When was the last time two three-masted schooners raced along the English south coast?
And while Adix and Atlantic were showstoppers, they certainly weren’t the only boats attracting attention as the Richard Mille Cup fleet made its way eastwards down the Channel over a hot fortnight in June. In Falmouth, Dartmouth, Cowes and at the finish in Le Havre, we were treated to the rare sight of Mariquita, Tuiga, The Lady Anne, Mariette, two Moonbeams, Kelpie and others, all of them built before 1939. There are plenty of great classic yachts in England, but this was a fleet the like of which we normally see only at the Mediterranean regattas. As the Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Sir James Holman, said at the Cowes prizegiving, addressing the boats as if they were long-lost friends: “You have returned to race on the historic waters upon which you raced a century ago. And you have looked wonderful – truly wonderful!”
Hundreds if not thousands of people agreed, as they lined the coast in the manner of the great crowds of yesteryear that would gather to watch the Kaiser race the King. And like those epic contests, the Richard Mille Cup is
