Bellissima & Orion winners - Casa De Campo Regatta

by Casa de Campo Media on 18 Feb 2008 On another perfect day of Caribbean sailing, the final race of the three-race inshore series was held today to determine the final IRC and PHRF class winners in the Casa de Campo Regatta for the Presidente Cup. In IRC Class A Gianfranco Fini's Comet 51 Bellissima finished as runner-up in this race to last year's winner Pepe Rodriguez on his Frers 45 Celtic V, but that was good enough to stay five points ahead of the pack to win the class. And in PHRF Class B, Sven Holmbo's Hunter 301 Orion scored only third today, but that too was good enough to stay one point clear of Rafael Roldan's Beneteau 400 Wolfgang for the class win.

In having excelled in both the 23-mile Round Catalina Race held yesterday and in the total scores from the inshore series, Bellissima also wins the Deutsche Bank Trophy for the IRC entries, and Orion wins the Presidente Trophy for the PHRF entries. The keeper trophies for this event are extraordinary models of classic yachts created by Abordage.

'The regatta was wonderful this year, the sailing conditions are fabulous,' said Fini, who is also Commodore of the Casa de Campo Yacht Club. 'Having our match race clinic with Peter Holmberg and Ian Williams on the first day was very exciting, and a wonderful addition to our event. We look forward to having more people join us here next year.'

Winds today were 10-16 knot easterlies, and with a windward mark positioned within metres of the shoreline, there were some interesting shifts and currents to challenge both fleets even over the relatively short .75 mile legs.

Just as in the first day of course racing, reigning World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams acted as guest helmsman on Bellissima today, and despite a broken vang suffered only moments prior to the start of the race, the multinational team of Dominicans and Italians led by a Briton managed to keep the pressure on the leaders, finishing only 35 seconds off the winning time.

Margins in PHRF Class B were even closer, with Frederico Penzo's Beneteau Idyle Tranquilo (which is also the local expression for 'no worries' or 'take it easy') winning today's race by a mere 19 seconds over Wolfgang, with Orion only 22 seconds behind in third. Scoring in the PHRF class this week was done by race manager Pete Lawson based on time-on-time TCF ratings. Ramon Prieto's Jenneau 45 Cecile would have won the race by over 5 minutes were it not for a port tack crossing incident with Tranquilo on the first leg that was deemed too close by the protest committee, resulting in Cecile's disqualification for the race.

Top Three Results, Inshore Race 3

IRC Class A
1. Celtic V Frers 45 Pepe Rodriguez 0:40:34
2. Bellissima Comet 51 Sport Gianfranco Fini 0:41:09
3. Escuela J/24 Javier Rodriguez 0:41:43

PHRF Class B
1. Tranquilo Beneteau Idyl Frederico Penzo 0:51:26
2. Wolfgang Beneteau 400 Rafael Roldan 0:51:45
3. Orion Hunter 301 Sven Holmbo 0:52:07

Overall results:

IRC Class A (6 boats)
1. Bellissima 2 – 2 – 2 6 points
2. Celtic V 3 – DNF – 1 11
3. Escuela DNS – 1 – 3 11

PHRF Class B (12 boats)
1. Orion 1 – 2 – 3 6 points
2. Wolfgang 2 – 3 – 2 7
3. Tranquilo 2 – 3 – 2 10

The Casa de Campo Regatta for the Presidente Cup was also supported by Deutsche Bank, all results and photos can be found on the event website at www.casadecamporegatta.com

Daily video highlights from T2P Productions can be found at www.t2p.tv