Old Latin Sailboats in St.Tropez

[Stargazer14]

Last year at this time I posted a link to some photos of a journey I took with an
old boat society in the south of France.
This year, that group and a number of others from both France and Italy got together
for "Voiles Latines á Saint Tropez" in a quest for the Trophée Gras Savoye, part of the Latina Cup.
It was a wonderful weekend, just being in St. Tropez for the weekend can be nice, but add old wooden boats and a sailboat race and it was even better.
Attached is a link to a number of photos, the first half being some details of the boats, and the second half
being on the water taken during 2 days of racing.
The contrast of the old boats and the new mega-yachts in the same harbor was interesting also.



Another interesting note - I have had an old postcard from the turn of the century of St. Tropez on my desk for a while - it just happens to be taken from the same spot where we had our boat(Petit Josette) tied up. Next to us was a boat called "Elisa"..... Kinda cool.



To see the images, go here.

For last years images of the party in Le Grau du Roi,
go to the old site.
There are lots of photos, so grab a cup of coffee.

[imported_GregW]

Fantastic photo documentary.
Thanks

[Thad]

Thanks a lot!! Last years was super and this edition wonderful!

[yorgie]

These photos must be seen.They're not only beautiful but they show a completely different kind of rendez-vous than what we see over here.I love looking at those lateen rigs.

Chris

[AlanL]

Those images are seriously cool. Thank you for posting them

[PeterSibley]

Stargazer, if you ever see an August 1929 issue of National Geographic...isn't Ebay wonderful [img]smile.gif[/img] ,have a look.There is a great photo essay on St Malo with quite a few photos of the fishing fleet ....all lateen rigged.

[Con LanAdo]

Thanks Stargazer. For all the pontification 'bout wooden boats here (states) i've never seen the equal to these. I wager there isn't a drop of anything but varnish & paint sans ceps or resins of the napalm era.

[Stargazer14]

Well actually there are a few of those boats that are, what the french called, 'plastified'. It is not at all uncommon for these old boats to have the hull covered with cloth and either epoxy or poly.
Its not hard to tell which ones, they seem a little 'thicker' and of course any natural plank seams are missing.
The consensus was it really does keep them around longer and with less work.
I know, I know. But after a few glasses of wine, who's to argue?

Michael