2021 Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour - Day 15
by Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour 21 Sep 2021 03:00 NZST
2021 Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour, day 15 © MMNRT
Competitors are preparing themselves for the most significant section of the 2021 Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World Championship.
The 10 teams have spent Sunday getting ready for the 330-mile leg from Bari to Ravenna which is set to begin at 08:00 local time from Bari, Italy, on the morning of 20th September.
With a very light forecast up the Adriatic coast, the Figaro 3 keelboats are unlikely to make much use of their foiling capabilities. Like Leg 1 from Brindisi to Bari before the weekend, this is more likely to be a test of patience and sniffing out the best of a thin breeze.
After seeing Leg 1 stolen from them by others who made better use of the fickle conditions, Pietro D'Alì and Claudia Rossi on board Team ENIT will be looking to improve on their fourth place. Guillermo Altadill, who with Aina Bauzà sailed Team ESP to victory in the first leg, believes the first few hours out of Bari will be a drifter, before a sea breeze rescues the fleet and sends them on their way in the afternoon.
Everyone agrees that this leg is going to be a slow one, with the organisers planning for somewhere between 48 hours and 60 hours of sailing time.
There are ten teams from eight nations competing in this inaugural World Championships. Part of the 2021 Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour which has already seen the Figaro 3 fleet navigate the western seaboard of Italy, the 2021 Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World Championship is an 816nm race that is being played out across three stunning stages along the Adriatic coast:
Leg 1: Brindisi to Bari
Leg 2: Bari to Marina di Ravenna
Leg 3: Marina di Ravenna to Venice
There are teams representing Italy, Belgium, USA, South Africa, Great Britain, Spain, Sweden and Poland.
The event concludes at the end of Leg 3 in Venice on 24 September, when the first ever winners of the 2021 Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World Championship will stand on the podium in one of Italy's most beautiful cities.