A newly formed Vintage Classic Yacht Club aims to fill the void left by the Panerai circuit by grouping the major Mediterranean regattas into a series.
The Mediterranean Champions Cup Series will feature five of the main classic French, Italian and Spanish regattas over the next summer and beyond, with silverware up for grabs.
The Vintage Classic Yacht Club (VCYC) has already attracted more than 20 of Med’s regular competitors, including Jour de Fete, Viola, Marga, Olympian, Outlaw, Rowdy, Argyll and Spartan, and is encouraging more owners to sign up. The club is also looking for sponsors and partners.
Watchmaker Panerai sponsored a series of regattas in the Mediterranean (and the Solent and the United States) until it retired from the classic scene three years ago.
VCYC President and Co-Founder, Jonathan Greenwood, said: “After the end of the 2018 season, Panerai, which had sponsored such magnificent classic yacht races around the world, has decided to retire. This was a big loss in my opinion and felt immediately during the 2019 season. There was a marked drop in attendance in general and yachts tended to travel less and less to events strangers. We thought this trend might continue and decided to try to change it.
” The trigger [for the formation of the club] was the loss of a series or an international championship, which in my opinion promotes the good health of classic yachting in general. Almost all sports have this kind of championship in their annual calendar and we felt that we had to try to recover it. We thought that if yacht owners came together under one structure, they could decide for themselves when and where they wanted to race and control their own championship without having to wait for a title sponsor to appear.
The club, founded two years ago, is a non-profit organization run by a volunteer board of directors, elected annually. All profits will be “pushed back into the club”.
Jonathan said: “The VCYC is primarily aimed at owners of classic yachts. However, we have a membership plan for sailors who wish to get involved but do not own a yacht. We are setting up a crew database so that our owner-members can find a crew and the crew can find a yacht to race on. It’s about connecting sailors.
Each member owner is automatically entered into the VYCY Mediterranean Champions Cup series and will be marked throughout the season at selected events. Members can vote on club matters, including the events that make up the championship.
Jonathan added: “The plan is to increase the number of members over the next two years and if Covid allows us, increase the number of events in the series. We would love to attract a title sponsor as well as this would really help promote the championship and bring extra prestige to the event.
The 2022 VCYC series will include:
Les Voiles d’Antibes June 1-5
Argentario Sailing Week June 15-19
Vela Classica Menorca 24-28 August
Vela d’Epoca di Imperia 8-11 September
Cannes Royal Regatta 20-24 September
vintageclassicyachtclub.com
