Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup day 4 waiting game

by KPMS on 10 Sep 2011 The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has reached the penultimate day of competition. Day four experienced an abundance of patience, sun cream and bottled water as racing was scheduled to commence promptly at 10:30 CEST to enable crews to take advantage of this morning’s anticipated westerly.

It never arrived. Only after almost four hours baking in the piercing Sardinian sun could the 45-strong fleet proceed.

The four classes were split into two different groups. The Maxis and Supermaxis, for the third day running, attacked a coastal course. A 17-nautical mile trek, that should have comprised a beat to windward, a downwind leg to the Monaci rocks, a reach into Secca di Tre Monti followed by a beat back to Pevero Bay and the finish line off Porto Cervo. However, the drop in wind forced the Race Committee to shorten the course two thirds of the way through at the Isla delle Bisce.

The 11 Wally and 16 Mini Maxis were designated windward/leewards. Admirable progress was made until the wind progressively softened, shifted dramatically, and then faded to nothing as the lead boats headed off on the final run. The race was abandoned and going into tomorrow’s final day the leaderboards remains unchanged. In the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship Ran 2’s (GBR) lead over Jethou (GBR) and Alegre (GBR) appears insurmountable. In the Wally class, Y3K’s (GER) lead over Dark Shadow (MON) and Magic Carpet 2 (GBR) is more slender, but looks no less secure.

Today's three winners: Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) in Maxi Racing, Aegir 2 (GBR) in the Maxi Racing/Cruising division and Saudade (GER) in the Supermaxi class, proving her credentials in the light conditions.

Provisional results after Day Four
Place, Boat Name, Owner, R1-R2-R3, Total Points

Maxi Racing/Cruising

1) Aegir (GBR), Brian Benjamin, 3-1-1, 5.0
2) DSK Pioneer Investments (ITA), Danilo Salsi, 1-2-2, 5.0
3) Berenice (ITA), Marco Rodolfi, 6-3-4, 13.0

Maxi Racing

1) Esimit Europa 2 (SLO), Igor Simcic, 2-1-1, 4.0
2) Highland Fling (MON), Irvine Laidlaw, 1-2-2, 5.0

Wally

1) Y3K (GER), Claus Peter Offen, 1-1, 2.0
2) Magic Carpet 2 (GBR), Sir Lindsay Owen Jones, 2-3, 5.0
3) Dark Shadow (MON), André Auberton, 5-2, 7.0

Supermaxi

1) Nilaya (GBR), Ficaya Ltd, 1/1-2/4-2/2, 12.0
2) Visione (GER), Hasso Plattner 3/2-3/1-4-4, 17.0
3) Hetairos (CAY), Rockport Ltd, 2/4-1/2-5/6, 20.0

The Supermaxi Class is being dual scored in each race under IRC and ORC. The combined scores determine the leaderboard. Individual race scores show IRC race position/ORC race position.

Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship

1) Rán 2 (GBR), Niklas Zennström, 1.5-1-1-4, 7.5
2) Jethou (GBR), Peter Ogden, 3-3-3-2, 11.0
3) Alegre (GBR), Andres Soriano, 4.5-2-2-3, 11.5

Yacht Club Costa Smeralda website