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PANERAI CLASSIC YACHTS CHALLENGE – CORINTHIAN CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA IN MARBLEHEAD TREATS CLASSIC SAILORS TO A PERFECT WEEKEND WITH FAIR WINDS UNDER SUNNY SKIES

1938 yawl BLACK WATCH sails away with the coveted Panerai timepiece

Sham Hunt, Son of Legendary Marblehead Naval Architect C. Raymond Hunt, served as Guest Speaker at Captain's Dinner

   

    

Marblehead, MA – August 12, 2013 – For the fourth consecutive year, Italian watchmaker Officine Panerai kicked off the North American Circuit of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge in Marblehead, MA this weekend under nearly perfect sailing conditions, which were especially ideal on the first day of the two-day competition. Nearly 60 beautiful classic boats registered for the Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta, a strong indicator that classic sailing is alive and thriving in this charming New England sea-faring town, which is considered by many to be the "birthplace" of the American Navy. The CYC regatta joined the N.A. Circuit in 2010 as the kick-off competition to the 3-part North American Circuit which is comprised of Nantucket's Opera House Cup (August 18^th) and Newport's Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta (August 31^st-September 1^st); the latter iconic sailing port is where the Circuit's culminating Prize-Giving Ceremony takes place every year near Panerai's Hospitality area at Fort Adams State Park.

Despite a full-day's downpour on Friday that furrowed the brow of many a sailor, Marblehead skies cleared up beautifully for the weekend competition, with Saturday providing strong winds of 15-18 knots, and sunny, cotton ball cloud-like skies which added to the beauty for all who were sailing or spectating. Sunday's weather was sunny with variable breezes which left some large boats tactically changing course to find wind. On both days the race course followed the beautiful coastline south towards Nahant with Boston's skyline in clear view in the distance. Immense, crew-manned racing yachts like Spartan, Heroina and Valiant as well as smaller, family-manned yachts like Nina and Sea Robin all showed their mettle and spirit throughout the roughly 4-5 hour racing days.

On Saturday evening, Captains and Crews enjoyed a family style dinner while they were welcomed by Corinthian Commodore Ken Adam and Panerai North American President Rafael Alvarez. Local Bradford resident Trisha Boisvert also briefly spoke about Panerai's "charity of record" Sailing Heals , a non-profit that Panerai founded to take cancer patients and their caregivers out on the water for healing sails.  The main speaker of the evening, Sham Hunt, the son of legendary Marblehead's own C. Raymond Hunt, the founder of Hunt Yachts, spoke about his father's legendary boat designs. Sham Hunt himself is recognized as a much-decorated sailor and Olympic gold winner in the sport.

On Monday, as crews and boats were saying goodbye and departing the busy harbor, Panerai with the help of Sailing Heals and host captains Gary Gregory of Valiant and Alessandro Pagani of Nina, hosted 16 "VIP Guests" from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center for healing sails followed by a lively seaside lunch on Corinthian's gracious portico-style porch.

Special Mentions and Panerai Prize-Winners

The much-anticipated event attracted several recently restored classic beauties from near and far including Quest , an 8-meter from Canada which won the Opera House Cup last year and took Third Place in the Classics Division in this regatta, behind Spartan and First Place Winner, Black Watch , helmed by co-owner Trevor Fetter, who took home the Panerai timepiece (PAM 000).

First place winners in the remaining Panerai classes were as follows:

Arion , a Herreshoff 42 out of Jamestown, RI  and sailed by Steven Frary won the Classic GRP trophy. Again this year, Marblehead-local yacht Rival , a Taylor 38 owned by Dave Curtis, won the Spirit of Tradition trophy. Kungsomen , helmed by Herbert Motley from Marblehead, won First Place in International One Design (IOD) category.

Walter Murphy, a longtime supporter and organizer of classic sailing in Marblehead was also recognized with a beautiful wooden, hand-crafted Appreciation Award by his sailing peers.

The Corinthian Yacht Club Race Committee served as the organizing authority of the pursuit-style race, with the assistance of the Eastern and Boston Yacht Clubs.  All three yacht clubs have stately club homes that preside over beautiful Marblehead Harbor. With Marblehead's racing tradition dating back to its first regatta in 1845, the spirit of competitive racing is deeply-rooted in Marblehead's DNA.

Sailing Onward

The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge – North American Circuit continues this upcoming weekend in Nantucket, MA, host of the 41s Anniversary of the Opera House Cup, followed by the Museum of Yachting Classic Regatta, which is held every year in Newport, RI over Labor Day weekend and hosts the culminating Prize-Giving event of the Circuit.