Giraglia Rolex Cup, Groupe Bel primo alla Giraglia

[singlepic=2834,204,300,,left]Giraglia Rolex Cup – Saint Tropez – Il vento debole rallenta l’andamento della prova d’altura della Giraglia Rolex Cup, la regata di 245 miglia partita ieri da St. Tropez con arrivo allo Yacht Club Italiano di Genova.

Le condizioni meteo sono rimaste instabili per tutta la notte con il vento che andava rinforzando per poi indebolirsi nuovamente.

Alle luci dell’alba il primo gruppo di barche al comando della flotta (190 le imbarcazioni partecipanti alla regata d’altura) si trovava a 7 miglia circa dallo scoglio della Giraglia, in Corsica, boa naturale da girare prima dell’ultimo lungo bordo verso Genova.

Primo a doppiare la Giraglia, alle 10 e 15 di questa mattina, l’IMOCA 60 Groupe Bel del navigatore solitario Kito de Pavant, seguito a brevissima distanza da Alegre, il Bermudian Sloop di 21 metri dello spagnolo Allan Cameron (passato alle 10 e 21) e da Bella Mente, il Reichel Pugh di 69 piedi di Hap Fauth (alle 10.30).

Le prime 16 barche hanno doppiato la Giraglia in un gruppo molto compatto, separate di pochissimi minuti le une dalle altre.

Questi i primi 10 passaggi:
1. Groupe Bel, Kito de Pavant, 10.15
2. Alegre, Allan Cameron, 10.21
3. Bella Mente, Hap Fauth, 10.30
4. Sagamore, Nicola Paoleschi
5. Paprec, Jean Pierre Dick
6. Edimetra VI, Ernesto Gismondi
7. @robas, Gerardo Logel
8. Ran, Niklas Zennstrom
9. Ourdream, Claudio Uberti
10. Imagine, André Argellies

SLOWLY, SLOWLY, TO LA GIRAGLIA ROCK AND GENOA
[Regattanews Press Release] If patience is a virtue, than the 190-boat Giraglia fleet had it in spades early this morning as the boats seemingly crept towards La Giraglia rock and the turn towards the finish in Genoa, 90 miles away.

After Wednesday’s start of the 243-nautical mile race in St Tropez, the breeze slowly built and once the fleet rounded La Fourmigue to head for La Giraglia a northeasterly of 8-10 knots settled in, and backed enough to let the boats enjoy a close reach on the rhumbline to the rock. Through Wednesday night the fleet made slow but steady progress, but just before sunrise, the wind died out.

Near the front of the fleet, Bella Mente navigator Robert Hopkins emailed, “As of 0500, we have been becalmed for an hour. Container has coasted to a stop to our north and Alegre appears to be less than a .5 mile behind us. We still have 21.9 mi to go to the rock. At this rate, assuming our current boat speed of 0.2 knots, it will take 100 hours or a little more than 4 days to get there. Hope the wind fills in before then.” An hour later he added, “At 0600, we’re ghosting along under our windseeker. Boatspeed 4.3 kts, windspeed 3.7 kts. The sea is like a mirror.”

Finally, at 1015 local time, the Open 60 Group Bel (FRA), with skipper Kito de Pavant rounded La Giraglia first, followed Andres Soriano’s Mills 68 Alegre (GBR) – the first of the Mini Maxis – then Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente (USA). Then came a slow, but steady parade and by 1215, 32 boats had rounded.

With the breeze so light, the fleet is fairly compacted which gives the smaller boats have an excellent chance to do well on corrected time. In fact, the TP52 Paprec (FRA) rounded only 22 minutes after Group Bel, and the first Swan 45, Fever (GBR), rounded only seven minutes later.

By 13.30, Bella Mente was only 11 miles down the track from La Giraglia, and Hopkins offered, “We’re parked again. The weak NE’ly that carried us this far has died. In theory, it will be replaced by a WSW in a couple of hours, which will build to as much as 8 kts and back to the SSW, but that too will die with the sun, leaving us parked outside of Genoa once again. Three parking lots in one regatta! ETA is 45 minutes after midnight, but honestly, who can say? Sailboats need wind.”

With the current weather conditions, an estimated finish is still anyone’s guess. Steve Hayles, navigator on Ran emailed midday to say, “Very light and variable forecast. Probably less than 5 knots most of the time. ETA will be very difficult to get anywhere near right. Probably around day break tomorrow (Friday). It’s a small boat race so far and the little guys will be close behind us.”

The elapsed time race record of 18 hours, 3 minutes, 15 seconds set in 2008 by Neville Crichton on Alfa Romeo, the 100-foot (30.4m) super-maxi, remains safe for another year.

By 16.30, 64 yachts had rounded the La Giraglia rock. The finish line for the Giraglia distance race is just off Sturla in Genoa. The fleet will dock at the Yacht Club Italiano.

The prizegiving will take place on Saturday, June 20th at the Yacht Club Italiano. The Challenge Rolex Trophy and the Challenge Bellon Trophy will be awarded to the yacht best scored overall in Corrected Time, (in the most numerous group between IRC and ORC/ORC Club).

Rolex Yacht-Master timepieces in steel and platinum will be awarded to overall winner in elapsed time; the overall winner in IRC corrected time; and the overall winner in ORC corrected time. Also a Rolex Submariner timepiece will be awarded to the winner of the combined scoring for the Inshore Racing and Distance Race (in the biggest class).

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