D-One Volvo Cup Round 1 at Alassio, Italy

Jonathan Lobert wins the Volvo Cup D-One Regatta in Alassio © Andrea Carloni

Jonathan Lobert wins

A spectacular medal race concluded the first leg of the Volvo Cup D-One held at the Circolo Nautico al Mare of Alassio, whose president Rinaldo Agostini demonstrated again his consistent efficiency. It took a while for the breeze to build up and the race committee had to wait until 1pm to give the race start with a southerly breeze of 6-9 knots. The 18 D-One’s hit the starting line for their third race of the event and Argentina’s Agustin Zabalua, winner of the 2010 Gold Cup in Valencia, prevailed until the finish, crossing the line ahead of French Jonathan Lobert and Italian and Andrea Magni.

At that point, going into the fourth and final race that carried double points and was not discarded, three sailors had a chance at clinching overall victory: Zabalua and Lobert, tied with 3 points and Italian Finn sailor Giorgio Poggi (helmsman of Fiamme Gialle) with 4. That meant that whoever won the medal race would have also claimed the event. Luca Devoti, designer of this innovative dinghy, was closely following the races, giving valuable advice to all competitors.

As the breeze dropped the Race Committee rightly decided to move in mid-afternoon to an area where the wind was free from the influences of the coastline. As a result, the 18-strong fleet was able to start its fourth race with a steady southeasterly breeze of 10-11 knots. As expected, a fierce battle ensued in the first beat between the two Finn sailors Jonathan Lobert and Giorgio Poggi. They rounded the first weather mark very close to each other and at the start of the run, Poggi decided to gybe first while Lobert saw better breeze on the left side of the course and went for it.

The French proved to be right and at the first crossing he was ahead of the Italian. There was very little Poggi could do as Lobert sailed ahead to claim the fourth race, ahead of of Poggi and Zabalua, and the first event of this season’s Volvo Cup. Riccardo Pontremoli from Genoa scored an excellent fourth place while fifth place went to Alberto Ferrari from Rome. Nathalie Testa’s good performance today was noteworthy, being the only woman sailor in the event and sailing with the reduced rig of 9.5 square metres.

“I came to Alassio to have fun, taking a break between my Olympic commitments in the Finn class in Palma and Hyères,” said Jonathan Lobert, “and I must say that the D-One is great fun and allows you to sail having fun but at the same time with a good level. The level of this regatta was excellent and the battle with Zabalua and Poggi was truly passionate.”

“This is my second regatta in D-One,” said Giorgio Poggi, “and I really enjoyed it. I look forward to racing in late July at the Gold Cup in Riva del Garda.” The final ranking is available on www.cnamalassio.it

The season’s fourth and most important event is the D–One Gold Cup, to be held in Riva del Garda (28-31 July). After Alassio, the Volvo Cup D-One, will proceed to Bracciano (20-22 May), Cattolica (10-12 June), Marina di Scarlino in conjunction with the Italian Championship (16-18 September) and Barcolina Trieste (1-2 October).

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