After 2 hours and 48 minutes of racing in almost dead calm conditions, maxi yacht Alfa Romeo was first across the line at this 40th edition of Barcolana, setting a new record: she's the first yacht to have notched up 5 wins out of 5 entries.

After 2 hours and 48 minutes of racing in almost dead calm conditions, maxi yacht Alfa Romeo was first across the line at this 40th edition of Barcolana, setting a new record: she's the first yacht to have notched up 5 wins out of 5 entries (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008) in this historic event organised by Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano.

Alfa Romeo led the fleet from the starting line, crowded with 1900 competing craft. She was in fourth place rounding the first marker, behind Maxi Jena, Black Pearl- Banco Espirito Santo, skippered by Russel Cutts, and Shining. She made up ground and ended the race fighting it out head-to-head with Maxi Jena before clinching victory.

Her brand new code zero came in handy in the treacherous lull, but Alfa Romeo still had to pull out all the stops in terms of speed and strategy.

Among this year's challengers to this ultra high-tech maxi yacht skippered and owned by New Zealander Neville Crichton, numbering several of the Alinghi team among her crew, was Shosholoza, the South African America's Cup entrant with Paolo Cian at the helm.

The duel with Maxi Jena was watched by all with bated breath until a few metres short of the finish line, which had been moved to the second Miramare marker, when Alfa Romeo managed to shake off her dogged adversary. A clear leader only emerged 200 metres from the line with Alfa Romeo ahead of Maxi Jena and Shosholoza. Red hot favourite from the outset, maxi Alfa Romeo lived up to the expectations of thousands of spectators thronging land and sea and showed great technical ability over a course which was shortened to 6 miles due to the lack of wind. These same conditions obviously didn't allow Alfa Romeo to beat the speed record she set last year, but she showed herself once again this season to be a great performer and exciting racer.

Many members of the Alinghi crew joined Alfa Romeo veterans on board for the duration of the current season, honing their skills on Crichton's 100 footer, including tactician Brad Butterworth. Special guest aboard Alfa Romeo was John Elkann, a great sailing enthusiast and a friend of Crichton's. Coming ashore, after the Lap of Honour and the applause which greeted Alfa Romeo, he said: "This is my first time taking part in Barcolana and I was really impressed by the enthusiasm, both on land and sea. It's been a great privilege for me to make my début aboard Alfa Romeo, this maxi yacht which races and wins, exciting not just sailors, but anyone moved by great performers. It was a unique experience on board, first to see the nimbleness with which Alfa Romeo picked her way through the almost 2000-strong fleet, then the speed she managed despite the conditions, and then finally to witness the warm welcome a whole city extended to Neville Crichton and his crew."

And so with her fifth win in Trieste, Alfa Romeo bids farewell to this season with an overall tally of 140 Line Honours, 23 in the 6 events sailed in 2008, in addition to the new speed record of 18 hours 3 minutes and 15 seconds set at the Giraglia Rolex Cup, a whole 4 hours faster than the previous record she herself set in 2003.

Owner and skipper Neville Crichton had this to say: "Today's race went down to the wire and I have to take my hat off to Mitja Kosmina and Maxi Jena for the great challenge. They raced really well, showing once again this year how much this sport and event mean to them. Barcolana by now draws yachts people and boat owners from across the globe for this absolutely unique experience on the world yachting scene. This win is the best possible way to wrap up a season which has been very good to our boat, and I'm very happy that the partnership with the Alinghi crew members went so well, providing a unique experience and giving great sporting value to the members of both teams."