Press Releases of The British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010

Competitors at the British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010 will for the first time be given the opportunity to pair off against each other in head to head match race battles. In a new addition to the regatta schedule for this year, Wednesday 21st July has been designated ‘Challenge Day’, offering competing owners the chance to challenge any other yacht bigger than their own to a boat-on-boat race. Whilst the results from Challenge Day will not count towards the overall series points and the crews will be racing primarily for individual bragging rights, the organisers believe this new initiative will generate plenty of good-natured competition.

With many of the fleet of around fifty classic yachts expected to gather at Cowes Yacht Haven on the eve of the regatta on Sunday 18th July, having undergone many hours of meticulous restoration work, the regatta is as much as anything a celebration of classic yachting. Certain to turn heads will be Richard Matthews’s authentically restored 1898 William Fife designed 14.6m ‘Kismet’, which will be making her first appearance at the British Classic Yacht Club Regatta. Matthews dragged her from a fifty-year sojourn in the Essex mud and after four years of painstaking work led by Adrian Wombwell, she was finally re-launched in 2009. This year’s regatta also boasts two other nineteenth century entries, in the form of David Sherriff’s wonderful 1897 Cork Harbour One-Design gaff-cutter Jap and the oldest entry in the event, Lance Rowell’s 1894 Thames Rater, ‘Dorothy’. Amongst the larger yachts at this year’s regatta will be Olivier Pecoux’s mighty Sparkman and Stephens ‘Amazon’, a 72 foot 87 ton steel auxiliary yawl, originally built by Camper and Nicholson in 1971 for Greek shipping magnate, John Goulandris.

Whilst the regatta is very much about the rare spectacle of so many marvellous classic yachts gathering in Cowes, a venue itself steeped in the history of traditional British yachting, rest assured the racing will also be highly competitive. Based on previous BCYC regattas, hard fought on the water battles are likely to be waged in all classes throughout the week. Amongst several others, Gildas Rostain’s 1963 Olin Stephens designed 15m yawl ‘Stiren’ certainly has an enviable racing pedigree, having won both legs of the 2008 Transat Classique and has strong potential to be a contender for the silverware.

As in previous years, the 2010 regatta will also include a clutch of modern built boats designed and built in the spirit of classic yachting. Four Sean MacMillan designed Spirit yachts, Dr Sandy Fielding & Professor Martin Whittle’s ‘Strega, Tom Hill’s ‘Dido’, Stephen O’Flaherty’s ‘Soufriere’ and McMillan’s own ‘Flight of Ufford’ will be joined by Stephen Jones’s self-designed ‘Meteor’ in the Modern Classic Division.

The British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010 will run from Sunday 18th July to Saturday 24th July. Competing yachts will be berthed at Cowes Yacht Haven.

More details of the British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010, including the official Notice of Race can be found at the official regatta website at: www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta

Entry forms can be obtained from:

Mary Scott-Jackson
MSJ Event Management
Regatta House, 18 Bath Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 7QN info@msjeventmanagement.co.uk
Office: 01983 245 100
Fax: 01983 295 329
Mob: 07790 770526
Skype: marysj1

About the British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010
The British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta 2010 will run from Sunday 18th July to Saturday 24th July. Competing yachts will be berthed at the Cowes Yacht Haven.

More details about the regatta can be found at the official regatta website www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta. Results and images from the regatta will be posted on the official website each day. High-resolution images are available on request.

Press enquiries should be directed to:
Justin Chisholm
Regatta Press Officer
justin@justinchisholmsolutions.com

Martha Williamson
Sidhu & Simon Communications (For Panerai)
martha@sidhuandsimon.com
0207 491 9934

About the British Classic Yacht Club
The British Classic Yacht Club was formed in 2001 to provide a congenial environment for owners and other classic yacht enthusiasts to share experiences and enjoy each other's company. Affiliated to the RYA, the BCYC strives to represent the interests of classic yacht owners and has developed good relationships with many leading yacht clubs in the UK and abroad. The officers of the BCYC are actively involved in both national and international discussions about the future development of classic yachting.

The membership of the BCYC now consists of more than eighty boats. In addition to the Club’s flagship annual regatta held in Cowes each July, the Club also organises a full programme of other racing, cruising and social activities in the Solent and on the East Coast, including the popular East Coast Classic Regatta in early June. BCYC yachts also participate in many important sailing events, including classic regattas in the Channel, Mediterranean and West Indies.

About Officine Panerai
Founded in Florence in 1860, Officine Panerai was for many years the official supplier of precision instruments for the Italian Navy. Purchased by the Richemont Group in 1997 and subsequently launched on the international market, Officine Panerai is now Italy’s only fine watch making company. Developing and producing its own movements and watches, Officine Panerai uniquely blends Italian history and design with renowned Swiss craftsmanship.

About the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge
2010 sees the first inclusion of the British Classic Yacht Club Cowes Regatta in the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Series. Sponsored by Panerai since 2005, this high profile series features some of the world’s leading classic yacht regattas, including the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and the Regates Royale, Cannes.