Capri Classica 

Four giant schooners took part in the inaugural Capri Classica 8 – 12 May in hidden corner of Italy.  Burgees flew; topsides, varnish and brightwork all gleamed in the Mediterranean sunshine and swarms of crew all clad in the identical uniform of their respective yacht gathered for this exclusive invitational-only event.  It is indeed a superb time to be a schooner owner.

Sailing schooners is a complex labour-intense process; quite different to racing modern yachts or even smaller classic yachts. For example, they typically break out more sails upwind than they do downwind. As Charlie Wroe, captain of the 138ft Nathanael Herreshoff-designed Mariette of 1915 explains: “With two masts, we have eight sails flying upwind and we go down to four downwind. Before the leeward mark you have to drag down a whole load of sails and get all the others back up, which involves a lot of crew work. But it is fun – there is never a dull moment because there is always a sail going up or down.”

The first edition of Capri Classica was contested by four classic schooners ranging in LOA from Mariette of 1915 to the 85ft 1937 Orianda.

THE COMPETITORS

Mariette of 1915 –138ft 1915 Nathanael Herreshoff schooner
Naema – 128ft built in 2012, inspired by the 1938 Alfred Mylne design Panda
Orianda –85ft 1937 Dahlstrom staysail schooner
Puritan –126ft 1930 Alden gaff schooner

The event is organised by the Circolo Remo e Vela Italia, the Yacht Club Capri, the International Schooner Association (ISA) with the support of the International Maxi Association and in cooperation with Porto Turistico di Capri and the Associazione Italiana Vele d’Epoca. It has come about following the establishment of the ISA in September.

“We founded the ISA last year to get like-minded owners and crews to talk to each other,” explains Tomas de Vargas Machuca, President of the International Schooner Association, whose company, The Classic Yacht Experience, owns and runs two of the Capri Classica entries, Puritan and Orianda. “What we found is that in normal regattas, schooners are always put into classes that don’t suit their needs – schooners prefer wide reaches, which typically you don’t get. So we got fellow owners and captains talking to each other and we set up the ISA.”

The result of this has been the creation of The Schooner Cup Series 2019, which, following the Capri Classica, continues with Monaco Classic Week and Les Voiles de St Tropez, where the first winner of the Schooner Cup Series will be crowned. Of this trio of events the Capri Classica is the only one set up especially for the new circuit.

“It is a really great to start the summer in a place like Capri – a nice private regatta with friends. What’s not to like?” continues Wroe. “The ISA is a good idea because it is here to promote like-for-like sailing for our yachts. You see how the J Class Association has produced some spectacular regattas and we enjoy racing against other big gaff-rigged boats, so it made perfect sense. We have done regattas in the past, in St Tropez especially, where you get a fleet of 10+ gaff-rigged boats and it is as spectacular a sight as you can see in sailing. Hopefully this will provide the impetus to encourage more people to come racing.”

It is also about preventing skills from simply being lost. As Tomas de Vargas Machuca adds: “We keep the tradition of sailing schooners alive. We train a lot of youngsters in a kind of ‘academy’. It is attracting young people to older boats. There is a time for carbon fibre and a time for tradition – this is the latter!”

Celebrating these traditions will be reflected in this event where, post-racing, crews will demonstrate the skills and habits employed on classic schooners, from intricate ropework to the singing of sea shanties. Perhaps most exciting for the competitive side of the Capri Classica was the anticipation of  seeing the yachts starting from anchor during some races, just as they did in the 19th century, including the first editions of the America’s Cup.

Following a welcome cocktail party on the dockside, with refreshments including gin from the exclusive Downton Distillery, racing took place over three days with varied wind conditions.  Sadly, due to the light forecast, the much-anticipated 19th century-style start from anchor was abandoned. Nonetheless the four schooners still had great racing in a competition which effectively turned into a pair of match races with the giants – Mariette of 1915 and Naema – in one ring and The Classic Yacht Experience-owned schooners – Puritan and Orianda – in the other.

 

THE RACING

On day one it was a game of cat and mouse, or larger. Mariette of 1915 and Naema jostled for lead position around the course but eventually it was Naema that took pole on a shortened course.

On the second day under looming black skies and in gusts of up to 25 knots it was Mariette that was now the boss, 10 mins clearly ahead of her rival at the first rounding mark.

As Wroe later enthused: “These are the best boats in the world to go sailing on – anything after this is not half as much fun.

“In breeze like we had today, everyone is amped up because it is more tricky getting the boat around the course. You change the crew configuration around a bit and put some more experienced people on the runners – which you don’t need on a calmer day – and two people on a job that would usually require one person.”

Finally, on the last day a more complex situation tested their racing and rules.  Mariette of 1915 and Naema first to tack on to port. Mariette of 1915 once again showed her higher pointing ability and as Naema tacked back on to starboard to lay Punta Campanella, Mariette of 1915 tacked on to the same line directly ahead of her. The navy blue schooner seemed about to perform a horizon job, like the second day until the breeze dropped, forcing her to shave Punta Campanella, as Naema managed to stay high, laying the mark perfectly. After Mariette of 1915 tacked on to port and was approaching the mark, she infringed Naema, which was closing on the mark on starboard with rights. In fact, Mariette of 1915 should have accepted a time penalty, but in the event she carried out a 360° penalty turn – no small undertaking in a 138ft 180 tonne beast of a vessel with eight sails up – leaving her far behind her rival.

But as on the first day,  all was not over. On the final leg off fickle Capri, the two mega-schooners split tacks, only for the breeze to disappear. As Naema’s helmsman Hank Halsted observed: “We thought we might have the exact reversal of the first race when Mariette led us around the course and sailed into a hole. In fact, this time we spent an equivalent time stopped on each side of the course.”

Mariette of 1915 was able to close, but was awarded a 20% elapsed time penalty for her windward mark infringement. This left Naema to win the day comfortably and win the regatta.

Behind them Orianda and Puritan were locked in their own personal match race within the regatta. Orianda won due to Puritan having had to retire from the previous two races due to the unfortunate ensnaring of a fishing net on day one and running out of wind south of Capri on Day 2.

Saturday night there was a festive party that ran into the early hours across Mariette, Orianda and Puritan. Owners, guests and crew gathered from around the world in this intimate setting where the common language that united them all was “Schooner” .

 

SCHOONER CUP SERIES 2019

The International Schooner Association’s Schooner Cup Series 2019 will take place during Monaco Classic Week,  11 – 15^th September and Les Voiles de St Tropez,  28 September – 6^th October

www.internationalschoonerassociation.com