Photos from 2007 New York Classic Week
Page 6 - Councours d'Elegance by Bert Cohen
The Concours d'Elegance competition was held on Thursday evening. Each yacht dressed ship. The judges gathered and walked from yacht to yacht to determine the winners.
The Concours d'Elegance competition was sponsored by Moët & Chandon. This meant the famous champagne winch was brought down for the pleasure of the judges. The champagne winch holds ice to keep the magnum cold. There are also 8 holders for the champagne flutes.
The judging began with Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh reading the instructions to the judges.
One of the instructions dealt with how to have a good time as a judge. It seemed like the correct time to pop the cork!
On behalf of all judges, "Cheers!" the evening was off to a magical start.
The Pride of Baltimore II was first in line for judging and Captain Jan Miles gave an extensive and informative presentation which his crew looked on.
Before departing Pride II, the judges gathered for a group picture.
Then it was on to the next yacht. The Commodore walks with Julia Fitzroy of Moët & Chandon.
Lars Forsberg (in tie) is one of the owners of Blackwatch. After greeting the judges, he also gave an extensive and very impressive tour of this beautiful yacht.
"Wow," was all the judges could say after posing for their group picture aboard Blackwatch.
This was the first Concours d'Elegance and after the first two yachts, the judges realized they should do their champagne toast to yacht and captain before going aboard. Here the judges toast White Wings.
The captain and crew of White Wings were also very gracious and gave the judges a full tour of the yacht, both above and below decks.
The final yacht to be judged this evening was Wild Horses, almost identical to White Wings.
After all of these incredible tours, the judges retired back to the Pride of Baltimore II where they began their consultations about who should win. It was one of the hardest decisions of the regatta because every yacht deserved significant recognition. In the end, the judges awarded trophies as follows:
Classic Division - Blackwatch
Tall Ship Division - Pride of Baltimore II
Spirit of Tradition Division - White Wings
12 Meter Division - America II US-46