Caribbean Multihull Challenge: Soldini and Maserati is in 2nd place

The second edition of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge ended yesterday in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, the FrenchDutch island in the Caribbean. In the final ranking of the ocean racing multihulls class Maserati Multi 70 is in second place, the American Argo is winner overall and the 63’ Shockwave in third place.

The race, organized by the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and reserved for multihulls, was made up of three days of competitions around the island in the Caribbean. This edition attracted 20 entrants, divided in 5 classes. Maserati Multi 70 competed in the ocean racing class with the 70’ trimaran Argo – skippered by Jason Carroll and for the first time in flying mode – and with the 63’ Shockwave. Aboard Maserati Multi 70, skipper Giovanni Soldini sailed with a 7-man crew: the Italians Nico Malingri, Matteo Soldini (both grinders and trimmers) and Gianluigi Ugolini (tactician), the Spanish Willy Altadill (trimmer), Carlos Hernandez Robayna (trimmer) and Oliver Herrera Perez (bowman) and the French Ronan Cointo (mainsail trimmer).

First race – February 14th
The first race, introduced this year for the first time, had a 60-mile long course, it started and finished in Simpson Bay, sailing around Saint Barthélemy. The Italian Team had to retire: a few moments after crossing the starting line, Maserati Multi 70, hurled at 30 knots towards the offset mark, was hit by a fish trap that tangled around a rudder’s wing, causing damages to the rudder quadrant. Giovanni Soldini and his Team chose to abandon the competition to fix the problem in time for the next race. Only the two other competitors were left in the competition: Argo crossed first the finish line, but Shockwave won in corrected time.

Second race – February 15th
At 9.45 local time (13.45 UTC, 14.45 Italian time), the three competitors set sail drom Simpson Bay, with 20-25 knots of East-North-Easterly wind and gusts up to 30 knots. Shortly after the start, Shockwave was forced to retire from the race due to damages suffered to the boom, leaving the two 70’s to compete for the first place. The race course, 38- mile long, was an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of Sint Maarten and a crossing of the Anguilla channel and the finish line was off Grand Case. Argo crossed first the finish line, with 2 minutes and 29 seconds of advantage over the Italian Team, winning in corrected time as well.

Third race – February 16th
The third and last race of the ocean trimarans was held between Maserati Multi 70 and Argo: Shockwave wasn’t able to participate because of the damages suffered the previous day. At 11 local time (15 UTC, 16 Italian time) Maserati Multi 70 and Argo set sail from Grand Case, Saint Martin, to NorthWest. With a 20-25 knots, the two 70’s started running along the 47-mile long course, that consisted in a double crossing of the Anguilla channel and a circumnavigation around the Fourchue island, before reaching the finish line in Simpson Bay. Giovanni Soldini and his Team, who took the lead shortly after the start, crossed first the finish line with an elapsed time of 3 hours, 3 minutes and 30 seconds, followed shortly after by Argo, which finished in 3 hours, 3 minutes and 56 seconds. Maserati Multi 70 won the race in corrected time as well (6 hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds against Argo’s corrected time of 6 hours, 48 minutes and 20 seconds).

At the end of the competition, Giovanni Soldini commented: “It was a nice race, we’re very happy to have competed against Argo in flying mode, we were able to understand many things and this was a great training for the next challenge!”

Maserati Multi 70’s Team is now getting ready for the next competition, the RORC Caribbean 600, which will start from Antigua on February 24th.The Italian Team will race against the two 70’s already challenged in many occasions in the past years: the American Argo and the English PowerPlay. The challenge is supported by Maserati, Main and Title Sponsor and Aon as co-sponsor, along with the official supplier for the clothing, Ermenegildo Zegna.

A special thanks also to Boero Bartolomeo S.p.A., Garmin Marine and Tarros.