Alfa Romeo's winning streak at Superyacht Regatta

by Media Pro Int'l, Barby MacGowan on 27 Jun 2008
The third and final race of the inaugural Boat International Superyacht Regatta saw Alfa Romeo’s winning streak continue with a third consecutive victory on both real and corrected time.

New Zealander Neville Crichton’s 100 ft (30.38 m) canting keel maxi clearly dominated the Performance division ahead of Claus Peter Offen’s Y3K (GER) and Magic Carpet2, owned by Lindsay Owen Jones (GBR). Victory in the Cruising division went to Italian Claudio de Eccher’s Southern Star, a Southern Wind 80. Willy Persico’s Acaia Cube (ITA) came second and Salperton, with Ed Dubois on board, came in third overall. Alfa Romeo also took overall victory, which was calculated on the basis of the total distance covered divided by each boat’s total corrected time.

As winners, Alfa Romeo and Southern Star were awarded Rolex timepieces during the prize giving ceremony at the YCCS Clubhouse while Alfa Romeo also accepted the Boat International Silver Jubilee Trophy as overall regatta winner. In addition, Alfa Romeo claimed the IMA trophy for the best scored International Maxi Association Member and prizes for the best line honours result and the winner of Audi Race Day (June 23).

'I’m really pleased once again with both the boat and the crew.' commented Crichton, who is a member of the YCCS and a regular at the Club’s Maxi regattas. 'Alfa Romeo has been getting great results since 2005 and that’s due to an excellent design, which is still cutting edge even now and very fast, as well as the skill of the crew. I am delighted with this result; we had some great sailing and I am already looking forward to being back here in Porto Cervo in September for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup where we are expecting some new and extremely fast boats.'

Today’s racing began on schedule at 12 midday in a northwesterly breeze of approximately six knots. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s Race Comittee once again set a shorter 17 nautical mile course through the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago for the Cruising division while the Performance division was sent on a longer 24 nautical mile course, which took them around the Monaci islands then south of Porto Cervo. The courses for both divisions were shortened by approximately six nautical miles due to the fading breeze, and the finish was moved to just off the island of Mortoriotto.

Alfa Romeo once again stormed around the course to finish just over 27 minutes ahead of nearest rival Y3K who in turn finished 1 minute and 22 seconds ahead of Magic Carpet2. Y3K corrected back to third behind Owen Jones’ Wally.

In the Cruising division, Southern Star completed the course in the fastest time followed by Acaia Cube and Salperton; all three retained their positions on corrected time.

Southern Star’s performance also claimed her the 9th Southern Wind Trophy, which was awarded by the South African Shipyard’s founder Willy Persico during the prizegiving.

'For this to be the first edition of the Superyacht event we had an excellent turnout,' said YCCS Sports Director Edoardo Recchi. 'The standard of the boats and the sailing has been really high and the level of enjoyment really outstanding. The Race Committee did an excellent job of setting courses which allowed us to see these superyachts actually racing together – not any easy task and not something which happens very often. We are already planning next year’s event and looking forward to many more editions to come.'

'We had a great time this week. Today was a little bit strange with a lot less wind than predicted but we managed a fair race all the same. The feeling is that everybody is really happy with the whole event and can’t wait until next year!,' said PRO Peter Reggio.

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s sporting calendar continues tomorrow with the Audi Coppa Europa Smeralda 888 (June 27 to 29), an Interclub event which sees teams from the Yacht Clubs of Gstaad, Monaco, New York, Lignano and the Royal Yacht Squadron compete aboard the club's fleet of Smeralda 888 one-design craft.

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Provisional Results 26/06/08

Place) Boat, Owner, Points, Total
Performance Division
1) Alfa Romeo, Neville Crichton – 1.00 1.00 1.00 , 3.00
2) Y3K, Claus Peter Offen 2.00 2.00 3.00, 7.00
3) Magic Carpet 2, Lindsay Owen Jones 4.00 6.00 2.00, 11.00

Place) Boat, Owner, Points, Total
Cruising Division
1) Southern Star , Claudio de Eccher, 1.00 1.00 1.00, 3.00
2) Acaia Cube, Willy Persico, 2.00 3.00 2.00, 7.00
3) Salperton, Primero Maritime 4.00 4.00 3.00, 11.00

For further details, entry lists, results and images please visit www.yccs.it or www.boatinternationalsuperyachtregatta.com where up to the minute reports and post-racing blogs are available.