Panerai, the Title Sponsors of Panerai British Classic Week, British Classic Yacht Club

The association between classic yachting and the Italian luxury watch manufacturer Officine Panerai has been renewed for 2011, with the seventh edition of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge series, the most important international circuit of regattas reserved for vintage and classic sailing boats.

Running from April until September, 10 regattas will form the Panerai circuit in 2011, with races in the USA, Caribbean and Europe. In 2010 more than 500 yachts participated in the series, a result that confirms the absolute importance of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge in the world of classic sailing.

After a highly successful debut event in 2010, the Panerai British Classic Week will form a part of the 2011 Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Series for the second time between the 16th and 23rd July on and around the Isle of Wight. Another highlight of the 2011 series will be the return of Argentario Sailing Week in Italy in June.

Keeping up its annual tradition, Officine Panerai is creating a special limited edition regatta watch to honour the winners of each event. The regatta watch is a high-tech instrument which perpetuates the long tradition that has always linked Officine Panerai with the creation of tools for life on the waves.

Founded in Florence in 1860 as a watchmaker’s shop, workshop and school, Officine Panerai was for many years the official supplier of precision instruments for the Italian Navy, mostly for the underwater special corps.

The Panerai trademark is a unique combination of the brand’s tradition, Italian design and fine Swiss craftsmanship. Each new model expresses authenticity, creativity and passion: values renewed year after year in the new Panerai collections and deep-rooted in Florence and in the world of sea.

Each Panerai watch is produced at the company’s Manufacturing Facility in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Officine Panerai produces, designs and develops the movements and cases for its watches in-house, with assembly carried out at the factory which is also responsible for the quality control of each and every stage of production. Panerai watches are distributed worldwide through an exclusive network and in the Panerai boutiques. www.panerai.com

The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge 2011

Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
April 14th – 19th, 2011
www.antiguaclassics.com

Les Voiles d'Antibes
June 8th – 12th, 2011
www.voilesdantibes.com

Argentario Sailing Week
June, 16th – 19th, 2011
www.ycss.it/argentariosailingweek.htm

Panerai British Classic Week – British Classic Yacht Club
July, 16th – 23rd, 2011
www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta

Marblehead Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta
August 12th – 14th, 2011
www.corinthianclassic.org

Nantucket Opera House Cup
August 18th – 21st, 2011
www.operahousecup.org/page/ohc

Mahon, VIII Copa del Rey de Barcos de Epoca
August 24th – 27th, 2011
www.velaclasicamenorca.com

Newport, Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta
September 2nd – 4th, 2011
www.moy.org

Vele d'Epoca a Porto Rotondo
September 8th – 11th, 2011
www.ycpr.it

Cannes, Régates Royales
September 17th – 24th, 2011
www.regatesroyales.com

For more information on the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge please go to www.paneraiclassicyachtschallenge.com