The 14th edition of the much-awaited Monaco Classic Week was dedicated to the United-States. And the rendezvous of ancient yachting has welcomed the Ester, back from the dead after 75 years on the sea bed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by Romain Chardan \u2013 Photos : Carlo Borlenghi et Francesco Ferri \/ YCM.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Monaco Classic Week was born a quarter of century ago. To think that, at the time, this event was meant to be a one-shot. Over the years, this biennial has become the not-to-be-missed rendezvous of lovers of ancient yachting. At a time when technology did not exist, at least not as we know it today. Sailing was then a great adventure, even if it still is today. Things are just easier now. But that is not the point. From September 11th to 15th, the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM) hosted over a hundred vintage sailing and motor yachts and motor. A journey back in time, punctuated by Elegance, Chef and Restoration competitions, but regattas, themed evenings and anniversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strollers used to the see yachts in Port Hercules must have been surprised.\u00a0“We welcomed 124\u00a0units, including\u00a0motorboats,\u00a012-foot Dinghies, the metric classes\u00a0plus traditional sailboats,”<\/em> explained Thierry Leret, in charge of the\u00a0Monaco Classic Week. This edition gathered a fine line-up of beautiful boats, spread over\u00a0eleven different classes, including big Boats, schooners, classic Marconi fleet, the p-class but also smaller units like\u00a012-foot Dinghies. There were also the metric classes (6M, 8M, 12 M), plus of course the 15 MIR which includes the YCM flagship Tuiga. “The 8M IR asked us\u00a0to organize the World Cup in Monaco within two years”<\/em>, said the manager.\u00a0The event actually attracted more boats than in\u00a02017, including many newcomers.\u00a0“We welcomed the\u00a0International\u00a0Schooner Association and the\u00a0Metric Classe\u00a0for the first time”<\/em>. Among them, the\u00a0schooner Atlantic, which in 1905 set a record for an ocean crossing of 12 days and 4 hours, 1 minute and 19\u00a0seconds. \u00a0It was not until 1980 that\u00a0this record was broken by Eric Tabarly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the newcomers, one of them did not go unnoticed. A gaff from the early\u00a020th century, recently raised from the depths of the northern waters.\u00a0\u00a0“Ester was a\u00a0bit revolutionary dominated the podiums between 1901 and 1912, and also 1916″<\/em>, explained Thierry Leret, an expert on the history of these sailboats, as he recalled the fabulous story of this true Formula 1 of the seas. “Afterwards, she was turned into a cruising boat, before she sank, one day,\u00a0in the Scandinavian waters.”<\/em> The tragedy occurred during a fire in 1939.\u00a0Some said the crew members\u00a0pierced the hull before leaving, which prevented the hull to break in the process. Surprisingly preserved after\u00a073\u00a0years underwater,\u00a0the racing yacht was refloated\u00a07 years\u00a0ago.\u00a0“She stayed all this time on the seabed, in a barely salted water, surrounded by a lot of mud, which contributed to her preservation.\u00a0After hearing this story, a gentleman searched for the wreck, and via an association gathering lovers of this boat, she was restored to her former glory.\u00a0Seeing her here in Monaco is exceptional.”\u00a0<\/em>And for her first public reappearance, Ester has begun her next chapter with another beautiful story, since she won the La Belle Classe Restauration prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the\u00a0Swedish gaff piqued the curiosity, the focus of this edition was definitely on America. “We chose this theme, because European boats and William Fife’s design were often put forward. We wanted to present\u00a0American architects and boats, like\u00a0Nathanael Herreshoff, John Alden\u2026”<\/em>, explained Thierry Leret. Although sometimes less famous here\u00a0than their European counterparts, they all enjoyed a beautiful exhibition during this week. And highlighting the\u00a0USA\u00a0was also “a way of putting\u00a0the Metric Classe\u00a0back\u00a0in the spotlight, along with the evolution of the\u00a0America’s Cup and\u00a0our friendship with the\u00a0Manhattan Yacht Club,”<\/em> said the event manager. And since the Monaco Classic Week invites both sailing and motorboats, the\u00a0Chris Craft motorboats\u00a0were also present.\u00a0It was not uncommon to get a glimpse of crews dressed in an outfit representing the starry banner.\u00a0And, as pointed out\u00a0Thierry Leret, this theme also had a historical and family symbolism,\u00a0“since there is of course this dual\u00a0identity of our\u00a0Prince-president\u00a0“.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is always a\u00a0pleasant atmosphere when strolling along the quays during the Classic Week and its small village gathering exhibitor stands dedicated to yachting and tradition: photographs, paintings, architects, sea clothes, associations\u2026\u00a0But this week also offered its share of competitions. “It’s a dual event. It is first a gathering of traditional boats, with a distinct feature since we are the only ones\u00a0to bring together motoryachts and sailboats. And\u00a0of course, there are also races and sports, because in the\u00a0past, these ships were regatta boats, and owners want to play with them.”<\/em> Each class had then its own competition, and 18\u00a0races were held during the week.\u00a0Among the various results, the American p-class “Chips dominated\u00a0its category”<\/em>,\u00a0said\u00a0Thierry Leret. Restoration, Elegance and\u00a0Chefs competitions\u00a0also punctuated the week. “We wanted to place emphasize on these boats, but also on their owners who sometimes spend a great deal of money to restore them.\u00a0We must pay tribute to them for varnishing them all year round and restoring these vestiges of the past.”<\/em>\u00a0Among these different competitions, the Chef’s competition\u00a0was quite popular and excited the taste buds, as 15 of the best candidates presented on the quay the dishes they had to prepare on board. And 2019 was marked by the coronation of schooners, since\u00a0Germania Nova\u00a0won this contest and Puritan was awarded the\u00a0Monaco Classic Week\u00a0trophy (synthesis of the Elegance and Restoration prize).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with\u00a0the Classic Week, several ships celebrated their anniversary, such as Tuiga and\u00a0Lady Tweeks, both 110 years-old this year, and Tigris, 130 years-old. For the event manger, the week culminated with “the parade organized in the marina, escorted by Chris Craft. It\u00a0was a powerful image and a great moment for all of us.”<\/em> This concluding moment reflects the spirit of the\u00a0Classic Week, as Thierry Leret explained.\u00a0“Seeing a 110-year-old boat, outside a museum, fully capable to race, is something unique.\u00a0The curators of the Mystic Support,\u00a0the US National Maritime Conservatory,\u00a0told me that ‘it’s completely crazy, because you have all these boats and you still play with them, you take risks on regattas and starts, it’s fantastic to see them still alive”.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yacht Class n\u00b019 (dec 2019\/jan-fev 2020)","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yachting-in-monaco-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn impressive fleet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
73 years underwater<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
“USA ! USA ! USA !”<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
A gathering and a competition<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Many anniversaries<\/h4>\n\n\n\n