For the second year running, the Bailli de Suffren Classic Boat Race had some 15 splendid sailing boats leave St Tropez harbour for Valletta yesterday week.
Organised by the Marenostrum Sailing Club of St Tropez, under the guidance of Commodore Henri-Christian Schroeder, the regatta was established last year on the initiative of Malta's Ambassador to France, Professor Salvino Busuttil, together with the mayor of St Tropez, Dr Jean-Michel Couvé, who is also, in the French Parliament, president of the Franco-Maltese Friendship Group and with the collaboration of the Malta Tourism Authority, whose chairman, Dr John Grech, and Paris office director, Robert Zammit, were present in St Tropez for the elaborate departure ceremonies.
The programme got under way on June 27 with the vernissage, at the Cultural Centre of the St Tropez Town Hall, of an exhibition of 25 drawings by Gabriel Caruana, Malta's celebrated ceramist and sculptor, admired by a large crowd. Held on the initiative of the Fondation de Malta, with the collaboration of the Institute for Maltese Culture, and the MTA's Paris office, the exhibition was jointly inaugurated by the mayor of St Tropez and by Malta's Ambassador to France, and in the presence of Malta's honorary consul for the Nice area, Ernest Perez.
In the evening, the mayor hosted a glittering dinner in the fabled citadel commanding an unparallelled view of the whole Gulf of St Tropez. The guests of honour included Professor Busuttil, Mme Mouna Ayoub, her fiancé Dominique Desseigne (chairman of the Barriere Hotel & Casino group), Mme Jacqueline Tabarly (widow of the great yachtsman Eric), Dr and Mrs John Grech, Mr Robert Zammit, Mrs Petra Blum (head of the Ile de France Tourist Office), and the Count and Countess Charles de Montemart (representing the Order of Malta).
During the dinner, Mme Ayoub, a great friend of Malta, presented, for the first time, the Phocea Trophy (named after her legendary yacht, Phocea), consisting of a ceramic relief depicting the Travels of Ulysses, specially commissioned by the Fondation de Malte from Gabriel Caruana, to the winner of the mini-regatta held that morning in the St Tropez Gulf, prior to the departure proper for Valletta.
On June 28 the mayor and the Ambassador placed wreaths in front of the statue of the Bailli de Suffren, the Order of Malta's Admiral, who is part of the myth of St Tropez. Subsequently, Fr Michael Hayes, the Welsh parish priest of St Tropez, resplendent in his chasuble, blessed all the boats.
Mme Ayoub gave a departure party, in honour of the Ambassador of Malta and his guests, on board her boat, which accompanied the competing yachts to the departure line. In the evening, the film entitled La Cour sécrète des Arcans, on the successful Corto Maltese cartoon series was shown and was followed by a conference on the maritime caravans of St Tropez, Venice and Malta in the 18th and 19th centuries, by Professor Gilbert Buti of the University of Provence.
The celebrations were brought to a close last Sunday with the vernissage, at the Citadel, of an exhibition on the Bailli de Suffren himself.
The Bailli de Suffren Classic Boat Race was to end with the participants' arrival in Malta yesterday. The prize-giving ceremony will be held at the Royal Malta Yacht Club, Manoel Island, this morning at 10.15.