Sailing out of the past

Yachtsmen say that when you ask a four-year-old child to draw a ship, he will scrawl something resembling a Six Meter - "the perfect proportion, all that a sailing boat ought to be." The term does not indicate any absolute size, but rather a design formula (6mR, for Six Meter Rule), by which you can build different boats of similar speed.

About 300 6mR boats were built between 1907 and 1950. They were the most popular class of competition yacht until 1952 when they lost their Olympic status and fell out of fashion. That was until the 1990s, when a select band of sportsmen, inspired by the revival of vintage car races, began to restore them and organize races where beauty was as important as speed.

The restoration bill seldom comes to less than 500,000 euros, maintenance apart

Now these races are the height of old-school cool. The blend of values in the sport is prized by many exclusive firms who vie to sponsor boats. "Art, esthetics and tradition," says Marc Puig, president of the fashion and perfume group Puig and organizer in July of one of the three vintage regattas held in Spain, the Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona.

The latest of these, the VIII Copa del Rey-Trofeo Panerai, was held last weekend at Mahón, Menorca. It is the only Spanish race on the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge circuit, the world's most prestigious. It featured 700 participants and 57 of the best vintage yachts, divided into four categories according to when they were built: Epoch (built before 1950), Classic (1950-1975), Spirit of Tradition (replicas of old designs, built after 1975), and Big Boats (more than 30 meters in length).

Angelo Bonati, managing director of the upmarket Italian watch maker Officine Panerai, sponsor of the circuit, believes that "the passion for this sport begins when you find an old boat in poor condition and you need to restore it, bring back its lost beauty." The restoration bill seldom comes to less than 500,000 euros, not including maintenance. "It's a very elitist sport, undeniably. But the exclusiveness has to do not so much with the sportsman's social status as with the product itself: the boats. The regattas, indeed, are democratic events. That's their magic." Bonati considers that motor yachts are identified with millionaires, while the beauty of these old boats "lends wings to the imagination - you think about exotic voyages, never about how much they cost or who they belong to."

His company acquired Eilean, an old 22-meter Bermuda ketch built in 1936 by the legendary Scottish shipyard William Fife. The rock band Duran Duran filmed the video for Rio on it back in the 1980s. Last weekend in the Menorcan regatta it competed with Creole, the Gucci family's schooner, and the controversial Hispania, which once belonged to Alfonso XIII. Now in the hands of a foundation presided by the businessman José Rabade, this last vessel has hit the Spanish headlines over its financial problems. It was sailing for the first time since 1911, and was unable to compete at Mahón after its mast broke on the first day of the regatta. Even in a sport for millionaires, a breakdown can spoil your day.