RÉGATES ROYALES
The Régates Royales in Cannes has been a bucket list event on the international circuit for a number of years.
In 2020
it
follows
two
Europeans in nearby Sanremo, so a big turnout is expected. weeks after the
Bucket list regatta in Cannes
T
he 42nd Régates Royales Cannes and French Open will be held 22-25 September. It will be the fifth time the 5.5 Metres have been involved in recent years, joining the other metric classes and many classic yachts, racing at this iconic and famous Mediterranean sailing festival. The 5.5 Metre fleet is spoilt for choice in 2020 with the Europeans in Sanremo, the Italian championship in Imperia and the French Open in Cannes providing a unique opportunity for a month of great racing on the Mediterranean as autumn approaches. Arrangements have been made to allow sailors to leave boats either in Sanremo or in Marina degli Aregai, a few mils from Sanremo, or in Cannes, between events. The 2019 edition was blessed with fantastic weather, with one day lost with strong winds. Otto (SUI 209, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Lasse Berthelsen, Luka Strahovnik) got off to a perfect start with three wins in moderate winds. After Wednesday was lost, Shaolin (SUI 226, Cyrus Golchan, Hans von Werdt, Andreas Kindlimann) had the best of the third day to close the gap, taking the first race of the day while Otto took the second. The third race went to Prettynama (GER 79, Max Mueller, Wiebe de Witte, Kim Chabani).
Two races were sailed on the final day with Otto securing the win, by winning both races in light winds. After placing second for the past two years, this win represented Bent Christian Wilhelmsen’s first ever regatta win in the class and he was understandably delighted. Shaolin picked up two second places to secure second overall with Prettynana in third. Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beala Kallkowski, Joachim Fluhrer) took the prize for the first Evolution boat while Berlin (GER 2, Georg J. Kierspel, Dirk Wittstock, Joerg Sonntag) received a prize as the best Classic. The beautifully kept Berlin, built in 1952, certainly pulled a few eyes at the regatta, of which the main show is the classic yacht racing of all sizes up to 55 metres. 1 Otto (SUI 209, Bent Christian Wilhelmsen, Lasse Berthelsen, Luka Strahovnik) 9; 2 Shaolin (SUI 226, Cyrus Golchan, Hans von Werdt, Andreas Kindlimann) 14; 3 Prettynama (GER 79, Max Mueller, Wiebe de Witte, Kim Chabani) 17; 4 Ali Baba (GER 84, Wolf-Eberhard Richter, Beala Kallkowski, Joachim Fluhrer) 27; 5 Oro Nero (GER 55, Henning Ueck, Jesper Boskamp, Ilse Boskamp) 34; 6 Joker (FRA 50, Eric Polaillon, Adrien Polaillon, Eric le Coq) 39; 7 Berlin (GER 2, Georg J. Kierspel, Dirk Wittstock, Joerg Sonntag) 50; 8 Joker (SUI 193, Peter Taeschler, Fabian Spiller, Tina Taeschler) 61
april 2020 • fivepointfive • 71
