Each summer, the tony isle of Nantucket plays host to the East Coast’s most prestigious classic yacht regatta, the Opera House Cup.
Summer on the island of Nantucket conjures images of antique wooden boats, preppy fashions—those eponymous faded red khakis sold at the island haberdasher Murray’s come to mind—and, of course, sailing.
At the end of each summer, the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge series of regattas comes to the island playground for East Coast elites. This year, Nantucket played host to not one but two Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge events: the Opera House Cup, which has long been part of the series, and the Sail Nantucket Regatta, which joined the series for the first time this year.
Actually named for a colorful saloon popular with the island’s sailors, not for an elite cultural institution, the Opera House Cup began as an informal gathering of old, weather-beaten boats challenging each other for an ice bucket trophy and island bragging rights. Today the race is perhaps the most prestigious of its kind on the East Coast, an event drawing meticulously refurbished classic yachts from all corners of the world. This year, the farthest floating competitor sailed from Bavaria for the privilege of competing in the race.
I joined Panerai for a balmy mid-August weekend on Nantucket and was treated to a day of racing aboard Galavant, a 42-foot ketch with a design dating to the 1950s, though the boat itself is of modern construction. Galavant’s owner, the Boston-based artist John Tagiuri, welcomed me aboard to join him as one of his four crew members on a fine day with good wind. Tagiuri, a longtime participant in the East Coast events that comprise the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, is a veteran sailor with experience sailing throughout the East Coast.
The peculiar rules of a regatta place so much emphasis on the start, an element of the race that leaves nothing to chance. In addition to the various classes and divisions having staggered starts according to their sizes, speeds, and sail configurations, each boat is assigned a rating, adding further complexity to the handicapping process.
In a large race filled with multiple classes of ships, seldom is the first yacht across the finish line the overall winner. A series of complex—and controversial—calculations is made in order to determine the victor.
Nonetheless, having a good start is a critical advantage that sailors jockey hard for as they circle the waters near the starting line in tense moments in which near collisions are to be expected.
A few high-end watchmakers even produce a timepiece engineered to count down the crucial 15 minutes leading up to the official starting gun. Using this complication, the best captains are able to position their boats so that they cross the line at full speed just after the final gunshot rings out across the water. If they preempt the gun by even a second they must circle back to cross the starting line once again, a process that involves tacking and a massive time penalty from which recovery is virtually impossible. Tagiuri and crew executed a start that was something close to perfection.
From there, Galavant executed a nearly perfect race, a growing chasm of empty water swelling behind us and in front the shrinking fleet in our wake. One by one, Galavant overtook the smaller, slower sailboats that had comprised the first starting fleet. A few very fast yachts from the third heat to start, principally of the sleek 12-meter class, which rose to prominence as the boat of choice for the America’s Cup, overtook Galavant itself to finish ahead. But when all was said and done, and the final results were tallied to include their handicaps, Galavant finished first among the boats racing for the Opera House Cup. As the captain of the winning boat, John Tagiuri sailed home to the Boston area not only with the Opera House Cup trophy, but also a brand new Panerai watch, the Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Power Reserve Automatic Acciaio 44 mm, available at Panerai boutiques worldwide.
Sailing Heals
The crew of Galavant and several other boats participating in the Classic Yachts Challenge followed up their competition on the open waters off Nantucket with a soothing day of therapeutic sailing for the charitable organization Sailing Heals.
Launched in 2011 by Trisha Gallagher Boisvert in collaboration with founding sponsor Panerai, Sailing Heals is a platform that allows the sailing community that grew up around the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge an opportunity to put their boats to use for good.
On the day following the Opera House Cup, individuals who have suffered from cancer and other health issues join the sailing crews for lunch and then on their boats for a day away from a clinical hospital environment and a peaceful time on the water. – Jonathan Bues