Star Class: World’s coolest yachts

Yachting World has been asking top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest and most innovative yachts of our times, and Olympian and world champion Enrico Chieffi nominated the Star Class. Here’s the report:

Clearly, on one side it’s for personal reasons, because I was World Champion, but it’s a 100-year-old design and it’s so modern in its way.

The Star is a very unbalanced boat and to find the right balance is kind of an art. But when you find it, it’s like getting fine music from a piano. It gives you feelings like no other boat. When you find the right rig tune it is gorgeous, unique.

Sailing now is evolving very quickly into foiling, and I love it. But at the same time the beauty of these old classes is mainly that they are slow.

In a slow boat like the Star, the Etchells, or the Dragon, the tactics and tricks and positioning in the fleet, managing the race course, is much more important. So it’s a different kind of pleasure.

But when I am 80, I will start sailing the Moth. I am waiting to get fit for that.

For Yachting World’s list of cool boats, click here.