Championnat d'Europe des Star

With the IRC European Championship, the 12M JI European Championship and now the Star European Championship, as well as the 45th Régates Royales, the Yacht Club de Cannes is continuing its busy and brilliant season of organising prestigious regattas, where its expertise is unanimously recognised. The Star, designed by the American architect William Gardner in 1910, remains an incredibly innovative boat, often copied but never equalled, with its seven-metre hull, sharp chine, bulbous keel and rig that is as slender as it is fragile. An Olympic sailboat from 1932 to 2012, the Star has seen some of the greatest champions pass through her paces, not least the Finn specialists who, after winning everything on the former Olympic solo yacht, are now moving on to the same level of success aboard this exceptionally complex double-handed keelboat. It's worth pointing out that the Star is a boat that requires a lot of weight when it's recalled.

Double quintal!
Most of the crews are approaching 200 kilos on the scales! A multiple Finn world and European champion with four Olympic appearances to his name, Hans Spitzauer is the perfect illustration of these sailors continuing their career in the Star class. Along with his faithful accomplice Christian Nehammer, the Austrian is undoubtedly one of the favourites. He will have to contend with a pack of Italians who have won countless European and world titles. Diego Negri, three-time Olympian, two-time Star world champion in 2021 and 2022, two-time European champion, is undoubtedly the man to beat, especially as he is as formidable as ever in 'his' Mediterranean waters. Enrico Chieffi, former CEO of the Nautor Swan boatyard and now at the helm of Slam, was 470 world champion with his brother, before racing in the Star class as a more than experienced amateur. European champion in 2021, he is an exceptional helmsman. And what about Flavio Favini, with his two America's Cup campaigns and nine world titles in Melges, Mumm 30, 6 M JI and Farr 40! He, like the vast majority of the competitors, continues to sail at the highest level after more than fifty years of racing. The French-Argentinian architect Juan Kouyoumdjian, who has not only designed a number of boats that have won the crewed round the world race, but has also reworked the Star's hull, making the most of the tonnage, and who shines in all the major international championships with his touch of the helm and his tactical vision. Two French crews will be defending the French colours in Cannes, including Raoul Dabry, captain on long-haul Airbus and trainer at Air France, together with his accomplice Tristan Cotte.

An exceptional season for the Yacht Club de Cannes

For Jean-François Cutugno, President of the Yacht Club de Cannes, "this European Championship brings a fantastic season to a close, and it's a great honour to be able to host one of the most prestigious series in the world, with so many champions. We mustn't forget that as well as organising major events in Cannes, the club's racers have also had an exceptional year in regattas, with Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes again junior 470 world champions for the third year running, Maxime Nocher, European Kitefoil vice-champion, and Julien Rattotti, Wingfoil world champion... not to mention all our young racers and future 'star players' who have won a string of national titles...".

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