There are few stories quite as paradoxical in the world of sailing: a yacht club founded in the Swiss Alps, hundreds of kilometers from the sea, that has been organizing one of Saint-Tropez’s most popular regattas since 2011. This year, the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy celebrates its 15th edition on October 1, as part of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Fifteen years of a story that never should have happened—yet has become indispensable.
A Club Born Far from the Water
The Gstaad Yacht Club was founded in 1998 with a deliberately unconventional ambition: to create a global sailing club without being based in any port. Founded by passionate sailors living in the Bernese Alps, it now has nearly 400 members from more than 40 countries. This geography of absence—anchored nowhere, present everywhere—may be what explains the longevity of its vision: a club that views sailing as a way of life, not as a territory to be defended.
His creation of the Centenary Trophy, in partnership with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, is the most accomplished expression of this philosophy. Reserved for yachts over a hundred years old, the regatta offers a respite in a world where carbon fiber technology is replacing wooden hulls. It celebrates the past and serves as a reminder that some boats handle the sea better than certain contemporary ideas.
The pursuit format, or the art of dramatic racing
What sets the Centenary Trophy apart from other classic regattas is its format: the “pursuit race.” Starts are staggered according to each boat’s rating, so that, in theory, all boats can end up neck-and-neck on the final legs. Hugues Boullenger, skipper of the Sumurun—which will be the largest boat in the fleet this year—puts it better than anyone: “We start near the back and have to work our way up through the entire fleet. Racing in near real time is quite rare in classic sailing.”
The finish line is off the coast of Saint-Tropez, at the foot of the Tour du Portalet. The first to cross the line wins the trophy. That’s the only rule that matters. The rest—the flapping sails, the century-old hulls cutting through the harbor waters—is part of a living maritime heritage, a concept that might have seemed nostalgic but which, every October in Saint-Tropez, proves to be the most contemporary of spectacles.
Swiss Night: When the Alps Make Their Way to the Mediterranean
On September 30, the day before the regatta, the Place des Lices is transformed for the 4th edition of “Swiss Night.” The Gstaad Yacht Club showcases its Alpine lifestyle there: mountain specialties, a cow-milking contest, and a ski race on asphalt. Beneath the veneer of entertainment lies something profoundly serious: a landlocked nation that has never had access to the sea and yet, since the 1990s, has ranked among the top performers in offshore racing. Swiss Night is Switzerland’s response to this geographical irony: since we are far from the water, let’s turn that distance into an identity all its own.
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