After a thrilling first leg across the Bay of Biscay, it’s now the turn of the Mediterranean fleet to race to the rallying point of Cascais in Portugal. With preparations well underway, they’ll be crossing the Saint-Tropez starting line at 1400 hrs on 25 October. If all the world’s a stage, the Panerai Transat Classique 2012 is a veritable drama full of twists and turns, hard work and fun. The curtain is about to rise upon the next act.
In barely a week’s time starts the second leg of the Panerai Transat Classique 2012. On 25 October the fleet will set out from the legendary port of Saint-Tropez to race across the Mediterranean. The testing autumnal weather will be an opportunity for the skippers to try out some daring tactics. The yachts have first to cross the Gulf of Lion, well known for its powerful and unpredictable temper, and then sail down the Spanish coast or around the Balearic Islands before heading into the formidable Straits of Gibraltar.Extremely narrow, the passage between Europe and Africa is subject to powerful currents that the competitors will have to deal with as best they can. Let’s hope the wind won’t add to their difficulties!Once in the Atlantic, they will have to double Cape Saint-Vincent on the south-west tip of the Iberian peninsula and sail up the Tagus to cross the finishing line off Cascais, the home of Portuguese yachting.
Earlier this year, in July, the first leg of the Panerai Transat Classique enjoyed excellent conditions. The summer sun shone on the competitors as they sailed out of the Bay of Douarnenez accompanied by hundreds of vessels taking part in the festival there, and the finishing stages of the race had all the hallmarks of a nail-biter. And yet this next stage of the race looks set to eclipse its predecessor. It’s going to be an epic of sailing prowess.
Saint-Tropez, the starting point, is renowned for its elegance, sportsmanship and festive atmosphere.One month after the Régates Royales de Cannes, the final event in the Trophée Panerai, and barely three weeks after Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the high point in the Mediterranean regatta season, the former fishing village turned yacht haven will once again be getting excited about classic sailboats.After such a long series of regattas, the crews are at the top of their game and won’t give an inch in the race to come.As for the spectators, with the starting line off Portalet Tower, they will be able to enjoy a magnificent sight from the pier of the old port or a panoramic view of the bay from the park of the citadel which overlooks the town.
In the week leading up to the start, the competitors will be making their final preparations in the old port: checking the rigging one last time, taking on supplies, and generally getting psyched up for the long race ahead (1,000 miles, no less).Solidarity develops easily between the sailors, most of them amateurs, and everybody is ready to give the benefit of their experience, and share their ambitions, dreams and, sometimes, apprehensions.These are precious moments where frank and friendly friendships are made.Indeed, that is how the Atlantic Yacht Club was born on the quays of Douarnenez prior to the start of the Transat Classique 2008; today the AYC organizes the race in collaboration with Comet Organisation.The competitors will be making the most of the events put on just for them by the organizers, the town of Saint-Tropez and all the sponsors, especially the Italian watchmaker Panerai.It is a great way to forget, if only briefly, the pressures of preparing for an offshore race.
On the starting line the veterans of the Transat Classique will be welcomingCorto, a 1970 Carter design. They will undoubtedly remember how, during the previous edition of this prestigious race, her crew sailed into Agadir with water halfway up their calves, having bailed like madmen for days on end. Moroccan shipwrights then had to pull out all the stops to get her seaworthy for the Atlantic crossing.Even the night before the start of the ocean leg her decks were alive with activity, while her fellow competitors were dreaming of rolling along before the trade winds.Despite their efforts, the crew had to face up to the facts:Corto may well have crossed the starting line, but she was in no shape to continue the adventure without putting her crew, and herself, at risk.So it is with great pleasure that, four years after she had to prematurely call it a day, Corto is once again taking part in this wonderful raceacross the Atlantic in the company of some truly exquisite sailing machines!
On 25 October at 2 p.m., two hours after the grand parade, the starting gun will fire, launching the crews into a thrilling race to Cascais in Portugal where they will join the rest of the fleet in readiness for 2 December and the final run of the Panerai Transat Classique to the beautiful island of Barbados.
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