It’s hot and humid and my phone is busy. Superyacht sailing is a hot topic and if you are not sailing or dreaming of racing on a superyacht in September then you are missing the boat, literally.
MAGIC CARPET CUBED TAKES LINE HONOURS AT ROLEX GIRAGLIA 2022
Founded in 1953, to help unite the French and Italian sailing communities post World War 2, the Rolex Giraglia has retained a distinct Franco-Italian spirit, while attracting an international fleet. This year was the 69th edition of the event and a total of 164 boats registered. Given the global situation in Ukraine and on the back of the ongoing pandemic affecting regatta campaigns globally this seems to me to be a very strong turnout. Many of the fleet came straight from their individual and collective success straight from Palma Vela and The Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta and were well into the stride of their sailing season.
The battle to set a course record, or to claim the coveted line honours, has always been a feature of this regatta. The Giraglia course covers a large geographical triangle whose most southerly point is marked by the rock of the same name. After the start in from Saint-Tropez, there will be a short offset leg to Formigue to the west, then the “descent” of approximately 120 miles to the Giraglia rock, before climbing back to the Gulf of Genoa, approximately 90 miles away.
56 yachts took part in the first leg of the event on Friday 10 June, departing from Sanremo in Italy and headed for France. A course of 60 miles separated the Ligurian coastal city from Saint-Tropez, where everything was ready to welcome the crews for three days of inshore racing, before the 241-mile offshore race.
As per tradition, the fleet was as varied as ever, ranging from the majestic maxi yachts with professional crews, to Corinthian teams made up of friends and family members. All, however, are racing for their best possible result, and all are united in their enthusiasm for sailing, the best of regatta life and their appreciation of this much-loved and long-standing regatta.
The eyes of the world sailing community were trained on the eagerly awaited racing debut of the 60’ foiler Flying Nikka, owned by Roberto Lacorte and launched recently in Punta Ala, Italy.
The line-up of the Rolex Giraglia sees many other top-level competitors, not least in the shape of the 100-footers such as Furio Benussi’s ARCA SGR, which has had an excellent start to the season, one of the most famous Wally yachts Magic Carpet Cubed, owned by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones which recently won her The Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta organised by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Wally yacht Tango, and the greatly anticipated new Wally 98 Bullitt, and the fantastic Wally 107-foot Spirit of Malouen X.
While the Wallys represented the perfect racer-cruiser combination, the starting line will also featured pure racers – smaller and lighter boats – capable of great performances in all conditions. Among these was J/V Northstar of London, owned by Peter Dubens, Jethou, owned by Sir Peter Ogden, Dario Ferrari’s Cannonball and the acclaimed Capricorno, owned by Alessandro Del Bono. The diversity of the fleet is also represented by several Class 40 yachts taking part, as well as production yachts, those more oriented to cruising, and several vintage boats looking to claim the Giraglia Classic. The magnificent schooner Mariette of 1915, designed by the legendary Nat Herreshoff, at 42.5 metres in length was the flagship of the fleet, and has already set two records for the regatta as the oldest and the largest boat in the fleet. She too was fresh from her participation in Porto Cervo.
Fleet
Saint-Tropez lived up to its reputation and delivered three days of magnificent conditions for the fleet of boats taking part in the inshore racing. Excellent weather conditions allowed the inshore races of the Rolex Giraglia 2022 to take place without a hitch. While the maxi yachts competed on windward-leeward routes off the beaches of Pampelonne, the rest of the boats did battle on a 13-mile coastal course. Wind conditions followed a trend of an initial easterly breeze of 6 knots increasing over the course of the day, and flat seas.
Results from the racecourse in Pampelonne (maxis) after four races run:
The maxi Jethou, owned by Peter Ogden, dominated in the IRC0 class.
IRC2: Capricorno, owned by Alessandro Del Bono
ORC0: Leaps & Bounds 2, owned by Jean Philippe Blanpain
For the ORC and IRC groups, the results after 3 inshore races are as follows:
IRC 1: Daguet 3 – Ker 46 – Frederic Puzin
IRC 2: Les Minots de La Nautique – A 35 – Victor Bordes Laridan
ORC 1: From Now On – Swan 45 – Fernando Chain (
ORC 2: Farfallina 2 – Corsa 915 – Davide Noli
A spectacular Rolex crew party culminated the St Tropez extravaganza ending the racing on a high with participants all set for the big one, the “long-race” to Italy where the warm Ligurian hospitality awaited. All eyes turned to the weather forecasts for the next 48 hours and for the stretch of the Ligurian Sea that would be the setting for the 69th edition of the Giraglia. The forecasts for the coming days were still proving hard to read, but in that moment, they indicated rather light conditions, with the only certainty being that the 2012 course record of 14 hours, 56 minutes, and 16 seconds, seemed relatively safe. It was.
Ten in the morning of 18 June was the cut off limit for the Rolex Giraglia 2022, with 105 boats able to complete the race within that time following their departure midday on the 15th June from Saint-Tropez. Very light conditions throughout saw the larger vessels completing the route in times ranging from 34:07:17 (Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’ Magic Carpet Cubed) to 66:47:04, recorded by Stefano Argenton’s Elan S3 Ness, which arrived in Genoa this morning at 8:07.
“It was a very demanding race,” commented winner Giovanni Di Vincenzo, “but one that gave us great satisfaction and confirmed that Lisa, even outside her ideal conditions, is a very fast boat. I’m something of a ‘last-minute’ sailor, having come to sailing relatively recently: I started going to regatta courses about 15 years ago with a First 44, and just fell in love with the sport immediately. I’ve been a committed racer ever since, and with Francesco Bertone, who’s become my trusted tactician, we formed this Lisa team, with whom we then began our adventure with the Ker 46 Lisa R. The race was quite complex, but this is a really satisfying win, not least because it’s put an end to our recent tradition of always coming second in offshore races. The Rolex Giraglia is a fascinating race, which we managed to conquer with good tactics that prevented us from ever slowing down too much, partly thanks to the lightness of our boat.”
The Ker 46 completed the Rolex Giraglia in 41:08:22, an excellent time that allowed her – in corrected time – to achieve more than a two-hour lead over her direct opponent, Adriano Calvini’s Felci 61 Itacentodue, which came second in the IRC class, followed by Arobas 2, Gerard Logel’s TP52.
But it was after an elapsed time of 34 hours, seven minutes, and 17 seconds it took Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’s Wally Cento that took line honours at Rolex Giraglia with Magic Carpet Cubed and a place in the history books.
During the awards ceremony the three Rolex Yacht Master watches were presented to the winners of the Super-Combined group, Line Honours, and the overall winner of the Rolex Giraglia 2022:
Super Combined (winner in the largest group that participated in all races)
Resolute Salmon – Andrea Zaoli
Line Honours
Magic Carpet Cubed – Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones
Rolex Giraglia 2022 (boat classified first overall first in the largest class – IRC)
Lisa R – Giovanni Di Vincenzo
Rolex has been the title partner of the Rolex Giraglia since 1998 and this year celebrates 25 years of collaboration with the Yacht Club Italiano. This is an enormous achievement and a cause for celebration, BRAVA Rolex !
We now look ahead to September and The Rolex Maxis organised by IMA and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. FOMO? If you are looking for your first or next sailing superyacht here is my suggestion to the fastest way to be part of the competition:
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Length 30,50 m, Beam 6,80 m, Draft 5,40 with the racing keel, which is fitted
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TOP SAILING & SUPERYACHT REGATTAS IN 2022
Contact me for further information: alice@alicewiddows.com
LinkedIn: Alice Widdows
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