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‘Alfa Romeo’ and her Kiwi
skipper, Neville Crichton, have proved they remain the team to beat with a
crushing 12 minute victory over Australian rival, ‘Wild Oats’, in the final
inshore race of 2007 Giraglia Rolex Cup to win the series 2-1 for line
honours.
Alfa Romeo's lead never
faltered as she finished the final race in
1st position, 12 minutes ahead of Wild Oats XI who ended up finishing 3rd in
the race after Magic Carpet Squared took 2nd place on corrected time. The
Overall standings see Alfa Romeo in the top position, after two line honours
wins and a second place in race two, followed
by Magic Carpet Squared in 2nd and Wild Oats XI in 3rd.
As the Maxi's rapidly left
St Tropez, Alfa Romeo was at the head of the group, leading the fleet into
the 30-mile course along the coast which was later shortened due to a
complete lack of wind. This lead never faltered, as Alfa Romeo was also the
first of the IRC class to return to St. Tropez. "The best moment of the day was
getting the gun at the end of the race," said Alfa Romeo's skipper and owner
Neville Crichton. "We had a good race today with a good start. That made the
difference as we made our way around the course and we had about a 4.5 stand
at every mark." Wild Oats and Magic Carpet
trailed behind at a long distance. "Well I think they were
about 12 minutes behind," commented Crichton. "We broke free on the finish
line. We are now going to race the Giraglia off-shore race. We're going
straight to Genoa and then we'll turn around and sail to Palma."
Tuesday's races saw the first
part of this week long regatta come to a close as the focus now shifts
towards the second part of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. Today (Wednesday) will see the
start of the offshore race that is known as the "The Fastnet of the
Mediterranean", a race that is well into her 55th year and that is one of
the most popular regattas in Southern Europe. The Giraglia Race is a
famous 243-mile course that takes the boats from the Gulf of St Tropez,
South West along the French coast, around the island of Levant, across the
Ligurian Sea and to the Giraglia Rock just North of Corsica before finishing
in front of the Italian Port of Genoa. The Giraglia Rock is one of yacht
racing's most famous landmarks, lending her name and serving as the turn
mark for this now classic regatta. At the end of the offshore race
trophies and prizes are will be awarded to the top three yachts in each
class based on corrected time. The first boat to round the Giraglia Rock
will be awarded the Beppe Croce Trophy, the Rolex Trophy and the Rene
Levainville Trophy are awarded to the yacht that wins line honours, and the
Giraglia Rolex Cup will be awarded to the boat with the best corrected time
overall for the long race.
The weather
forecasts remain as varied and as unpredictable as ever,
with very light breezes of 4-6 knots forecasted for tomorrow
from east south-easterly directions in the morning that
shift to south-westerly winds in the afternoon. |
