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Peter Holmberg accepts the prize for the 'top IMA boat' on behalf of Topaz - photo © Gilles Martin-Raget / Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez Topaz picked up the prize for the top International Maxi Association member at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. After Velsheda showed a clean pair of heels to Topaz at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, her rival exacted sweet revenge here in Saint-Tropez with a perfect scoreline. Stealing the limelight here unquestionably were the Js Topaz and Velsheda, at 42.7 and 39.5m LOA respectively the longest yachts competing. Some of the biggest boats were racing in IRC 2. 'The party was good - I think Benoît has started something new with the IMA there. The competition was really tight.'īeing an IMA member, Hui had had Friday's night hot ticket to the International Maxi Association Party held at President Benoît de Froidmont's palatial resident in Saint-Tropez. Today we didn't start in the optimum position, but then we got into some good air. The starts are very important, but very difficult. 'It was much more exciting than just having a few boats - it was so tight.

While Lyra usually races in the Wally class, this year they were incorporated into the bigger IRC fleet and, with IRC 3 B and A starting together, Hui found himself on a line surrounded by 18 other mini maxis. 'On the first day we won by only a minute and the second day a couple of minutes, but today we finished fourth.' 'It was great - a really tight race,' said Hui, who already intends to return to Saint-Tropez in 2022. However for Hui there was solace in still comfortably winning IRC 3 B overall by three points from Capricorno, with the 2020 class winner, Philippe Ligier's Wally 80 Ryokan 2, third. But today she finished fourth, the race going to Alessandro del Bono's seasoned crew on the Reichel/Pugh 80 IMS maxi Capricorno. She managed to finish last month's Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup with a perfect scoreline and looked set to continue this in IRC 3 B at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.

#SAILING MAGIC CARPET CRACK#

The Chinese Canadian's Wally 77 is heavily optimised and sailed by a crack squad of pros.

The VPLP-Verdier 100ft Comanche won the line honours prize, newly created by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez.Īn unbroken string of wins for Terry Hui's Lyra ended today. The mighty 100ft Comanche was awarded the new Line Honours prize - photo © Gilles Martin-Raget / Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez We just tried to be consistent, but we got a win today which was amazing.' There were other boats making mistakes - Deep Blue had some problems with their kite, etc. 'To be honest we had a shocker at the start, which we weren't happy about, so we had to push hard after that - and it all came good. Gallichan added that after today's quiet start, conditions ended up being 'more sporty' than anticipated. You end up sailing in different races, but it is cool.' On some points of sail they are so quick they are unbeatable.

'Deep Blue and Y3K are more like us, but racing against Leopard, Rambler and Comanche makes it interesting. 'It is different for us - quite a diverse class, but it is super interesting to compete with all those other boats.' Until 2019, Magic Carpet Cubed usually competed in the Wally class at events such as this. 'He is pretty stoked,' said Magic Carpet Cubed's captain Danny Gallichan. Owen-Jones was delighted by the result, especially following his win in the Maxi class at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup last month. Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones' Magic Carpet Cubed won today's race to claim IRC 1 overall - photo © Gilles Martin-Raget / Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez

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