Monday, March 14, 2011

COMET 700

Boat: COMET 700

Builder: Comar Yachts

Designer: Jean Marie Finot (Groupe Finot)

More: COMET 700 Specifications

News:

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2000 in Porto Cervo - Day 2


Author: Susannah Bourne

3rd-9th September
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
Porto Cervo, Sardinia

Rrose Selavy won the racing division in the first heat of the Maxi Yacht
Rolex Cup 2000 in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. Riccardo Bonadeo's blue Frers Maxi
is one of the most conventional yachts in the harbour, but America's Cup
helmsman Mauro Pelaschier beat his more exotic rivals by almost four
minutes.

In second place was the elegant IMS Maxi Alexia owned by Alberto Roemmers,
with another America's Cup veteran - Chris Larson from the USA - calling
tactics. The more extreme yachts in the division did not fare so well. Roy
Disney's 70-foot racing sled Pyewacket looked the baby of the fleet, but
her lightweight hull did her few favours in the 10-knot breezes that
carried the fleet of 24 yachts in and out of the islands dotting Sardinia's
coastline. She finished in sixth place, with only Ludde Ingvall's
water-ballasted Skandia finishing behind her.

In the larger cruising division, Olympic gold medallist Thierry Peponnet
won the heavily pin-end biased startline to take Carlo Perrone's space-age
Virtuelle into an early lead. But their glory was shortlived as the swing
keel of Tiketitan powered Wally Yachts owner Luca Bassani to the front of
the fleet before the first windward mark.

Vasco Vascotto, the Rolex IMS Offshore World Champion, was calling tactics
aboard Tiketitan but his good work was undone by a windshift which
benefited the fleet behind. "We had to tack away from the cliffs, but then
the wind lifted behind us and allowed the other boats to continue without
tacking," he said. "That cost us at least two or three minutes."

Tiketitan could only manage fourth on corrected time, with Gianluca
Vacchi's Genie of the Lamp winning two minutes ahead of Magic Carpet,
another Wally owned by L'OrŠ¹al chief executive Lindsay Owen-Jones. Genie
had some new talent on board for the first time, including America's Cup
veteran Lou Varney and professional sailor Richard Faulkner. Faulkner was
impressed with his first ever sail aboard Genie, but believed there was
even more speed to come from her in the coming days.

One yacht that suffered a torrid time of it today was Yam, the Wally yacht
which ran aground and hit some rocks very hard. Whilst it did not impede
her progress for more than two minutes, the extent of the damage had yet to
be assessed. Such are the hazards of racing Maxi yachts on the rocky
coastline of the Costa Smeralda.


See also: COMET 460 for sale