Sailing yacht Amadour, a beautiful 1938 cutter, has become the overall winner of the 2014 Trophée Bailli de Suffren. Luxury yacht Amadour has been also announced as the new holder of the “Sword of Admiral Satan”.

Classic yacht Amadour at the start of the race in Saint-Tropez

After 134 hours of racing – across 600 miles of the Mediterranean, over three legs between Saint-Tropez and Malta – this year’s event saw Tom Van Der Bruggen’s yacht Amadour triumph over last year’s winner luxury yacht Lelantina by the narrowest of margins.

With yachts racing in three classes, using the CIM rating system for classic yachts and points awarded for each leg, the final calculation was finely balanced and the difference between first and second was just 0.09 points – between 242.27 and 242.18. The closeness of the competition was also reflected in the elapsed times, with Amadour yacht covering the course in a total of 133 hours 56 minutes and sailing yacht Lelantina less than 30 minutes behind.

The third and final leg, from Trapani in Sicily to Malta’s Grand Harbour Marina, was mostly upwind in a light breeze that held windless traps for the unwary, and a temperature and humidity that proved taxing by night as well as by day. First to arrive in Malta was Tioga of Hamburg, racing in the Spirit of Tradition class for modern yachts inspired by classic designs – in Tioga’s case a re-imagining of a Francis Herreshoff ketch from the 1930s.

Sailing yacht Lelantina approaches Malta

Most of the 600 miles from Saint-Tropez have been to windward into a light to moderate south easterly, with the exception being a vigorous Mistral that blew the fleet into Sardinia‘s Porto Rotondo at the end of leg one.

In the unique spirit of the Trophée Bailli de Suffren, however, the hardships at sea were amply compensated by the hospitality ashore, with each harbour providing a warm welcome and prize-giving dinner for each leg – culminating in tonight’s awards ceremony at the Malta Maritime Museum.

The overall results over the three legs are as follows:

1. Amadour (242.27 points)

2. Lelantina (242.18)

3. Noryema (164.72)

4. Isis (161.52)

5. Hilaria (124.25)

6. Irina VII (83.10)

7. Sitting Bull (73.86)

8. Vistona (29.79)

9. Cin Cin (21.37)

Also competing in the Spirit of Tradition class, so not eligible for the overall “Sword of Admiral Satan” was Tioga of Hamburg, who was first to finish in all three legs.

Provisional dates for the next year’s Trophée Bailli de Suffren are Saturday 20 June to Wednesday 1 July 2015.