Rolex IMS worlds at Capri, Italy - Day 4

FIRST WINDWARD-LEEWARD RACES SAILED TODAY

It was a full day for the Rolex IMS World Championship fleet as the race committee - despite the shifting breeze -- managed to run three races. With a big wind shift in the first race of the day, and closely contested racing all day, there were a number of protests, as well as several collisions. When the dust finally settled, the big winners of the day were the Botin/Carkeek-designed Grand Soleil 42's, as the first three boats overall were of this design. Meridiana-Italtel (Vasco Vascotto, helmsman) is on top of the overall standings at 13.5 points, followed by Raiffeisen (Lorenzo Bressani, helmsman) at 39 points, and Near Miss (Thierry Peponnet, helmsman) in 3rd place with 46.75 po ints. Said Vasco Vascotto, "It was a fantastic day, we had good speed and managed to stay close to the big boats."

Results are provisional, as at press time a number of protests were still pending. Race # 1 and #2 were in place of the races cancelled on Monday. Race 1 started in a 5 - 6 knot southerly that held until about half the fleet arrived at the windward mark. With a big right-hand shift, those boats on the right side of the course were left to hoist spinnakers to reach the windward mark. The southerly continued to fight the sea breeze, and the current wreaked some havoc as well, with a pack of boats in Classes 2 and 3 struggling to lay the top and offset marks. Near Miss managed to sort it out for a first overall, with Meridiana-Italtel 2nd, and Don Alvaro (Francesco Bruni, helmsman) 3rd.

Thierry Peponnet of Near Miss said, "We are happy with the result as the boat is brand new - we only arrived three days before the regatta and have not yet fully optimized the boat. We were able to get in the pressure and stay ahead of Italtel to the finish".

By Race 2, the westerly sea breeze had settled in and the wind ranged from 8-10 knots, providing great racing. Racing was very tight, with the mid-fleet fairly compacted -- it was close quarters at the windward mark with a few boats forced below the lay line. Meridiana-Italtel was 1st, World Cargo QQ8 (Riccardo Simoneschi, helmsman) 2nd, and X-Prozac (Gabriele Benussi, helmsman) 3rd. With the wind still fresh, the committee opted for a third race, technically Race 4 (Offshore Races were scored Race 3a & 3B). X-Prozac had a good start and speed around the course finishing first over the line and corrected, with Talisman (Terry Hutchinson, helmsman) 2nd, and Forum Filatelico (Gonzelo Aaujo Lazare, helmsman) 3rd. In the Corinthian division, 1st, 2nd, 3rd overall are: Tsunami, Naos, and Cherokee.

The Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, in collaboration with the Yacht Club Capri. Since the first edition in 1999, Rolex SA has been the title sponsor of the event. A total of eleven nations are being represented at this year's World Championship. The IMS World Championship - now in its' sixth edition - are a testing ground for both new designs and proven past performers.