GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup - .film Racing star of the penultimate day

by GC32 Racing Tour on 16 Sep 2017 Calvi was not making it easy for race officials on the penultimate day of the GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup. With the wind blowing 20+ knots in the morning and into the afternoon on the Bay of Calvi, the foiling catamarans were kept ashore until 1530. Their arrival on the race course then coincided with the wind simply vanishing. Fortunately patience paid off and finally a light westerly wind filled in, albeit under an overcast sky, enough to complete one round of the Anonimo Speed Challenge and two windward-leeward races.

The Anonimo Speed Challenge was sailed as usual with guests perched on the front netting of the GC32s and comprised two reaches punctuated by a gybe in between. Despite the sub-10 knot conditions, the nimble GC32s still all put in average speeds of 15+ knots with the Jérôme Clerc-skippered Realteam recording the highest at 18.38 knots, a fraction speedier than Simon Delzoppo's .film Racing on 18.25.

“I am happy we are the winner of the Anonimo Speed Challenge today,” said Clerc. “It wasn’t the fastest we’ve done because the wind was light, but we managed to fly with the gennaker, so I hope the guests also had some fun. I hope we win the watch!” The skipper of the boat that records the fastest time over the four days of the GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup will receive an Anonimo Nautilo watch.

In the fleet racing, .film Racing was also top scoring boat of the day posting a one - two, finally breaking Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco’s winning streak. In fact the Monaco team was unfortunate, as on the final run they came close to falling into a hole on the wrong side of a fish farm, that formed an obstruction on the left side of the course. Noticing this, they had to return upwind to sail around the obstruction, and this enabled .film Racing to gybe early and take the lead.



“We love that fish farm!” quipped .film Racing’s Australian skipper, Simon Delzoppo. “We did plan that - the guys did a good job of picking where the breeze was and the holes in the breeze. We knew if we got out there we’d be sailing into the breeze and so we did. The most important thing today was that it was patchy and you just had to have a real good look at where the wind was. Leigh (McMillan) and Ed (Powys) did a great job at that.”

For race two Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco was back to her winning ways. Pierre Casiraghi returned to the helm of the Monegasque GC32 today, with Sébastien Col back on main sheet. “We had a good start and led the fleet quite early,” said Casiraghi of the second race. “The Australians had to bear off because of the fish farm and the guys on the right had less wind. So it was good decision and then it was just a case of controlling the fleet and sailing smoothly.”

Casiraghi rejoined his boat today came after his team managed to score five wins from five races yesterday. “There was a bit of pressure after yesterday,” he admitted. “But the boat is going great and the team is good. I am really happy to be back. Tomorrow there could be quite a few races and we’ll try not to come last! Our team is well prepared, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

For the final day of the GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup tomorrow, the first warning signal has been brought forward to 1100 CET. The intention is to hold two more rounds of the ANONIMO Speed Challenge followed by up to five races. The day will conclude with a prizegiving at 1700 CET.

GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup overall results

Pos	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Tot
1	Malizia - Yacht Club de Monaco	1	5	1	1	1	1	1	4	1	16
2	Realteam	2	1	5	4	3	5	5	2	3	30
3	Argo	5	2	4	2	4	2	3	5	6	33
4	Team ENGIE	3	3	3	3	6	3	2	6	4	33
5	Mamma Aiuto!	4	4	2	6	2	6	4	3	5	36
6	.film Racing	6	6	6	5	5	4	6	1	2	41
7	Zoulou	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	72

GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup owner-driver results

Pos	Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Tot
1	Mamma Aiuto!	4	4	2	6	2	6	4	3	5	36
2	.film Racing	6	6	6	5	5	4	6	1	2	41
3	Malizia - Yacht Club de Monaco	DNS/8	DNS/8	DNS/8	DNS/8	DNS/8	DNS/8	DNS/8	4	1	61
4	Zoulou	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	DNC/8	72