Team Sardegna Wins the Sardinia Rolex Cup 2006

by Event media on 11 Jun 2006 After today's race is abandoned, Team Germany finish second & Monaco third.

The Sardinia Rolex Cup 2006/ISAF Offshore Team World Championship, hosted by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, ended with an abandoned race due to the extremely light breeze that did not allow the Swan 45 class to complete the course within the time limit of 120 minutes. At 3pm, cut off time for the start of re-sail of Race Nine, the Race Committee called it a day and the home team, Sardegna, claimed victory.

Team Germany ended the championship second, 15 points behind Sardegna. Team Monaco came in third at 88 points, followed by Team Italy with 89 points. While for Team Germany it would have been virtually impossible to bridge the 15-point gap in last remaining race, the battle for the second and third spot in the overall standing would have been fierce.

At the prize giving on the Piazza Azzurra, in front of the YCCS Clubhouse, the winning team, which included Stuart Robinson's TP52 Santa Ana, Stefano Polti's Swan 45 Mintaka and Vincenzo Onorato's Farr 40 Mascalzone Latino, were awarded with the Sardinia Cup Challenge Trophy and the Rolex Offshore Team World Championship Trophy, together with the much coveted Steel and Gold Submariner Rolex timepieces.

As he stepped off his TP52 Santa Ana, Stuart Robinson, who is a member of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, praised his team: 'It's fantastic to win. Great team effort all round - our boat, the other boats. Porto Cervo is a great location and we had a great week. The team had steady results, seconds and thirds all week, with a couple of firsts. Everyone has sailed very well and the consistency of the team has paid off.' Continuing the praise of his fellow teammates, Robinson added that, 'We really felt part of a team. We had dinners, barbeques and drinks together. We had meetings every morning and it's really nice to have been a member of the home team, and particularly as the winning team.'

Santa Ana's tactician, British sailor Adrian Stead whose background includes America's Cup, Round the World and Olympic regattas, was jubilant about his team's results: 'Fantastic, what a great performance. Today I think we were a little unlucky that our Swan 45 didn't finish the race on time as they were winning in their fleet, we were second in the TP52s and the Farr 40 was still having a reasonable result. It's been a brilliant team event. We've been one of the top teams every day and particularly on our boat we feel that we sailed really well, especially at the end of the regatta.'

For Mintaka's owner, Stefano Polti, it was a surprisingly successful debut in the Sardinia Rolex Cup. Freshly drenched in champagne, Polti could not stop praising his crew and team: 'It is such a good feeling, I am so happy. This is my first Sardinia Rolex Cup and I was very honoured to be on the team with Vincenzo Onorato and Stuart Robinson. We sailed well, all the guys were awesome, Roberto Spata (mainsheet trimmer) and Matteo Ivaldi (tactician) couldn't have done a better job. I am simply thrilled.'

Vincenzo Onorato, owner of Mascalzone Latino and President of the Mascalzone Latino Capitalia America's Cup team from Italy, feels that he had to work twice as hard to earn this victory: 'It's been a very difficult world championship, as we had to sail in really light air, which is the condition that I hate the most at the helm. We are extremely happy as we worked really hard, never losing our concentration and finally we've been paid back for our efforts.'

Micheal Illbruck's new TP52 Pinta scored a series of brilliant victories throughout the series, but suffered a sharp decline in performance yesterday, when interestingly, Illbruck was not at the helm. Pinta's lacklustre results yesterday, combined with the last place finishes for Struntje Light and Opus One respectively in races 7 and 8, combined to leave Germany with a huge gap that would have been all but impossible to bridge even if Race 9 had been completed. Despite his team coming second, Pinta's tactician John Kostecki, Olympic medallist, Volvo Ocean Race winner and America's Cup veteran, appeared pleased with their overall performance: 'It was a light air regatta, but it was a good event with a lot of close racing. We're really happy to have done the Sardinia (Rolex) Cup. We're a new programme and we're trying to learn as much as we can and improve our performance. The boat has gone really well, we have a good crew and we're really happy.'

Despite fielding virtually the same team as 2004 - including crews that boast Olympic, America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race talent - defending champion Team Spain ended the championship in fifth place. Tornado sailor and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year in 2005, Fernando Echavarri, tactician onboard Mutua Madrileña-Movistar, was also making his debut: 'This has been my first Sardinia Rolex Cup and the first time I come to Sardina too. I am really impressed with the place and the surroundings, I am sure this is a real sailors' paradise.'

The next Sardinia Rolex Cup will be staged in 2008, probably with the same format and team composition as this year. The owners, class representatives and crews have already widely expressed their satisfaction with this year's regatta and will meet over the next couple of months in order to define the 2008 event. ISAF President Göran Petersson, feels that the mix of classes and professional/amateur sailors in this event has been highly successful: 'It's very interesting to see how close the racing is. The boats have professional crew and amateur crew blended together. This puts an extra element with the nationalistic team effort. We really like that and think it could really develop. The classes, too, are interesting. They are high-ranked, big boats with great prestige. We certainly hope the event will continue to grow and ISAF will support it.' Of the venue and organisers, Petersson was equally positive, 'This area offers some of the best sailing conditions in the world and the club is one of the utmost prestige and tradition and they have delivered a fantastic event.'

In September the waters off Porto Cervo and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda will host two highlight events of the Mediterranean season: the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which dates back to 1980 and each year attracts an impressive fleet of these majestic yachts, and the Rolex Swan Cup, biennial event that transforms Porto Cervo in the centre of the Nautor's Swan world with upwards of 100 Swans racing.

Final Team Standings:

Position - Team - Points
1 - SARDEGNA - 66
2 - GERMANY - 81
3 - MONACO - 88
4 - ITALY - 89
5 - SPAIN - 91
6 - USA - 120
7 - ALPE ADRIA - 156

For more information about the Sardinia Rolex Cup 2006 including entry lists and results please visit www.sardiniarolexcup.com.