The Mediterranean regatta season has a new calendar entry with the announcement of the inaugural Frers Cup invitational sailing regatta.
The event will welcome yachts Frers Naval Architecture & Engineering designed-yachts to compete in the waters off of Trapani, Italy, on the west coast of Sicily. The Frers Cup will run 25-28 June, 2014, and include three days of racing in the Tyrrhenian Sea plus an onshore programme including a welcome party, yacht hop, prize giving, and beach party.
The Frers design house is a family affair, with more than 1,200 yachts originating from the drawing boards of three generations of Frers – starting with the first hand-drawn design by German Frers Senior in 1928. Early entries to the regatta include the 28m Bristolian (ex-Mari Cha II) penned by yacht designer German Frers and launched in 1998 by CNB. Under the name Mari-Cha II, the Maxi yacht smashed the Trans-Atlantic record with a time of just nine days.
Also on board for the inaugural Cup is the 30.45m Frers-designed sailing superyacht Gibian, launched by Wally Yachts in 2000. 'I decided to participate in the Frers Cup because of a longtime friendship with the Frers family from when I was living in Argentina,' says Armando Grandi, Gibian's owner. 'I was personally delighted to be invited and accept the opportunity to enter the inaugural Frers Cup Regatta. I know Trapani very well, it’s a very interesting location from sailing point of view and the city is a wonderful place to visit.'
The Frers Cup seeks to join the ranks of other regattas with yachts united by the same designer or builder. The racing will be to IRC rating rules, with GWM Racing providing courses and organising the race management. 'Using IRC as a rating system, the winner will be decided by the team that sails their yacht well, rather than the conditions suiting a particular yacht on the day,' says Bristolian's racing skipper, John Burnie. 'It will be enormous fun to get all of the Frers owners together as a group, racing each other under common design parameters.'
Mani Frers says the aim of the Frers Cup was, 'to identify a distinctive location to discover and learn about new places, bringing together history, substance, beauty and an elegant but casual atmosphere with suitable wind conditions. The main aim of the Frers Cup is to bring exceptional boats along with their owners and crews to an equally exceptional place.' A strong interest from Frers-designed yacht owners has been reported, with those who can't make the initial event look ahead to 2015.
The German Frers-designed yacht Inukshuk, built by Baltic Yachts, has swept the superyacht award shows this year, named Sailing Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards, and Frers Naval Architecture & Engineering won the Exterior Design & Styling Award – Sailing Yachts for Inukshukduring this year's ShowBoats Design Awards.