The biggest Classic Yacht Regatta in Greece was excellently organized by the Yacht Club of Greece between June 30th – July 3rd for the 6th consecutive year, under the auspices of the Municipality of Spetses, with the support of the Spetses Yacht Club and the Poseidonion Grand Hotel. Spetses Classic Yacht Regatta 2016 was completed with the participation of 70 classic and traditional boats and hundreds of visitors, establishing itself as not just the most popular regatta in Greece, but as one of the most important regattas in Mediterranean. It was a ceremony of sailing and the art of wood shipbuilding.
The astonishing races of the classic boats, the schooners and the lateens, gave spectators the opportunity to watch unique competition and beautiful classic boats coming from every corner of Greece and abroad. This year’s regatta welcomed two classic yachts for the 1st time in Greece, Puritan and Skylark, which were built in 1930 and 1937 respectively. It is important to note that this year the number of participating boats was increased by 20%, proudly promoting Greece worldwide. At the same time, Glaramara and Baccara, which were participating for the 6th year in a row, won the 3rd and the 1st place at the Classic Boats races. Challenge Race was held, for the 2nd consecutive year, one day before the official start of the races, and gave the opportunity to four pairs of boats to compete in a fun race.
The main Awards Ceremony, which took place at the Bouboulina’s Museum for the first time, included special awards for each category, given by the race’s prize supporters. The prize supporter of the Classic Boats Category was the vice-president of the World Sailing, George Andreadis. The prize supporter of the Schooner Category was an anonymous donor that dedicated the award in memory of John Z. Goulandris, while the prize supporter in the Lateens Category was Dr. Stefanos Chandakas and his daughter Alexandra.
The ceremony was honored by the presence of the president of World Sailing, Carlo Croce, who participated in the race with the traditional boat “Afroessa”. During the ceremony, the president of the Yacht Club of Greece, Alexandros Papadogonnas, stated: “The Spetses Classic Yacht Regatta, condenses the values of the Yacht Club of Greece. The constant development and the success of this race, has established it in the Mediterranean and reflects the hard work and the absorption we have given, as well as the evolution of the sea tourism”.
A highlight of the event was the moment when Lascaris Foundation, gave the Gold Sponsor Award. The award was shared to 3 sailors, who will represent Greece in Rio 2016 Olympics: Takis Mantis & Pavlos Kagialis in the 470 class and Giannis Mitakis in FINN, who honorably participated in the regatta. Throughout the awards ceremony, the President of the Foundation, Mrs. Georgia Lascari and Mr. Nikos Lascaris, wished the Greek athletes to live such great moments in Brazil, having been awarded Olympic Medals this time! Lascaris Foundation aims on fully supporting the sports and athletic achievements in Greece, as well as reinforcing the Greek entrepreneurship and the sections of health and education.
The majestic Poseidonion Grand Hotel, fully supporting the race from the very first year, was the Concours d’ Elegance Prize Supporter for the best preserved and authentic boats, this year as well. The hotel’s CEO, Mr. Antonis Vordonis, gave these prestigious awards to: Puritan for the Traditional Boats Category, Marida for the Schooners Category and Christina for the Lateens Category. In addition, IWC Schaffhausen, the official Timekeeper of the Regatta, offered to the crew of Puritan an impressive Aquatimer Automatic IWC watch from their special diving collection.
Porsche Hellas and Motodynamics S.A. were Sponsors of the races, with the new hybrid Porsche Cayenne S, a high performance SUV car – like every Porsche – with low fuel consumption and low emissions. The new hybrid Porsche Cayenne S, was on display at the Poseidonion square during the races.
Official Timekeeper for a 2nd consecutive year was the Swiss watch manufacturer of haute horlogerie, IWC Schaffhausen, famous for its passion for innovation and technical ingenuity.
SCYR’s new Drinks Sponsor was METAXA, the Original Greek Spirit that since 1888 has spread its sails and travels around the world, constantly revealing new aspects of its multidimensional character. Gaining strength from its traditional values to express new trends in the world of cocktails, METAXA got inspired by the island of Spetses and the colors of the Greek sun, and offered three specially designed cocktails (Sun Fashioned, Spetses Sunset and Spirit of the Sun) at all the cocktail-parties of the event. The combination of these new flavors with an excellent live music concert added a unique flair to the parties, which admittedly were very successful and participants had the time of their lives.
Suncare Sponsor of the races was La Roche-Posay, protecting the sailors – who are exposed to the sun for many hours – with Anthelios XL UltraLight Fluid SPF 50+ as well as everyone else urging us to save our skin and the skin of our loved ones with the #SaveYourSkin campaign.
SEBAGO, which emphasizes on the respect for the art of hand-made shoes, offered docksides pairs to the members of the organizing committee and ran an online contest for more pairs of Docksides for the SCYR visitors and participants during the four-day event, and SALTY BAG, the top Greek brand that made the skippers’ bags by decommissioned sails and took part in the races with the traditional Greek boat, “Stratis”, impressing everyone with the amazing skirts sewed by spinnakers(!).
The luxury hotels Amanzoe Resort and Nikki Beach Resort & Spa, which hosted the kick-off party of SCYR 2016 on the impressive Pearl Rooftop of the hotel one day before the official start of the races, as well as Technohull, a leading company in the field of luxury speedboats and specializing in high performance RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats), which provided its impressive boats for the races’ needs, were also Supporters of Spetses Classic Yacht Regatta 2016.
Foundation of Anargyrios & Korgialenios School of Spetses, Spetses Trade Association, Bouboulina’s Museum and the Traditional Boat Association of Greece were the contributors of the race.
Communication Lab and Dr. Marina-Lida Coutarelli were in charge of the Press Office and Sponsors management for a 6th consecutive year.
SCYR 2016 WINNERS
Stay tuned:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/classicregatta
Instagram: @classicregatta