Auckland Anniversary Regatta is 11 years older than the America’s Cup and arguably the largest single day regatta in the world with over 400 entries, between 9,000 and 10,000 boats on the water and 10’s of thousands spectating from any one of the numerous vantage points that surround Waitemata Harbour.

The ‘15’s’ are back. Back in the public eye as the last remaining 15-Metre joins the fleet, a Class Association is formed and 3 regattas are sailed under fierce competition.

In 1907 the first 15-Metre yachts were built to the ‘International Rule’, a construction class where the yachts are designed to meet specific measurements in a formula.

Having heard that the 1928 Nicholson 23-Metre, ‘Astra’, under new ownership, left her long time berth in La Spezia for Greece last year, thoughts came flooding in about the exciting prospect of a 23 Metre Rendez-Vous in 2013...

When a beautiful yacht, Eilean, is owned by a company such as Panerai then I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise to use the 22-metre Fife ketch as the perfect platform to launch their new Regatta watch.

Perhaps it makes sense as she follows on from her last star role in Duran Duran's music video for the song 'Rio' back in 1982.

Caribbean & American Regattas

29th – 31st March St Maarten – St Martin Classic Yacht Regatta
www.classicregatta.com

8th – 13th April Les Voiles De St Barth
www.lesvoilesdesaintbarth.com/site/us ....

2012 has been a spectacular year for Classic sailing with prestigious events from the Caribbean to the Uk to the Mediterranean.

Nigel Pert was present at many of the regattas and below are a few of those timeless classics captured at the click of a button.

You can view more of Nigel's work at http://nigelpert.wordpress.com

Many big boats have headed to the UK this 'Summer' to make the most of the action that surrounds the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee attracted the most spectacular fleet seen on the Thames for decades and Eilean made it to the capital for a little PR (www.eilean.it).

The wonderful regatta in Porto Santo Stefano on Italy's west coast is back in 2012 (14th-17th June), and if you are looking for a quaint location, good food, even better wine and some great sailing, then this is the regatta for you.

The history of the Argentario Sailing Week goes back to 1992 when a group of Yacht Club Santo Stefano (YCSS) members organized a classic yacht regatta called ‘Silver Sails’.