{"id":35543,"date":"2025-10-03T16:21:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/?p=35543"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:57:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:57:42","slug":"14th-edition-of-the-gstaad-yacht-club-centenary-trophy-leonore-a-brand-new-participant-wins-with-elegance-and-panache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/14th-edition-of-the-gstaad-yacht-club-centenary-trophy-leonore-a-brand-new-participant-wins-with-elegance-and-panache\/","title":{"rendered":"14th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy: Leonore, a brand new participant, wins with elegance and panache!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the prestigious setting of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, eighteen century-old yachts took part in the 14th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy on Thursday, October 2, 2025. This unique regatta brings together legends of the sea, sailing boats that are a hundred years old and more. A magnificent nautical ballet eagerly awaited by the many spectators present in the legendary village of Saint-Tropez.<\/p>\n

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Since its creation, the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy<\/b> regatta has made Saint-Tropez the scene of a spectacle at sea that is unique in the world. It is a heritage and competitive icon in the world of sailing.<\/p>\n

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The Classics, the old rigs<\/b>, are like vintage cars that take part in a few rallies during the year, but don’t often go out because they are fragile. So, it’s a much-anticipated moment for their owners, who come from all over the world. They enjoy getting together and racing like gentlemen with crews made up of sailors loyal to the event. The crew members form a close-knit community of enthusiasts, a touch mercenary, with the air of traveling entertainers.<\/p>\n

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There is only one rule for sailboats to participate in the Gstaad Yacht Club’s Centenary Trophy, organized in collaboration with the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nautique de Saint-Tropez<\/b>: they must have passed the symbolic milestone of 100 years of age.<\/p>\n

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The ketch Sky<\/b>, built in 1890, is 135 years old, while the Bermudian sloop Leonore<\/b> celebrated its 100th birthday this year<\/b>, allowing it to participate in this superb regatta for the first time. Luck smiles on beginners… even though this is a sailboat that has already distinguished itself in numerous regattas.<\/p>\n

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Thanks to a unique reverse handicap start format called a \u201cPursuit Race,\u201d boats cross the starting line according to their rating. The first to cross the finish line is the winner. This formula delights sailors and spectators alike, as it offers close battles right up to the last leg with guaranteed suspense.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere’s nothing more exciting than setting off alone, chasing those who started before you, while keeping an eye on those coming up behind you. It’s a guaranteed adrenaline rush!\u201d says Juan Carlos Eguiagaray, owner of the Oriole sailboat, which won the Centenary Trophy last year and in 2015.<\/p>\n

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A magnificent nautical spectacle at the start of the Tour du Portalet<\/h3>\n

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The start was given on Thursday, October 2, at 12:30 p.m. for the first boat of the Tour du Portalet, at the foot of which stands the Bar des Voiles, the must-see meeting place for the week of regattas.<\/p>\n

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With the new location of the Village on the M\u00f4le Jean R\u00e9veille, the show is guaranteed both on the water and on land, allowing the residents of Saint-Tropez and the public to be at the heart of the event. The harbor breakwater is indeed a very strategic location for watching the boats as they come and go.<\/p>\n

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The Sky (1890)<\/b>, which is 135 years old, is the oldest of the centenarians to take the start, while the Q-Class, the Leonore (1925)<\/b>, which is just a century old, is the youngest, with an exceptional crew on board.<\/p>\n

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Following in the wake of Viola (1908), which was the first to set sail at 12:30 p.m., the eighteen competitors each crossed the starting line in front of the Portalet Tower for a 9-nautical-mile course. They left the Rabiou buoy and then the Moutte buoy to starboard, before rounding a red buoy on the outside of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez to port and returning to cross the finish line after leaving the Moutte and Rabiou buoys to port.<\/p>\n

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With their majestic lines, these yachts treated us to beautiful spinnaker runs and daring remontadas, where each maneuver was a demonstration of mastery and grace.<\/p>\n

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Seventh to start, Leonore<\/b> moved up through the fleet, gradually gaining precious places. First to round the red buoy ahead of the P-Class Olympian<\/b> (1913) and Corinthian<\/b> (1911), the 49-foot Q Class managed to maintain its lead over its closest rivals.<\/p>\n

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The crew of Leonore, helmed by Italian sailing legend Mauro Pelaschier, wins the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy \u00a9Juerg Kaufmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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She claimed victory with elegance and panache on her first outing<\/b>, succeeding Oriole. Olympian and Mariska<\/b> completed the podium.<\/p>\n

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“It was difficult, but the conditions were ideal for our boat, which is very fast in light and unstable winds. We are very happy for the boat and the crew. We are also very happy to be here in Saint-Tropez and to have participated in the Centenary Trophy!” said Mauro Pelaschier, 76, skipper of Leonore, the Italian sailing legend and helmsman of Azzurra, the first Italian yacht to compete in the America’s Cup in 1983.<\/p>\n

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On board, the crew was made up of long-time friends. Some have known each other for over forty years, since the America’s Cup in Newport in 1983, with a 100% Italian team at the time, supported by the Aga Khan and Gianni Agnelli. “We have such a close bond that sometimes we don’t even need to talk to understand each other. The crew includes former members of the legendary Azurra team: Daniele Gabrielli, Rico Passoni, Luca Chiarello, and Mauro Piani. We also have young sailors with us who have quickly absorbed the spirit of the boat and integrated perfectly,” explains Mauro Pelaschier.<\/p>\n

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Built in 1925 to the designs of Norwegian naval architect Johan Anker, Leonore is a legendary boat that has competed in numerous regattas. It was purchased by Dennis Conner and beautifully restored in 2003-2004 in San Diego, California. Today, it is one of the most well-maintained yachts in Mediterranean gatherings. It should be noted that Dennis Conner, born in 1942, is the most famous skipper in the history of the America’s Cup. He has competed nine times and won four times.<\/p>\n

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Olympian<\/b>, competing in the regatta for the tenth time, finished second after starting in 13th position. Was there a little disappointment for the three-time winner of the Centenary Trophy in 2014, 2019, and 2021? “We’ve won this trophy three times. We were hoping to win a fourth time, but in the end we finished second. Despite everything, we are very happy. My Italian friends won. They are extremely good. Leonore is a boat I know well because I have raced against it a lot with Jour de F\u00eate. We caught up with them, but not enough. It’s a great event, which I love. I’ve taken part in almost every edition,” commented Bruno Troubl\u00e9, showing good sportsmanship, as he arrived at the pontoon.<\/p>\n

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The 2025 edition was another good year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Centenary Trophy, known throughout the world and very popular with the public, is our club’s flagship event,\u201d commented Manrico Iachia, 73, Commodore of the Yacht Club de Gstaad. “We are delighted to have brought together 18 century-old boats from all over the world, especially from the Mediterranean and England. We are also delighted to have welcomed three new yachts for the first time: Leonore (1925), Black Swan (1899), and Cariad (1896). Next year, we expect to have more than 30 boats participating in the Trophy. \u201c<\/p>\n

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But how can a resort at an altitude of 1,000 meters host a sailing club?<\/b> Manrico Iachia tells us about the origins of the Gstaad Yacht Club, created in 1998: \u201dHis Majesty King Constantine II of Greece, Olympic gold medalist, had invited some sailing friends to Gstaad. After dinner at a restaurant, he said, \u2018I would like to create a yacht club in the mountains, not by the sea like all the other clubs.\u2019 A month later, 100 people had signed up and sent in their checks.”<\/p>\n

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Today, the Gstaad Yacht Club has 400 members from more than 30 different countries. It has become a major player on the Swiss and international sailing scene. With 99 events per year, it provides financial support to top Swiss athletes and offers courses to juniors on the surrounding lakes.<\/p>\n

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The Centenary Trophy remains the major event of the year. It was presented during the owners’ cocktail dinner held at La Bouillabaisse restaurant. It was created by Wakely and Wheeler in London in 1911, exactly 100 years before the first edition of the regatta.<\/p>\n

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The planets seemed to be surprisingly aligned this year. While the Leonore crew is Italian, mainly from Trieste, the Commodore himself is also from Trieste!<\/p>\n

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Swiss Night, Place des Lices in Saint-Tropez, the eve of the offshore race<\/h3>\n

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The smell of melted cheese was in the air. For the third year running, the Gstaad Yacht Club organized Swiss Night on the famous Place des Lices, well known for its boules players, on Wednesday, October 1, the eve of the competition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSwiss Night\u201d at Place des Lices in Saint-Tropez, and the cow milking competition \u00a9Corine Moriou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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It was an opportunity for crew members and friends to get together for a drink and enjoy a delicious raclette at 7 p.m. The more daring took part in the cow milking competition (using a fake cow) and the four-person ski competition to win the Swiss alpine bell.<\/p>\n

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It was (almost) like being in a winter sports resort, even though the sun was shining brightly in the late season in the village that gave birth to cinema legend Brigitte Bardot.<\/p>\n

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That’s the charm of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. The participants are highly motivated to win, but that doesn’t exclude friendliness and solidarity. A unique atmosphere: regattas by day, parties by night!<\/p>\n

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See you next year for the 15th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy.<\/p>\n

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Read also > 25th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez: the meeting place for lovers of the world’s most beautiful regattas<\/a><\/p>\n

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Featured photo: The 14th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy in Saint-Tropez \u00a9Juerg Kaufmann<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the prestigious setting of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, eighteen century-old yachts took part in the 14th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy on Thursday, October 2, 2025. This unique regatta brings together legends of the sea, sailing boats that are a hundred years old and more. A magnificent nautical ballet eagerly awaited by the many spectators present in the legendary village of Saint-Tropez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":379,"featured_media":35540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"Corine Moriou looks back at the 14th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy, the only regatta in the world featuring century-old yachts.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,705],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sport-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/379"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}