
On Wednesday, there was a steady easterly breeze of around 10 knots, and I saw seven classes racing, bathed in the glistening light over the bay.
The highlight of the day was provided by two giants: “Shamrock V” and “Cambria” – two of the most famous racing yachts in history – fought out their own unofficial duel, whilst the yachts in the other classes battled upwind to the mark off the Lérins Islands.
The “Shamrock V” is a 36.58-metre J-Class yacht, designed in 1930 by Charles Ernest Nicholson for Sir Thomas Lipton’s fifth attempt at the America’s Cup. The yacht, made of steel and wood and weighing almost 170 tonnes, was fully restored in Southampton in 2004. Cambria, a 23-metre racing yacht measuring 33.80 metres in length, designed by William Fife III and built at his shipyard in Fairlie, measures over 41 metres including the bowsprit. Both masts rise some 45 metres into the sky. The golden age of the America’s Cup – brought to life off the coast of Cannes.
Day 4: Champagne sailing
Temperatures of 26 degrees, sunshine, a freshening south-westerly wind of up to 15 knots – Thursday delivered what sailors all over the world call ‘champagne sailing’. The 34 Dragons completed three races in the eastern bay. The Tofinou and 12-metre fleets raced against the backdrop of the Esterel Mountains. The other classes sailed a 14.5-nautical-mile coastal course, on which the NY 49 “Rowdy” shone, leaving all its competitors behind with an impressive combination of speed, tactics and boat handling. Back on shore, the traditional crew party got underway.
Day 5: Papal Bells
Friday, 25 September, began with an unusual interruption: race director Jérôme Nutte postponed the regular skippers’ briefing by 15 minutes – because at 10 am, church bells rang out across France to welcome Pope Leo XIV.
At the Yacht Club de Cannes, sailors waited with coffee and croissants whilst an easterly wind of almost 25 knots gradually died down. The race committee made a wise decision: the first starts were postponed by an hour. This foresight paid off: the wind died down, the sea became almost as smooth as glass, the conditions were exceptional – and the starts followed one another with the precision of a Swiss watch.
The Époque-Aurique fleet provided the spectacle of the day: dramatic duels, close encounters and intense tacks within the 300-metre zone. In the East Bay, the 34 Dragons completed their tenth and final race of the regatta. The Dragons’ prize-giving ceremony took place in the evening at sunset at the Yacht Club de Cannes.
Day 6: Prize-giving ceremony in the evening light
Saturday, 27 September: a light south-easterly breeze, golden light over the Esterel Mountains, hundreds of sailors gathered in the marina at Cannes. The 48th Régates Royales came to an end.
Club President Jean-François Cutugno thanked the organisers, volunteers and participants, and praised the event for what it is year after year: one of the world’s most significant gatherings of classic yachts. Despite one windless day that forced the cancellation of racing, the other four days of racing had delivered spectacular and intense regatta sailing in almost perfect conditions.
Lasse Johannsen
Deputy Editor in Chief YACHT