From the Belem to the Renard or the Cancalaise, via Moonbeam, Pen Duick or the Hermione, old riggings and classic sailing ships, smelling of varnish or tarred wood, always attract as many onlookers and enthusiasts. Here's a look at the calendar of gatherings and regattas for heritage yachts in 2024.
January
February
March
Stopover in Sète
- March 26 to April 1, 2024
- Location: Sète
- Type: Gathering
Launched in 2010, Escale à Sète has established itself as the most festive gathering of maritime heritage in the Mediterranean. Every 2 years, around Easter weekend, the Languedoc port welcomes a varied flotilla of over 100 traditional boats, from Latin-rigged barquettes to training ships from several national navies, with a program of shore parties, exhibitions and demonstrations in the port's basins and canals.
April
Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
- April 17 to 24, 2024
- Location: Antigua (West Indies)
- Type: Regatta
Created in 1967, the Antigua Week, launched between skippers at the end of the charter season, grew until classic yachts were in the minority. Since 1991, the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, a new event reserved for displacement yachts and long keels, has brought together a large number of yachts every year at the end of the West Indian season for coastal regattas and constructed courses.
May
Fécamp Grand Escale
- May 8 to 12, 2024
- Location: Fécamp
- Type: Gathering
Created in 2020, Fécamp Grand'Escale welcomes a large number of heritage yachts to the Normandy port, a symbol of the great fishing industry. Workboats and pleasure craft from France and Northern Europe meet in the basins and sail during the day between Fécamp and Etretat. On land, events are organized around maritime heritage and fishing.
Napoleon Regatta
- May 14 to 19, 2024
- Location: Ajaccio
- Type: Regatta
Launched at the end of 2010, the Napoleon regattas in Corsica bring together traditional and modern sailboats in the Tino Rossi harbor, under the aegis of Corsica Classic Yachting for regattas in the Gulf of Ajaccio.
Les Voiles d'Antibes
- May 29 to June 02, 2024
- Location: Antibes
- Type: Regatta
Held every year since 1996 during the first week of June, the Voiles d'Antibes regatta brings together traditional yachts for the 1st major event on the Mediterranean circuit, in one of the most emblematic cities on the French Riviera.
June
Porquerolle's Classic
- June 6 to 9, 2024
- Location: Porquerolles
- Type: regatta
Part of the official calendar of the Association Française des Yachts de Tradition (AFYT), the Porquerolle's Classic usually welcomes around fifty classic boats, for built and coastal courses in the harbor and around the islands of Hyères. On the final day, the Moonbeam Trophy commemorates the origins of the Porquerolle's Classic, created in 2003 to celebrate the centenary of Moonbeam of Fife, the famous auric yawl built in the Scottish shipyard of Fairlie.
Calanques Classiques 2024
- June 14 to 16, 2024
- Location: Marseille
- Type: Regatta
Organized by the Société Nautique de Marseille, a Calanques Classique showcases the maritime and natural heritage of the Calanques with offshore races in this unusual sailing basin. It draws on a fleet of traditional boats moored year-round at the Société Nautique de Marseille.
Fêtes Maritimes de La Rochelle
- June 20 to 23, 2024
- Location: La Rochelle
- Type: gathering
From June 20 to 23, 2024, the quays of the Old Port and the Bassin des Chalutiers in La Rochelle will come alive for four days of celebration of boating in all its forms for the first Fêtes Maritimes de La Rochelle. The event is designed to be popular, family-friendly, cultural, educational and festive. It will bring together 125 old rigs, including three-masters, classic yachts and heritage boats.
Rendez-vous de la Belle Plaisance
- June 27 to 30, 2024
- Location: Benodet
- Types : Regattas
For 3 days of regattas, classic sailing yachts in the Challenge Classique Manche Atlantique handicap class, metric yachts and small one-design series such as the Dinghy 12 compete in the bay from the Odet to Les Glénan.
July
Cowes Classic Week
- July 6 to 12, 2024
- Location: Cowes (UK)
- Type: Regatta
In the heart of the nautical mecca that has seen the most famous sailing races, over 200 yachts have been competing since 2018.
Fêtes Maritimes de Brest 2024
- July 12 to 17, 2024
- Location: Brest
- Type: Gathering
The biggest gathering of sailing ships and heritage vessels, the Fêtes Maritimes de Brest brings the Finistère port to life every 4 years. In 2024, they host the first real edition since Covid, with over 1,000 boats expected, 9,000 sailors, 7 km of quays and 2,500 musicians and artists for the onshore events.
Classic Channel Regatta
- July 17 to 25, 2024
- Location: Manche
- Type: Regatta
Held every 2 years, the Classic Channel Regatta links the ports of England and France with stages. Raced under Classic Handicap rules, in 2024 it will set sail from Dartmouth in England to Paimpol in Brittany, via St Peter Port in Guernsey.
Fêtes Maritimes de Douarnenez 2024
- July 18 to 21, 2024
- Location: Douarnenez
- Type: Gathering
After leaving Brest via the Tas de Pois, a large part of the old-rigged fleet heads for Douarnenez for a more intimate, smaller-scale celebration. Sailing as close to the coast as possible, the public can admire the fleet and enjoy the entertainment ashore.
August
Noirmoutier Classic
- August 2 to 4, 2024
- Location: Noirmoutier
- Types : Regattas
Organized by various classes and associations from the Bourgneuf Bay and Loire Estuary basin, the Noirmoutier Classic celebrates its 25th edition in 2024. Serving as the 3rd leg of the Challenge Métrique, the launch of the Challege Eugène Cornu, the National Requin and a leg of the Challenge Classique Manche-Atlantique, the event welcomes sports keelboats, metric classes and classic yachts alongside the Harlé and Cornu designs, for regattas in the bay.
Brest Finistère Classic
- August 26 to 31, 2024
- Location: Douarnenez
- Type: Regatta
Between regattas in the Brest bay and Douarnenez bay, and coastal courses, the classic tall ships now based in Finistère (Mariquita, Moonbeam and Moonbeam IV) are initiating a return of the big boats to the Atlantic.
Rendez-vous de l'Erdre
- August 26 to September 1, 2024
- Location: Nantes
- Type: Gathering
Combining a jazz festival and a gathering of yachts on the Erdre River, the RDV de l'Erdre welcomes a motley flotilla of boats that make their way down the Erdre to the center of Nantes during the course of the week. There are small sailboats, canoes and motorboats.
September
Vele d'epoca di Imperia
- September 06 to 10, 2024
- Location: Imperia (Italy)
- Type: Regatta
First held in 1986, the Vele d'epoca di Imperia has been bringing together the Mediterranean fleet of fine yachts for almost 40 years, as part of the classic end-of-summer circuit.
Les Voiles de St-Tropez
- September 28 to October 06, 2024
- Location: Saint-Tropez
- Type: Regatta
Born in 1981 from a challenge between a Swan 44 and a 12 M JI, the Voiles de St-Tropez is the heir to the Nioulargue, a legendary Mediterranean sailing event. Every year, the event brings together maxi yachts, modern sailboats and traditional yachts, all sailing on the same dates and on different regatta courses, including the great names in yachting, from William Fife to Herreshoff to Burgess, from metric gauges to the America's Cup.
