Cape2Rio- Italy's Soldini and Maserati set new record + Video
by Sail-World on 15 Jan 2014
- Cape2Rio - 2014 Maserati sets new record Trevor Wilkins
At 23:29 GMT on 14 January the Giovanni Soldini skippered 70fter Maserati crossed the finish line of the 14th edition of the Cape2Rio, establishing the new speed record for the race.
Giovanni Soldini and Maserati team sailed the 3,300 miles between Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro in 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, 57 seconds.
The current record for the longest race between two continents in the southern hemisphere (3,300 nautical miles) was previously held by Zephyrus IV, a 74’ American maxi which covered the distance in 12 days, 16 hours and 49 minutes. To beat that time, Maserati hads to get to Rio de Janeiro by 4.00 GMT on January 17th, and finished well inside that mark.
The weather forecast is for steady 15-knot winds until about 60 miles off Rio. After that, the breeze will be changeable and start dropping. Maserati looks set to sail across the finish-line at dawn on January 15th.
Her nearest rivals continue to lag well behind with the the Australian 52’ Scarlet Runner in second place, with the South African entry Open Explora is in third on the water
Soldini led a nine-man international crew: Italians Guido Broggi, Corrado Rossignoli and Michele Sighel; German Boris Herrmann; Spaniard Carlos Hernandez; French sailors Vincent and Gwen Riou; Dane Martin Kirketerp Ibsen; and, for the first time, Pierre Casiraghi of Monaco.
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