Barcolona 39- Alfa Romeo 2 wins and breaks record

by Event Media on 15 Oct 2007
Triumph and record for Alfa Romeo 2 at the Barcolana of Trieste: after only 55 minutes 30 seconds race and Neville Crichton wins in the Triestine regatta with 1831 different sailing boats on the start line.

Crichton has won the race for the fourth time (2003, 2004, 2006 e 2007) and raced ahead of the crowd alone carrying out a smooth and technically perfect race: he waited to get clear before hoisting the gennaker, being concerned not to cause any damage to any of the 25,000 sailors in the Gulf, and rushed ahead towards the first mark at a speed of over 25 knots.

More than five minutes advantage over all other rivals, a good 16-knot Bora wind, with gusts up to 35 knots, and Alfa Romeo had the victory in her hands, but only the excellent precision of the owner and helmsman, the boat's superiority enabled Crichton to break the record on the 16.5 miles course. Alfa Romeo 2 broke the record of 58'30' set by Skandia in 2005 finishing two minutes before and is the winner of Barcolana 39.

The race was battled out five minutes behind: an interesting duel between Maxi Jena of Solvenian Mitja Kosmina, who finished second and the first maxi class Maxi, Esimit Europa of Igor Simcic, third and protagonist of an excellent race from the very start.

Kosmina, skipper of Maxi Jena, after a troubling start due to some problems with the genneker, immediately concentrated on clinching his 'traditional' second place in Barcolana because Esimit, although a smaller boat, was able to sail ahead at the start and was second at the first mark, in Slovenian waters.
Spectacular but irregular start of Russell Coutts' Team Omega who together with the Rc44s Team Ceeref (with helmsman James Spithill, ex Luna Rossa) and Es Bankers (America's Cup helmsman Dean Barker) crossed the starting line almost one minute before the gun shot.

In the second leg, while Maxi Jena was catching up, extraordinary Simcic on Esimit-Europa with Alberto Bolzan at the helm, behind them the 'class battle' between the 6 Farr80 was taking place, followed by excellent Tuttatrieste2-Fiamme Gialle, chartered by the Financial Police.

Among the six Grand Mistral built for the round the world race, the Army's boat, helmed by Cino Ricci, was the first to round the mark and finished sixth behind Fly-Cometa of Flavio Favini, 6minutes 30' after Alfa Romeo 2. The real battle between one-design yachts took place in the second leg when Mauro Pelaschier, maintaining the eve's promises, sailed ahead of the friend-rival Cino Ricci, followed by Idrusa Calvi of Paolo Montefusco, Casino Park - Anyway True of the Bora Sailing Team, and Ricci. This order did not change until the end of the race.

Kosmina's Maxi Jena crossed the finishing line about 15 minutes after Alfa Romeo 2 ahead of Esimit-Europa's extraordinary crew, winner for the sixth time in the maxis class, Tuttatrieste2-Fiamme Gialle - excellent fourth place - e Fly Cometa, lead around the race course by another America's Cup sailman Flavio Favini.

In the maxis' class, after the queen of the category Esimit Europa, came Tuttatrieste2-Fiamme Gialle, third TuttaTrieste-Alta Badia of Stefano Sferza. In class 0 Calipso 4 of Piero Paniccia took first place, second came Mucillagine Rosa of Renzo Sandrin, third Moonshine of Edoardo Ziccarelli. In class one the first place went to Paula of Marko Godnic, ahead of Amis of Jon Brecelj, third Nordica of Andrea Micalli. In class two Sajonara of Roberto Bertocchi won again, Silver Age of Tommaso Ronconi second and Cippalippa 5 of Gianluca Visco third. These are the overall provisional results for the first ten boats that crossed the start line:

1) Alfa Romeo 2 of Neville Crichton in 55'30';

2) Maxijena of Mitija Kosmina;

3) Esimit-Europa of Igor Simcic;

4) Tuttatrieste2-Fiamme Gialle chartered by the Sailing Division of the Financial Police;

5) Fly-Cometa of Flavio Favini;

6) Drake Passage-Banca Generali of Mauro Pelaschier;

7) Idrusa-Calvi of Paolo Montefusco;

8) Casino Park-Anyway True of Maurizio Bencic;

9) Ross I-Esercito of Cino Ricci;

10) Ushuaia - Devco Devco Srl of Sabatini Paolo.

All results regarding the different classes are posted on www.barcolana.it

NEVILLE CRICHTON, ALFA ROMEO 2: 'This is our 4th win in the Barcolana and there is more enthusiasm among the crowd here than in New Zealand. It has been a good race with a strong breeze at the start and we were quite concerned in causing no damage to the boats around us, so we did not hoist the spinnaker till we got clear. The rest of the race was quite straightforward and easy. We weren't sure we would break the record because the wind calmed down in the last leg but we've made it and it was good fun. We probably won't be here next year but the year after.'

MITIJA KOSMINA, MAXI JENA: 'It has been really tough today because the main winch got stuck at the start and we couldn't hoist the gennaker properly and also the wind shifted suddenly some 30°. All this happened in a few seconds and it was very difficult to keep calm and concentrated. We had to perform a series of physically heavy manoeuvres and at that moment I was afraid my crew would not be to keep the pace till the end. And tis is why I very proud of my crew who concentrated on clinching the second place, because there was nothing we could do against Alfa Romeo 2 who was already ahead and Esimit-Europa was close behind, doing an really excellent race.'

IGOR SIMCIC, ESIMIT-EUROPA: 'This has been for us one of the best Barcolanas ever. With a 20/25 knots wind blowing we had to do our best at the start. For the first time we were second at the first mark ahead of Maxi Jena, and we were able to lead halfway the second lap, when Mitja overtook. This result proves that this boat, and in particular its crew, have done their best today. I'm very proud of this team, all the effort and work done in these month has been paid back.'

RUSSELL COUTTS, OMEGA TEAM: 'Fantastic race today, we had a great time racing with so many sails and with perfect weather conditions, sailing close to 80-foot yachts. We had a lot of fun. Bora wind was strong and you had to make sure you pick the right angle to get to the first mark. It's a good strategic technical race. We hoisted the gennaker straight from the start. I'll definitely come back next year for the Barcolana, it's a fantastic race and a great sailing festival with so many boats involved.'

JAMES SPITHILL, TEAM CEEREF: 'Trieste is an ideal site for racing on Rc44s. In Barcolana we were not as good to get off the line. There were so many boats and it was a great physical performance involving all the crew. Our female sailor tuned the mainsail and told us where to go.'

GASTONE NOVELLI, PRESIDENTE SVBG: 'I told you I wanted Bora wind to blow on the race course and my desire came true. This is the third year a good Bora wind blows on the Barcolana with a warm sunshine. Its a perfect climate combination in our Gulf. All boats were able to finish the race: this is another satisfying success. Next year will be the 40th edition of the Autumn's Cup: we'll start thinking about it tomorrow because, every time, everyone is eager to see new events which cannot be missing for such a historical anniversary of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano. Meanwhile let's enjoy this fantastic edition.'