After dominating the Line Honours in shore race results in 2006 Giraglia Rolex Cup, New Zealand Super Maxi and skipper/owner Sydney businessman Neville Crichton have lead the way out of St Tropez in the main event, the 243 mile off shore race. With sunny skies and a strong south-westerly blowing, 98-foot Super Maxi Alfa Romeo led the charge out of the Gulf of St Tropez and along the French coast to Les Porquerolles islands.

Neville Crichton and all the other skippers were keen to make as much progress as possible during Wednesday before the breeze switches off.  "I think as the sun goes down, the wind will do down with it, so it's a matter of how far we can get before that happens," said Crichton, who is hoping his new canting-keeled Maxi can improve on the record time that his previous Maxi set in 2003. We'd like to think we can get to Giraglia Rock [before the wind disappears], but we don't think we will. We'll probably get half way across between Les Porquerolles and the Giraglia. After that I think we're going to struggle for breeze, then we'll get a bit of breeze in the morning and then the breeze could disappear again just before Genoa. So I think we could get two parking spots - but hopefully only one for us and two for the little boats."

Judging by the way Alfa Romeo shot away from her rivals at speeds up to 15 knots, Crichton's wish could well come true. The Australian-built Maxi is in a league of her own. The silver-grey Super Maxi rounded the Rolex mark clear ahead of a pack of six conventional Maxis - My Song, Magic Carpet, Our Dream, Y3K, Dark Shadow and Capricorno.

Last night the forecast had been looking good for Alfa Romeo being able to break the 22 hours, 13 minutes, 48 seconds time for the race via the Giraglia Rock near Corsica to the Italian port of Genoa. But this morning the Crichton was less confident of bettering his 2003 time. Even the breathtaking Alfa Romeo needs wind in order to move. "The record is look pretty safe. If we get 3 knots wind we can do 5.5 to 6 knots speed with a Code 0, but underneath 3 knots we struggle a wee bit."

Crichton believes the predicted wind and the course could well suit Artemis, the Swedish-registered Swan 601 owned by Torbjorn Tordqvist, who has signed up America's Cup legend Russell Coutts as his tactician. Coutts on the other hand, believed Alfa Romeo's speed could do her a big favour. "Alfa Romeo should reach the new breeze first, and it's going to pay to be as close to the rock as possible when the new breeze comes in," said Coutts, also from New Zealand. "The first day until midnight tonight should be straightforward, with a south-westerly sea breeze, and we'll hold that until pretty late. Then from tonight onwards it will get pretty tricky. The big choice is whether to go down the rhumb line to the Giraglia Rock, or to head north or south of it."

Although Artemis performed surprisingly well in the inshore races of the past three days, Coutts says it would be unwise to read too much into those results for an indicator of success offshore. "Strategy is key, particularly in light winds, because you'll get huge differences of breeze. If you're in 5 knots of breeze and other people are in 2 knots or zero knots, then you'll make huge gains. The long race is all going to come down to who manages the park-ups better than everyone else."

While the race yachts are focused on the Giraglia Race as a competition, others are taking the 243-mile passage at a more leisurely pace.