The finest vintage of all– Part II
Since 1999 it has been called Les Voiles de St Tropez. But Dan Houston prefers to call it what it is... La Nioulargue. He also gets the Seahorse vote
The noonday sun blazing onto Pam- pelonne Beach cuts the light into stark shifts of colour, much like a Hockney painting. There isn’t a cloud in the vaulted blue sky, the pale fine sand is too hot for bare feet, and the sea… it’s a perfect translucent azure blue. That’ll be why they call it the Côte d’Azur then. But this is the first of October; back
home thoughts will be turning to equin - octial gales and thermals. Our French still- life scene, complete with rustling palms, is being viewed from the balmy comfort of a rush-shaded table at the Club 55, the most famous of all water’s-edge restaurants, where the brown arms of a French yacht crew push packs of Marlboro Lights and glasses of rosé across a white tablecloth. The conversation and laughter tinkle like the ice cubes in the glasses. I think I’ve come to heaven. A case of mistaken identity perhaps, but it feels as if
48 SEAHORSE
the world is exhaling in these placid waters, after a busy season. Saint-Tropez and all the superyachts, with the demand- ing owners, stressed-out captains and obedient crews, are just around the head- land. Some 188 boats (92 of them classics) have gathered to spend a week racing at the event that used to be the famous Nioulargue regatta, until it was cancelled when a young French doctor died in a collision in 1995. This is 1999 – my first time in Saint-
Tropez. And I’m asking myself: ‘It’s not the Nioulargue, or is it?’ The globally most famous sailing event for classic vessels was all but shut down for three years between 1996 and last year. Boats had come and there were parades of sail… but no racing. All the recent talk was of it being ‘back
on’. So this is the first time there has been racing since that fateful day when the 32ft 6-Metre Taos Brett was rammed and run over by the 138ft Herreshoff 1916 schooner Mariette, causing the death of Dr Jacques Bourry. There were photos at the time of the smaller boat disappearing under the bows of the mighty steel schooner. Thomas Perkins, the late self- styled ‘zillionaire’ owner, and Thomas Eaton, the skipper of Mariette, were
arrested on the quay. After 10 hours they were released but had to wait nearly a year for the French court to find them guilty of involuntary manslaughter, imposing a £6,000 fine and a two-month suspended jail sentence on both men. A similar penalty was given to Claude Graf, owner and skipper of Taos Brett. The organisers, originally implicated, were exonerated, although after this the event founder, Patrice de Colmont, stood down. De Colmont later told me he refused to
become involved when French maritime law changed in May 1996, allowing organisers of regattas to be held partly responsible for any accidents that may occur. ‘During the tribunal (over the doctor’s death) I was told captains may not be responsible for everything; that organisers like me could be responsible if the event was badly planned. ‘I agree with the spirit of that, but it’s
not precise enough – it’s a crazy law. In maritime affairs the captain is always responsible for the running of his ship. We have other responsibilities, but captains must see to it their vessels don’t crash.’ Perkins, who was back with Mariette at
this event, and who I met walking up to the prizegiving at the Citadel, always
INGRID ABERY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126
