Presenting the calendar for the regatta season reserved for classic and vintage yachts
The classic yacht season kicks off again with a schedule that promises to be bigger and more exciting than ever before: Officine Panerai presents the 2011 season of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the leading international regatta circuit reserved for classic and vintage yachts, in which over 500 classic sailboats, including many of the most beautiful watercrafts in the world, will challenge each other in water courses that have made yachting history.
Régates Royales - Trophée Panerai Credit - Régates Royales
The seventh Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge sees an even bigger circuit thanks to the return of the Argentario Sailing Week to the schedule, bringing the season’s regattas to a total of ten. The races are set to take place from mid April through to the end of September and range from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, the waters of Solent (UK) and those of New England, on the East Coast of the United States of America.
Like in 2010, the regattas are divided up to form two separate circuits: the North American circuit, which includes the regattas of Marblehead, Nantucket and Newport, and that of the Mediterranean, which this year includes Les Voiles d’Antibes (FR), Argentario Sailing Week (IT) the Copa del Rey di Mahon (ES), the Vele d’Epoca di Porto Rotondo (IT) and the Régates Royales di Cannes (FR). The schedule is completed by the Antigua Classic Week and the Panerai British Classic Week (UK), which do not form part of any of the abovementioned circuits.
The 2010 British Panerai Regatta - © Lloyd Images
For the second year the Panerai British Classic Week is part of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Series and will run from Sunday 17th July to Saturday 23rd July; as in previous years, competing yachts will be berthed at Cowes Yacht Haven.
The organisers once again promise a full programme of racing and social functions for competing skippers and their crews, including a number of long and short course day races around the environs of the Solent. In a break from the traditional format, the regatta will begin on Sunday 17th July with a standalone race clockwise around the Isle of Wight. This race, to be known as the ‘Panerai Classic Round the Island Race’, will also be thrown open to entries from classic yachts not competing in the main regatta.
Entries for the Panerai British Classic Week will open in April 2011 and more details on the event, including the official Notice of Race, will be posted on the BCYC website www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta in due course.
The calendar:
• ANTIGUA CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA
14 – 19 April
• LES VOILES D’ANTIBES
8 – 12 June 2011
• ARGENTARIO SAILING WEEK
16 – 19 June
• COWES, PANERAI BRITISH CLASSIC WEEK
16 – 23 July 2011
• MARBLEHEAD CORINTHIAN CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA
12 – 14 August 2011
• NANTUCKET OPERA HOUSE CUP
18 – 21 August 2011
• MAHON, VIII COPA DEL REY DE BARCOS DE EPOCA
24 – 27 August 2011
• NEWPORT, MUSEUM OF YACHTING CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA
2 – 4 September 2011
• VELE D’EPOCA A PORTO ROTONDO
8 – 11 September 2011
• CANNES, RÉGATES ROYALES
17 – 24 September 2011
Officine Panerai has been sponsoring the Classic Yachts Challenge since 2005. Over the space of seven years, the circuit has grown, extending from the Mediterranean, which has always been the chosen location for classic yachting, to include other legendary areas for sailors such as the East Coast of the United States, which hosted the very first America’s Cup in history in 1851. The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge is today synonymous with classic sailing worldwide, bringing together hundreds of watercraft and thousands of yacht owners, professional crews and sailing enthusiasts each year.
OFFICINE PANERAI
Officine Panerai was founded in Florence in 1860 as a watch-making establishment, shop and school; for years it supplied the Italian Navy with precision timepieces, particularly to cover the needs of the special underwater diving corps. The projects it worked on at the time, including the Luminor and Radiomir watches, were covered by the military secrets act for years and Panerai watches were launched on the international market after the Richemont group purchased the brand in 1997.
Today, Officine Panerai is the only Italian haute horlogerie manufacturer. It develops and manufactures its watches and movements in Neuchâtel, combining Italian design and history with Swiss watch-making know-how. Panerai watches are sold all over the world through an exclusive network of distributors in addition to its boutiques in Florence, Portofino, Geneva, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Buenos Aires, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Riyadh, Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo.
