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Posted August 23, 2012 in News
Les Voiles de St. Tropez Regatta 2012
A sailing event in a class of its own
With yachts that are the epitome of class, luxury, style and affluence dipping in hormonal accord with the translucent waters of the Mediterranean Ocean, witnessing the enviable yacht scene at Saint Tropez’s world-renowned harbour is a sight to be savoured by all discerning yachtsmen any time of the year.
It is however in the late summer/early autumn when more than 300 of the most desirable sailing yachts from around the globe ascend on Saint Tropez, when one of the most glamorous town’s in the world opens its doors to a week of yachting rapture.
We are of course referring to Les Voiles de St. Tropez Regatta, a week-long event that marks the end of St. Tropez’s summer season in typical St. Tropez style of creating a sensational celebratory atmosphere.
Guy Ernest Debord, a French Marxist, theorist, writer and filmmaker, famously said in ‘The Society of the Spectacle’:
“The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images.”
Debord’s poignant description of what constitutes a spectacle can be applied to Les Voiles de St. Tropez Regatta, which never fails to fill the entire St. Tropez port with sailing enthusiasts seemingly from every inch of the globe, seeking social acquaintances and meeting with other like-minded yacht lovers but at the same time being mediated by the images, gawking at the sheer splendour of these marvellous vessels.
Throughout the seven days of sailing rapture several classes of races take place, including the Modern, Traditional, “Espirit de Tradition”, and Wally and 12 Meter America’s Cup Yachts.
Held towards the event of the week, on the Thursday, is La Grande Classe Trophy, which could be described as being the ‘piste de resistance’ of the St. Tropez Regatta. This invitation-only event was launched in 2004 and unites the most distinguished and beautiful of the classic yachts present at this extremely high-profile sailing event.
To experience this phenomenal yachting rendezvous and sailing event, which is now in its 26th year, and be involved in a ‘social relation among people, mediated by images’, this year’s Les Voiles de St. Tropez Regatta will be taking place from Monday 1 October until Sunday 7 October.
