Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard brokerage

Rolex IMS Offshore World Championships Overall

by Susannah Bourne 20 Jul 2000 09:54 BST

Vim and Mascalzone Latino are crowned World Champions

Light and fluky winds forced the last day's racing to be cancelled, and meant Vim avoided a three-way battle for the Racing Division title in the the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2000.

The Nelson/Marek 43's owner Craig Speck and helmsman Terry Hutchinson were all smiles as they stepped off the boat that Bruce Nelson had redesigned so effectively for this Championship. Yesterday, there was a dark, brooding silence as the Vim crew finished some way behind their closest rivals in the high-scoring, 128-mile offshore race. After winning the first three inshore races, their fifth place gave Idler, George David's Nelson/Marek 52, and 1999 Champion the Frers 39 Atlantico Yah Man the opportunity to close the gap. The stage was set for a thrilling showdown - but the patchy breeze and relentless drizzle put paid to that.

Hutchinson, the America's Cup mainsheet trimmer from the AmericaOne campaign, paid tribute to his owner: "He took Bruce's and my recommendations on, about the boat, about the crew choice, and now it has paid off. Bruce did an outstanding job in preparing the boat for the IMS rule." The speed that Vim showed on the first day's extreme conditions - 30 knots and six knots - surprised even some of the crew. The new fin keel had been fitted to the hull just two weeks before, so this was the first big test of the boat in her new configuration.

Ken Read, the America's Cup sailor who was calling tactics for owner/driver George David on Idler, was disappointed not to get a crack at Vim. "I don't know why they didn't sail us today. Yes, it was fluky but we could have raced." Nevertheless, he was gracious in defeat and ready to praise the crew of Vim. "The fact is they sailed better than us, and I've had my share of regattas where we've won when racing was cancelled on the final day. You live by the sword and die by the sword."

Tomasso Chieffi was sad not to get a chance to defend the title he won at last year's Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship in Sardinia. But he was certain to be back for next year's event, scheduled to take place either in Italy or Spain. With Atlantico Yah Man sold to a Portuguese owner, the Italian America's Cup sailor said he would be looking for another boat to race. "I'm getting older, and every year I aim to sail a boat that is one foot longer."

Whilst one Italian team failed to retain their title, another Italian crew blitzed the competition in the Cruising/Racing division. The only new boat for the Championship, Vincenzo Onorato's Farr 42 Mascalzone Latino proved to be every bit as fast as the Americans had feared.

One boat, Morning Glory, filed a protest against the Italians for infringing rules about offloading sails after leaving the dock. With the racing cancelled, the protest came to nothing, but tactician Vasco Vascotto was annoyed that the protest had been filed at all. "I like to win regattas by sailing them and proving the boat is fast," said the multiple world champion. "This was not a port/starboard incident, this was a technicality, and I think that what someone was trying to do was not good for the regatta."

But whatever the rights or wrongs of the matter, the Americans were quick to acknowledge the powerful challenge from the Italian crews. At the prize giving on the lawn of the New York Yacht Club, the president and CEO of Rolex Watch USA, Walter Fischer, presented Rolex chronometers to the top two skippers in each division. He then threw down the gauntlet for the top American boat in each division, Vim in Racing and Agincourt in Cruising/Racing, to accept a generous offer to have the boats shipped free of charge to next year's Championship in Europe.

In just its second year of existence, the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship has become established as one of the top events in the racing calendar. As Ken Read observed: "It's a wonderful crown jewel in a wonderful rule."

Final overall results - Racing Division:

  Boat              Owner         Helm             Pts
--------------------------------------------------------
1 Vim               Craig Speck   Terry Hutchinson 14.75
2 Idler             George David  George David     17.5
3 Atlantico Yah Man Vittorio Rava Tomasso Chieffi  17.87

Final overall results - Cruising/ Racing Division:


  Boat              Owner               Helm          Pts
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 Mascalzone Latino Vincenzo Onorato    Vasco Vascotto 5.37
2 Agincourt         Paul Lowell/R Atkin Paul Lowell   15.5
3 Sforzando         Blair Brown         Blair Brown   21

Related Articles

The last bus stop
Graeme Ainley - a truly great man - passed away yesterday. Graeme Ainley - a truly great man - passed away yesterday. Posted on 7 May 2020
IMS 600 Europeans at Holland
Checkmate 3 wins On Sunday June 4th 2006, Dutch entry Checkmate 3 with Peter de Ridder on the helm won the European Championship IMS 600 2006, part of the ABN AMRO North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen / Netherlands. Posted on 5 Jun 2006
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds overall
Final race just makes cut off time The Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2005 ended today with one last race, which started 10 minutes before the cut off time due to the light winds. Posted on 17 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds day 4
One day to go With two third places in todays races, the Spanish JV57 Azur de Puig owned by Marta Mas Borrell and helmed by Jose Maria Torcida, with Americas Cup veteran Dee Smith calling the tactics, is leading the Non Corinthian division. Posted on 16 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds day 3
Azur de Puig and Sagola leading Azur de Puig, the Spanish B&C49 owned by Marta Mas Borrell, with Jose Maria Torcida at the helm and Americas Cup veteran Dee Smith calling the tactics, took line honors in the Offshore Race of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship 2005. Posted on 15 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds day 2
A close look at the beautiful island On the second day of racing of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship, the competitors had the chance of taking a close look at the beautiful island of Menorca. Posted on 15 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds day 1
A slow but successful start The forty two crews competing in the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship were greeted this morning by glorious sun and a light northwesterly breeze of 5-7 knots. Posted on 13 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS Offshore worlds preview
Close to fifty yachts vying for title All is set for the start of the Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship, now in its seventh year, which in 2005 takes place in the Balearic island of Menorca for the first time. Posted on 12 Jul 2005
Rolex IMS worlds overall
Meridiana wins overall Capping a week of racing in light and shifty winds, the 66-boat fleet at the Rolex IMS World Championship ended today with Italian boats winning both divisions. Posted on 23 May 2004
Rolex IMS worlds day 5
X-Prozac takes the lead With a steady 7-knot breeze from the West, the 66 boats competing in the sixth Rolex IMS World Championship completed the second-to-last day of racing with Italian entry X-Prozac, skippered by Gabriele Benussi, earning a first place. Posted on 22 May 2004