Builder: Alpa Yachts (ITA)
Designer: John Illingworth
More: ALPA A15 Specifications
News:
Top sailors set to compete in La Giraglia Rolex Cup 2001
Author: Susanna Bourne
BATTLE OF THE GIANTS AT THE GIRAGLIA ROLEX CUP
The Giraglia Rolex Cup is shaping up to be the most competitive ever in its long history. Now part of the Mediterranean Big Boat Series, some of the world's most talented sailors are set to descend on Saint-Tropez in late June for the 49th edition of this 243-mile offshore race to the Giraglia Rock off the coast of Corsica, and on to the finish line in Genoa, Italy.
The first leg of the Big Boat Series in Portofino saw a who's who of talent competing - Kiwi's Grant Dalton & Warwick Fleury, American Paul Cayard and Dutchman Bouwe Bekking were there along with the legendary Sir Peter Blake.
The fact is, owners of racing maxis demand nothing but the best, whether in terms of equipment or crew, and like last year the Giraglia Rolex Cup will be contested by the most talented sailors.
Tiketitan has now passed into the ownership of a German motor racing magnate, and in place of Vasco Vascotto - the multiple world champion now training for the Italian America's Cup team Mascalzone Latino - the swing-keeled Wally yacht has three-time Olympic gold medallist Jochen Schumann calling tactics.
Olympic champion and French AC star Thierry Peponnet raced at last year's event aboard Carlo Perrone's spectacular custom-built Virtuelle, on her first competitive outing. The sleek silver yacht was not performing to her full potential in those early days, but later in the year at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup Peponnet steered Virtuelle to two consecutive victories in the windiest races of the event.
Now the Virtuelle crew are familiar with this stunning yacht and her capabilities, they will be hoping for breeze to propel them to a high placing at this year's Giraglia Rolex Cup.
Among the more conventional maxis will be Edimetra and Rrose Selavy, the latter owned by Riccardo Bonadeo who won the Trofeo Zegna in late April. He will have his usual contingent of highly skilled professionals aboard, headed up by former AC helmsman Mauro Pelaschier and backed up by more recent Cup participants including bowman Alberto Fantini and Stefano Rizzi from the Prada campaign.
Another America's Cup sailor, Bruno Troublй, will be back racing with L'Orиal cosmetics chief Lindsay Owen-Jones on the Wally 77 Magic Carpet. All in all we are looking at a highly competitive Maxi fleet who will be intent on scooping line honours in this prestigious race.
Line honours last year went to the Open 60 Riviera di Rimini which is back again for 2001. This lightweight flyer will be more than a match for the more conventional and higher displacement Maxis, unless the wind is against them when the superior upwind performance of the Maxis could be a telling factor. Riviera must also be aware of her fellow Open 60s such as Shining, which provided close competition in the early stages of last year's event.
With European sailors gearing up for the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship in Valencia a week later, some owners will be using the Giraglia race for a final shakedown of crew and equipment. Thus the calibre of sailor in the IMS fleet is likely to be just as high as it is within the Maxi yachts, and it could be that we will see the overall winner on corrected time coming from this contingent.
That said, it was the amateurs on their little ships that stole the thunder from the professional stars in the 2000 edition of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. Rolling downwind towards the Genoa finish line on an ever-increasing breeze, the smaller yachts eclipsed the Maxis and Open 60s, with the wind gods smiling on them on that occasion.
When the results had been calculated on corrected time, the Giraglia Rolex Cup was destined for Enrico Panizza Piero, the owner of the X-332 called Malandrino. Behind her was a 20-year-old Swan 441 called Saga.
It could happen again, but the big boats with their big name sailors will be doing their best to prevent history repeating itself at the Giraglia Rolex Cup 2001.
More Information:
- YachtsandYachting.com La Giraglia Page
See also: CS 50 for sale
