The Mariquita, a 1911 gaff cutter designed and built by William Fife III, took home the Richard Mille Cup this summer, in the second edition of the race that took place over a fortnight in yachting locations across England and France.

Swiss watch manufacturer Richard Mille launched the regatta last year to celebrate classic yachts as the high-performance craft they were designed to be, in tandem with its mission to combine innovation and design at the pinnacle of watchmaking.

At this year’s regatta, teams raced across 255 miles (410km) of offshore racing and eight days of inshore courses over historic and significant English and French yachting landmarks. The competing yachts were either restored or faithfully recreated from designs all well over a century old. The race began at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club on June 2, and included stops at the Royal Dart Yacht Club in Dartmouth and Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, before ending in the Société des Régates du Havre in Le Havre.

Competition was heated throughout the fortnight. In Cowes, light winds and unfriendly tides saw yachts dragged backwards as they closed in on the finish. A 100-mile (160km) race across the English Channel saw tall gaff riggers finish neck-and-neck as dawn broke. Also in Cowes, the schooner Viveka and gaff cutters Moonbeam IV and Mariquita – both designed by Fife – traded narrow leads over four hours of battle. Moonbeam’s skipper Romain Le Gall likened the race to a street fight.

At the cup’s finale in Le Havre, the Mariquita and Moonbeam fought tooth and nail at the end of a full day’s racing off the Normandy coast, where the Mariquita narrowly triumphed to take home the grand prize.

Taking silver was the Viveka, built in 1929 for JP Morgan and recently restored in California. Coming in third was the Patna, a Charles E. Nicholson design from 1920, which also took home first prize among the smaller yacht classes. A special prize was given to Elena, a large schooner which duelled the Atlantic in three passage races.

“It’s been an incredible two weeks,” said organiser William Collier. “The Richard Mille Cup was conceived, most of all, as an event that celebrated classic yachts by racing them as they were intended to race. We believe that the quality of the restorations and the skills of the sailors shine through, creating great racing and worthy winners.”

“We want to go one step further by offering vintage yachts the chance to gather and compete on the same courses they raced in a century ago,” said Richard Mille marketing director Tim Malachard. “This is not a parade, but a genuine regatta over two weeks. It involves four historic yacht clubs in England and France and, for the second year running, has brought together over 10 classics accompanied by authentic replicas. We bring back to life the early days of yachting and their illustrious participants with authenticity and passionate people.”