First Day of Racing at the Loro Piana Giraglia 2024

With wind speeds between 10 and 14 knots, flat seas, and a grey sky, the first day of racing at the Loro Piana Giraglia unfolded. The fleet set sail from their moorings at 10:30 AM and returned in the early afternoon after approximately 4 hours at sea. Despite racing in lighter winds than the smaller boats, the large Maxi yachts managed to complete two windward-leeward races, showcasing their prowess.

Leading the provisional standings in the Maxi A group is the Botin 75 Jolt, owned by Peter Harrison (formerly Dario Ferrari's Cannonball), which changed its name but continues to win thanks to a 3rd and a 1st place in today's races. Behind Jolt is the 77' Jethou, owned by Sir Peter Ogden (with partial results of 1 and 6), followed by the Wally 100 V, owned by Karel Komarek (with 5 and 2), with Ken Read as tactician.

"We are very satisfied with today's result even though we made a mistake in the first race that cost us second place – said tactician Michele Ivaldi, along with American John Kostecki, upon arrival – we know the boat well, and more than half of the crew was on board when it was still called Cannonball. The second race was impeccable despite a drop in wind during the second beat, which slowed us down a bit, but we'll see in the coming days, especially considering the very high level of our competitors."

In the Maxi B group, it was an excellent day for Walliño, the Wally 60 owned by the President of the International Maxi Association, Benoit de Froïdmont, who leads the provisional standings.

In the Saint-Tropez course, which started around 12:30 PM, there was a similar long windward-leeward course of about 22 miles, with the first boats finishing in just over 3 hours. In corrected time, the standings favoured the TP52 Red Bandit, owned by Carl-Peter Forster – the overall winner of the 2023 Giraglia – with his under-32 crew dominating the IRC 1 group. The French X35 Le Lupin leads the IRC 2 group standings. In the ORC division, the Grand Soleil 44 Windwhisper44, owned by Marcin Sutkowsky, commands the provisional standings, while the First 34.7 Melagodo, owned by Luca De Luca, is first in the ORC 2 group.

The day concluded at the new race village at the Tour du Portalet, which hosted all the crews for a suggestive DJ set and the award ceremony. With forecasts predicting strong winds for tomorrow, another memorable day of this edition of the Loro Piana Giraglia is anticipated.