Foto copyright Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Foto copyright Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Foto copyright Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Foto copyright Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Foto copyright Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
Fuente info www.regattanews.com
Breeze Arrives to Conclude Inshore Racing at Giraglia Rolex Cup
St.Tropez, France / Genoa, Italy:
The third and final day of inshore racing wrapped up in St Tropez today. The fleet of 200 boats drifted near the entrance to the bay of St. Tropez, as the race committee set the starting line. As luck would have it the wind line never quite reached them, and after a short delay, the committee picked up and moved to the wind. It was well worth the move - when racing got underway, a southwesterly sea breeze of close to 15 knots.
The IRC A and Swan 45 divisions were sent on a 19.7 mile coastal course; after a short upwind beat, the fleet sailed downwind to a mark midway along the coast between Ste Maxime and St. Raphael, and then upwind to a mark offshore of the famous Pampeleon beach, then back into the bay to the finish off St. Tropez. The IRC/ORC B division sailed a slightly shorter version of the course that was 16.7 miles.
The breeze-on day was not without drama -- 26 protests were pending at press time, thus results were not finalized.
In the Mini-Maxis, Niklas Zennstroms's stunning Judel-Vrolik 72, Ran (GBR) came into it's own today in the building breeze and scored its' first win for the series. Ran's finish of 3-4-1 puts them provisionally in 3rd place overall.
Luna Rossa (ITA), which struggled in the lighter breezes of the first two days, reveled in the breeze today pushing hard at the head of the pack until they blew out their spinnaker and dropped back a bit. They hung in though and were able to capitalize on the final reach to the finish where they reeled in two boats and finished a respectable 3rd for the day.
In ORC A, Franck Noel's GP42 Near Miss (SUI) would seemed to have locked up 1st overall in their division.
In the Swan 45 class, Fever (GBR) appears to have locked up the overall win. No Limits (NED), with four-time Olympic medalist and America's Cup sailor Jochen Schumann calling tactics had a good day, and he said, "It's great that the Giraglia Rolex Cup is open for one-design classes. With this group of boats that are participating here, it is of course better to sail the coastal races (vs windward/leeward), even if it was a bit boring the first two days with only 6 - 7 knots. But today we had just great conditions, up to 18 knots. It is exactly what the crew loves: a lot of action, good upwind parts, spinnaker work, shifting gears, and lots of manoeuvres, so one can show their performance."
On Wednesday, a fleet of close to 200 yachts will depart on the Giraglia Race, a 243-mile distance race from St Tropez to a turning mark at La Fourmigue, and onward via the Giraglia Rock at the northern tip of Corsica to the finish in the Italian port of Genoa.
The IRC A and Swan 45 divisions were sent on a 19.7 mile coastal course; after a short upwind beat, the fleet sailed downwind to a mark midway along the coast between Ste Maxime and St. Raphael, and then upwind to a mark offshore of the famous Pampeleon beach, then back into the bay to the finish off St. Tropez. The IRC/ORC B division sailed a slightly shorter version of the course that was 16.7 miles.
The breeze-on day was not without drama -- 26 protests were pending at press time, thus results were not finalized.
In the Mini-Maxis, Niklas Zennstroms's stunning Judel-Vrolik 72, Ran (GBR) came into it's own today in the building breeze and scored its' first win for the series. Ran's finish of 3-4-1 puts them provisionally in 3rd place overall.
Luna Rossa (ITA), which struggled in the lighter breezes of the first two days, reveled in the breeze today pushing hard at the head of the pack until they blew out their spinnaker and dropped back a bit. They hung in though and were able to capitalize on the final reach to the finish where they reeled in two boats and finished a respectable 3rd for the day.
In ORC A, Franck Noel's GP42 Near Miss (SUI) would seemed to have locked up 1st overall in their division.
In the Swan 45 class, Fever (GBR) appears to have locked up the overall win. No Limits (NED), with four-time Olympic medalist and America's Cup sailor Jochen Schumann calling tactics had a good day, and he said, "It's great that the Giraglia Rolex Cup is open for one-design classes. With this group of boats that are participating here, it is of course better to sail the coastal races (vs windward/leeward), even if it was a bit boring the first two days with only 6 - 7 knots. But today we had just great conditions, up to 18 knots. It is exactly what the crew loves: a lot of action, good upwind parts, spinnaker work, shifting gears, and lots of manoeuvres, so one can show their performance."
On Wednesday, a fleet of close to 200 yachts will depart on the Giraglia Race, a 243-mile distance race from St Tropez to a turning mark at La Fourmigue, and onward via the Giraglia Rock at the northern tip of Corsica to the finish in the Italian port of Genoa.
