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When 170 yacht Captains, crew and guests gathered at Grand Harbour Marina in Malta to celebrate the finish of the 11th edition of the Trophee Bailli de Suffren, the Mediterranean’s most beautiful yacht race, Camper & Nicholsons Marinas took the opportunity to announce its continued sponsorship for the next four races. Prizes for the 600 mile annual event, the first and only offshore long distance classic yacht race in the Mediterranean were also presented including the first place trophy to the 19 metre White Dolphin built in 1967.
Speaking beneath the walls of Malta’s historic Fort Saint Angelo, Marina General Manager, Ben Stuart, welcomed the 16 yachts and guests to the gala dinner saying, “We have been proud to be associated with the Trophy for the past 7 years but it brings me even greater pleasure to be able to announce that we have just signed a contract with the organisers of this most special race to be headline sponsor of the race for the next four years.”
Begun in 2001 by three friends Henri- Christian Schroder, Christian Benoit and Pierre Hugo, the Trophee Bailli de Suffren commemorates Saint-Tropez’s sailor and warrior, Admiral Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, the bailiff of Suffren who fought for Louis-XIX the King of France in the mid Eighteenth Century.
This year’s race which was open only to classic sailing yachts left Saint-Tropez on 23 June with stopovers in Porto-Rotondo, Sardinia and Trapani, Sicily.
“We have appreciated Camper & Nicholsons Marinas’ interest in the past,” said Christian Benoit, President of the Marenostrum Racing Club, “Now, with their headline sponsorship, we have no doubt that they will help develop the legacy event and we’re sure that not only will the very special character of the race be preserved but it will now move up to the next level.”