Hippocampus Nº46

JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR
Falcon at the CIM Championship
(such as Finn, Star, Dragon, 6M, with two
European titles and one world title in his
record) - both agreed to alternate at the
helm of Falcon. As for the crew, it was decided
to bring together members of Paulo
Mirpuri’s Ocean Race team (Frederico
Pinheiro de Melo, Ricardo Schedel, and
Francisco Cai-Água) and former crew members
from Patrick Monteiro de Barros’s 6M
team (Henrique Anjos, Álvaro Marinho,
Nuno Barreto, and Rodrigo Vantacich).
Elise Garcin, a Frenchwoman who resides
in Marseille and had been sailing on Jour
de Fête for several years, was appointed as
Boat Captain, responsible for maintenance
and local logistics - as the Société Nautique
de Marseille provided a berth for Falcon in
a dock reserved for classic yachts.
TRIAL RUN
And finally, it was time to take action.
Specifically, in the races for classic yachts
built before 1949, which are managed by
the CIM (Comité International de Mediterranée),
which regulates the different
classes and races worldwide and establishes
an annual ranking. The main races take
place in France, managed by the Association
Française des Yachts de Traditions, and
the most important races contribute to the
overall ranking of the year. In the case of
the Falcon project, the races selected were
Antibes, Porquerolles, Marseille, Cannes,
and St. Tropez, while the race in Imperia,
Italy, was discarded.
The first race, held in Antibes, started
well with a first-place finish. Diogo Barros
replaced Henrique Anjos, and Bruno Troublé
was also on board. They had a good
start and satisfactory speed, despite using
an old genoa as the new one did not meet
their expectations. The crew concluded,
“We have a boat!” In the following races,
Falcon finished second twice behind a
classic 6M with a very favourable rating
and won by just a few seconds. This led
one crew member to jokingly say, “Patrick,
let’s ‘buy back’ the SELJM...”
It was time for the Porquerolles stage, one
of the most beautiful among the group of
islands located in the Bay of Hyères. Falcon
has good starts and excels in precise
navigation, which secured four first-place
finishes and an overall victory. In the last
race, they battled for several hours with a
larger yacht, a 1938 Camper&Nicholson,
which had undergone an impeccable refit.
Upon arriving at the harbour, the crew
of Barunal, representing the Royal Yacht
Squadron, passed by Falcon and congratulated
them with the traditional “Falcon
hip, hip, hip, hurrah!”
Next stop in the championship was Marseille,
a magnificent bay with average winds.
Falcon once again dominated, winning
four first-place finishes. Paulo Mirpuri,
at the helm, had excellent starts, and very
positive comments about “les Portugais”
began to be heard. All of this was achieved
despite the new genoa only being available
for the Cannes races, scheduled for the end
of September.
And it’s in the legendary city, on the no
less iconic French Riviera, that the Cannes
Regates Royales takes place, one of the most
important races of the year, with around
600 yachts and the most beautiful classics.
The new genoa is finally delivered, and it is
very well cut. Diogo Barros replaces Álvaro
Marinho, who is competing in the Swan 36
World Championship.
In the very first race, Falcon beats the
competition with a port-biased pin start and
dominates the fleet. In the following races,
they repeat their success with two first-place
finishes, but then lose by just a few seconds
to Comet, a very fast American boat with a
highly competitive rating. However, in the
final race, they not only win their class but
also achieve a first-place finish in real-time
over the entire fleet.
As the season approaches its end with the
Voiles de St. Tropez, undoubtedly the largest
event in terms of participants, quality, and
beauty, Patrick Monteiro de Barros is struck
by severe hip pain and had to undergo surgery
upon returning to Portugal. Paulo Mirpuri
takes on the helm and does a great job. The
wind shifts affect Falcon’s performance, and
they only manage to secure one first-place
finish, two fifth-place finishes, and one
fourth-place finish, ultimately ending in
third place overall. Blitzen, an English yacht,
wins the Voiles de St. Tropez, but with this
result, Falcon becomes the grand winner of
the 2023 CIM Championship in its Marconi
Era class, surpassing a remarkable 64 boats
in the category.
64
Hippocampus