Confirmed from Saturday, September 26th to Friday, October 9th, the new format of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez offers an event spread over two weeks, for the modern and classic yachts. The programme differs according to boat category with the aim to optimise registration, organisation of start zones – which will all take place in front of Saint-Tropez – and racecourses organised according to the potential of the different boats.
Two great weeks on the water in Saint-Tropez
Racing over two weeks is not in fact a new thing – looking back to the Nioulargue, precursor to the Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the first maxi yacht races in France were held independently of the rest of the regatta. The event, for the modern boats as for the traditional boats, will still last one week, but depending on their category, they will be entered either for the first or for the second week.
For the first week, the on-water programme will remain unchanged for boats up to and around 20 meters. There may be exceptions to this depending on the boat type and boat speed. In the second week the bigger and faster modern and classic yachts will be put together to allow for courses to be set which are more adapted to their size and their speed.” It will not only be the length of the boat which determines which group they will race in, but a combination of factors relating to their performance which will be looked at by the Organising Committee for the Voiles. “For the classics, the boats from the Grand Tradition Class, who for the most part easily exceed 25 meters, will race in the second week, as will the big schooners. For the moderns, the maxi yachts exceeding 18 meters will also race in the second week.”
As per usual, the modern yachts competing in the opening week will have five days of racing starting on Monday 28th, the classics will begin racing on Tuesday 29th. Thursday will be reserved as a Challenge Day. The only new feature in this finely tuned programme is that the prize giving will be on the evening of Saturday, October 3rd instead of Sunday morning.
Competitors from the first week of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez will have to leave the port before Sunday, October 4th at noon to make way for the Voiles Super Boats, whose registration will take place until Monday evening. Racing begins Tuesday morning for everyone with four consecutive days of races until the prize giving ceremony, scheduled for Friday evening.
Provisional Programme 2020:
Week 1 : The Voiles de Saint-Tropez
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September: registration for boats up to (approx.) 20 meters (except for certain classes)
Monday 28th September: racing for modern yachts
Tuesday 29th, Wednesday 30th September, Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd October: racing for modern yachts and classic yachts
Thursday 1st October: Challenge Day
Saturday 3rd October: prize giving (week 1)
Week 2 : The Voiles Super Boats
Sunday 4th and Monday 5th October: big boat registration (Wally, IRCA, Maxi yachts, Grands Traditions, big Schooners)
Tuesday 6th, Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th, Friday 9th: class racing
Friday 9th October: prize giving (week 2)
For reasons linked to the uncertainty of the global situation, the organisation of the event will be reviewed monthly as follows:
– end of July
– end of August
This is to keep competitors and public informed in accordance with government and federal authority directives, as well as to assure the protection and safety of staff and volunteers involved in the event organisation.
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
