Yacht Club Costa Smeralda: a perfect day at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

The fleet taking part in the 34th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo were blessed with perfect weather conditions today, as a westerly breeze blowing at 10 to 16 knots joined clear skies and sunshine for the start of racing. Yesterday’s decision by the Race Committee to bring forward the start of today's racing to 10 a.m. CEST allowed the yachts to make the most of the weather window, before winds are set to pick up once again, according to the forecast models.

The YCCS set up two race courses today, one for the coastal race of around 27 miles, which took the fleet clockwise around the islands of La Maddalena and Caprera and then back to Porto Cervo, and the other for the windward-leeward races set for the 10 yachts competing in the inaugural Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship and the 4 yachts racing in the Maxi 2 class - former Maxi72 class boats now racing under the IRC rule.

The two races completed by the Maxi 1 boats vying to take home the first world title saw YCCS member Karel Komarek's Wallycento V and Alessandro Del Bono's new 82-footer Capricorno take the respective wins. “The boat proved to be very fast from the outset,” explained Capricorno's coach Tiziano Nava, ”we’re very happy, there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. We won the second race through a good start and flawless tactics, but in the first race we paid dearly for an error in hoisting the gennaker.”

At the end of the day, however, it was Wendy Schmidt's Deep Blue that claimed the top spot on the leaderboard thanks to two solid performances, both of which concluded with a third place. Django HF owned by YCCS member Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, with Vasco Vascotto on tactics, and Joost Schuijff's Leopard 3, with tactician Ed Baird, follow in the standings, with just one point separating each yacht in the top three. The Maxi 1 class has now completed the two windward-leeward races set out in their regatta schedule. The Maxi 2s completed three races on the same windward-leeward course and with a first, a third and a second place, Jolt (formerly Cannonball), owned by YCCS member Peter Harrison with New Zealand's Hamish Pepper calling tactics, leads the provisional classification. On equal points and just one behind the leader, are Northstar of London, owned by YCCS member Peter Dubens', and Proteus, owned by George and Christina Sakellaris.

 Andrea Visintini, navigator on Deep Blue: “Today was a peculiar day, we had set the boat up for the rising Mistral that was forecast, instead we sailed in very shifty medium to light wind, never more than 17 knots. The key was to sail in clean air as much as possible, we are the slowest boat on paper, so it’s crucial to get free from the cover of the bigger boats. In the second race we had a very good start and we were leading for half of the race, then we had a problem lowering the gennaker, but we managed to contain the damage.”

 First off the line in the coastal race were the multihulls, with the Gunboat 80 Highland Fling XVIII owned YCCS member Lord Irvine Laidlaw showing immediate speed at the start and first across the finish line, victory in corrected time, however, went to Riccardo Pavoncelli's Gunboat 66 Gaetana. Second place went to Allegra, owned by YCCS member Adrian Keller.

The Supermaxi class saw YCCS member Juan Ball's Moat, with Guillermo Parada on tactics, clinch both line honours and victory on handicap. “We had a good start on the left side, the favoured side,” commented Parada. “We took the lead and controlled Y3K, who came dangerously close in the light airs at the Passo del Bisce, then we stretched ahead and I must congratulate the crew for the countless sail changes perfectly executed on the downwind leg back to Porto Cervo. It’s difficult for us to control the J Class because the rating means we have to give them 1 minute per mile, but after a few miles we lost sight of them. We managed to beat them by a margin of just over a minute in corrected time.”

 Moat was followed by the two J Class yachts, Svea and Velsheda, second and third respectively in corrected time, who took centre stage in a splendid close-quarters duel along the entire length of the coastal course. 

Aldo Parisotto's Oscar 3 led the nine yachts in the Maxi 3 Class, followed by Rose and YCCS member Massimiliano Florio's Grande Orazio. The 10 yachts in the Maxi 4 group saw Vincenzo Addessi's Fra Diavolo get the better of Wallyño, owned by IMA President Benoît de Froidmont, and H2O, owned by YCCS member Riccardo de Michele. 

For tomorrow, Thursday 12th September, the Race Committee intends to set a coastal course for all classes, with the first start at 11 a.m. CEST. However, weather models indicate a return of the Mistral, with gusts that could reach and exceed 30 knots.