WINDY
CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE MAXI YACHT ROLEX CUP COMPETITORS
PORTO
CERVO, Italy (September 9, 2005) – The famous Mistral
winds came in full force in day five of the Maxi Yacht Rolex
Cup, causing one boat to break its rig, and several others
to tear chutes during today’s 26-mile race. The 95-foot
Wally Yacht Magic Carpet Squared, owned by L’Oreal CEO
Lindsay Owen-Jones, broke her rig just above the top spreader
as she headed upwind toward the finish in approximately 22
knots of wind. Three other boats, J One, Genie Of The Lamp,
and Unfurled tore their spinnakers one right after the other
as they headed toward the leeward mark before rounding to
go back up to the finish. The torn sail was American Harry
Macklowe’s second setback of the day, after the 112-foot
Unfurled was involved in a pre-race collision with the 66-foot
Charis, owned by Italian Fabio Magifesta. Charis, who had
been in second place overall in Cruising B, sustained a hole
in the hull and returned to port. No one was injured. Charis
has filed a protest against Unfurled.
Despite
today’s challenges, Unfurled won her fourth-straight
race to retain a five-point lead overall in Cruising A division,
pending the jury’s decision regarding Charis’s
protest. Fellow American, Arne Glimcher’s Ghost continued
its streak of line honours in Cruising A today and finished
second corrected to remain in second place overall. Cruising
B class had a change among the leaders, as Italian Massimo
Violati’s OPS 5’s first in today’s race
moved her into second overall. Filippo Faruffini’s Roma,
maintains a healthy eight-point lead overall in Cruising B.
In the
Racing division, Australian Grant Wharington’s Skandia
led the entire Maxi fleet to take overall line honours. Her
corrected time placed her in third for the race and she remains
in third overall. The UK’s Black Dragon, owned by Performance
Yachting, won today and will go into the last day of the regatta
tomorrow leading by just two points over Roland Pieper’s
Favonius of the Netherlands.
According
to Favonius crewmember and 1996 Finn Olympic Medallist Roy
Heiner, today’s conditions made for great racing. “Once
the wind picked up there was some good sailing for everyone’”
said Heiner. “We’ve had some really challenging
conditions and a lot of fun here, we’re really pleased
with how the regatta is going for us overall.”
The 12-boat
Wally division leader, Alexia, owned by Alberto Roemmers,
finished second on corrected time today after crossing the
line just behind Skandia. Alexia has a four-point lead over
German Claus Peter Offen’s Y3K, who won today’s
race on corrected time. The Italian Tiketitan, owned by Galeazzo
Pecori Giraldi and helmed by Wally President Luca Bassani,
edged out Thomas Bscher’s Open Season to move into third
overall in the Wally division. The British Open Season dropped
to sixth place overall after finishing eighth corrected in
today’s race.
First
place in the Spirit of Tradition division is up for grabs
going into the final day of racing tomorrow. Italian Alfredo
Canessa’s Whitefin leads by just one point over second-place
Adela, owned by US billionaire George Lindemann. Whitefin
and Adela finished first and second respectively today.
The regatta’s
on site weather forecaster, Captain Filippo Petruccio, predicts
lighter winds from the northwest for tomorrow, but conditions
are expected to continue to be variable as competitors head
out for the final day of racing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Full results,
photos and updates from the sea can be found at www.yccsmaxi.com.
For high-resolution photos please visit www.regattanews.com.
The Maxi
Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Settimana delle Bocche (Week
of The Straits), a regatta for the one-design Farr 40 and
Swan 45 classes and IMS racers taking place September 12 through
17, will close the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s 2005
sporting calendar. For full details of these regattas and
all of the Club’s events visit www.yccs.it.
Maxi
Yacht Rolex Cup Provisional Results Day 5
Racing
Division (6 Boats)
Pos, Boat, Owner, Country, Points (Total)
1 Black Dragon, Performance Yachting, GBR 1, 2 1 (4)
2 Favonius, Roland Pieper BVI 3, 1, 2 (6)
3 Skandia, Grant Wharington, AUS 2, OCS 7, 3 (12)
Wally
Class (12 boats)
1 Alexia, Alberto Roemmers, ARG, 1, 2, 1, 2 (6)
2 Y3K,Claus Peter Offen, GER, 3, 1, 5, 1 (10)
3 Tiketitan, Galeazzo Pecori Giraldi, ITA, 2, DNF 13, 2, 3
(20)
Cruising
Class A (6 boats)
Cruising
Class B (9 boats)
1 Roma,
Filippo Farufini, ITA, 1, 1, 2, 4 (8)
2 OPS 5, Massimo Violati, ITA , 6, 6, 3, 1 (16)
3 Allsmoke, Gunter Hertz, GBR, 2, 3, DNF 10, 2 (17)
Spirit
of Tradition (4 boats)
1 Whitefin,
Alfredo Canessa, ITA 1, 2, 2, 1 (6)
2 Adela, George Lindemann, USA 3, 1, 1, 2 (7)
3 Annagine, C.E. Van Asbeck, NED 2, 3, 3, 3 (11)
CLASSIFIEDS AUSTRALIA
