Opera House Cup News
Panerai hosts Nantucket Lightship and "Cappuccinos with the Captains"
August 8, 2011
North American Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge
Sails into Nantucket to Celebrate the 39th Annual Opera House Cup
Panerai charters Nantucket Lightship to shine a spotlight on classic boats
and welcome participants to the Opera House Cup
Officine Panerai announces "Cappuccinos with the Captains" community tie-in
New York, NY - Marking its seventh consecutive season, the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge is pleased to be celebrating the 39th annual Opera House Cup in Nantucket, MA August 18th-21st, 2011. As part of the North American circuit, the Opera House Cup follows the Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta (August 12th - 14th, Marblehead, MA) and precedes the Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta (September 2nd - 4th, Newport, RI).
Every year during Nantucket Race Week, the island hosts the second leg of the North American Circuit of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, the Opera House Cup, which is coordinated by Nantucket Community Sailing, a non-profit group dedicated to engaging people of all ages in the joys of sailing. The legendary Opera House Cup takes its name from the eponymous restaurant/bar whose owner had the idea nearly 40 years ago of organizing a regatta reserved for wooden sail boats. With its inaugural season in 1973, the Opera House Cup Regatta was the first all-wooden, single-hulled classic boat regatta on the East Coast, developing into what many consider the pinnacle of American classic wooden boat regattas, attracting some of the world's most beautiful sailing craft to compete with each other every year in the waters off Nantucket. There are six primary awards presented to the winners of the Opera House Cup Regatta: Overall Winner, 12 Metre Class, Alerion Class, Classic Division, Spirit of Tradition Division and First to Finish. The race's original prize still serves as the OHC's perpetual trophy, to which a plaque inscribed with the winner's name, is added every year. The overall winner also takes home a much-coveted limited edition Panerai timepiece.
Conceived as the official supplier of military diving instruments for the Italian Navy, Officine Panerai has been immersed in the sailing world since the beginning, and the brand's inherent connection with the sea is celebrated each year with its annual and worldwide sponsorship of the PCYC. The common values of craftsmanship, passion, rarity and ingenuity between the hand-crafted timepiece and the often-painstakingly restored classic yacht only strengthen the natural partnership between Panerai and classic yachting.
Nantucket Lightship
This year during Nantucket Race Week the Nantucket Lightship will return to her dedicated mooring off Brant Point under the patronage of Officine Paneari, hoisting PCYC flags and banners and lighting up the evening activities with her masted lanterns. The newly restored rescue vessel was built in 1950 as part of the U.S. Coastguard Lightship fleet.The Nantucket Lightship has always stood offshore—resolute regardless of the peril it endured—to guide all passing ships to safe haven. In fact, it was the Nantucket Lightship - not the Statue of Liberty - which first greeted mariners and immigrants to America from 1975-1983. It is in this spirit that Nantucket Lightship, bearing Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge battle flags, will greet visitors and participants in the classic yacht regatta to the island.
Cappuccino with the Captains
For the first time, Officine Panerai is pleased to host a casual morning meet and greet between local sailing devotees and the captains and crews of the competing crafts. "Cappuccino with the Captains" will offer community residents an inside look into the dedication, commitment and tireless effort of those participating in the PCYC this year. It will also give the crews an opportunity to connect over their shared passion for classic wooden boats before immersing themselves into the competitive racing activities off the coast of Nantucket and commencing their journey toward winning a coveted Panerai timepiece and ultimately the PCYC North American Circuit Trophy. The circuit trophy is awarded to the best "overall" winner following the Museum of Yachting regatta in Newport in early September.
For more information, visit www.panerai.com or call 1-877-PANERAI.
For more information about the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, visit www.paneraiclassicyachtschallenge.com.
Press Contact for Panerai:
Kevin Giss
NIKE Communications
(646) 654-3431
About Officine Panerai
Founded in Florence in 1860 as a watchmaker's shop, workshop and school, Officine Panerai was for many years the official supplier of precision instruments for the Italian Navy, mostly for the underwater special corps. The projects developed by the company at the time including the Luminor and Radiomir watch - were covered by military secret until 1997, when the brand was purchased by the Richemont Group and launched on the international market. Officine Panerai is today the only Italian fine watch making company, developing and producing its own calibres and watches - a blend of Italian history and design with Swiss craftsmanship - in its own manufacture in Neuchatel, in Switzerland. Panerai watches are distributed worldwide through an exclusive network and in the Panerai boutiques in Florence, Milan, Portofino, Geneva, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Beverly Hills, New York City, Boca Raton, Buenos Aires, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Beijing, Hong-Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo. www.panerai.com.
About the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge
Featuring over 500 of the world's most beautiful classic yachts in ten historical regattas, the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge is a major international event in the world of classic sailing, bringing together over 5,000 sailors and sailing enthusiasts from around the world. The Challenge includes two circuits - Mediterranean and North American - as well as the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and Panerai British Classic Week in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. It is through the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge that Officine Panerai continues to protect and promote the culture of classic yachting in the name of its own historical ties with the sea and the qualities of beauty, classic design, craftsmanship and excellence, which distinguish the uniqueness of a classic yacht as they do a luxury watch.
About Nantucket Community Sailing
Nantucket Community Sailing's mission is to engage people of all ages in the joys of sailing, offering access to Nantucket's youth and teacing every participant enduring life and leadership skills, with a deep respect for the environment. Now in it's 16th year, NCS provides sailing opportunities for approximately 2,000 children and adults each year with a fleet of 150 boats. The non-profit organization was recently recognized as the 2010 Outstanding Community Sailing Program in the US, by the US Sailing National Sailing Program earlier this year. For more information visit www.nantucketsailing.com.
