Rolex Giraglia 2019 – Day 2
by Yacht Club Italiano 9 Jun 18:52 BST
9-11 June 2019
Day 2 – Rolex Giraglia 2019 © ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi
They're off! At 1130 this morning came the inexorable inaugural starting gun on the racing courses of the Gulf of Saint Tropez. For the first day of inshore racing there was a north-easterly between 5 and 15 kn with the fleets on coastal courses (Groups A and B) and upwind/downwind races off the beaches (Group 0 and ClubSwan). The Maxi 72 Jethou was the first winner of the day.
An unusually cloudy day welcomed the record fleet of 297 yachts in the 67thedition of the Rolex Giraglia. The mixed and spectacular mass of yachts left the quays of Saint Tropez at nine this morning. Despite the forecast of strong winds all through the day, conditions in the gulf were unstable. Regular starts for Groups A and B (yachts from 9 to 18 metres) who raced on a coastal course of 31 miles, while the bigger yachts (of more than 18 metres) raced round the marks off the beach of Pampelonne. Here the big maxis in Class 0 and the ClubSwan faced off in a tight rhythm on upwind/downwind courses of 1.5 miles for the ClubSwan and 3.5 for the others.
In numbers, the 289 boats on the water broke down as follows: 42 Maxis, 118 in Group A, 104 in Group B and 22 ClubSwan (10 ClubSwan 50, 8 Swan 42 and 4 Swan 45).
Today's results
In Group A (IRC), the French Sydney 43 Imagine dominated, while in the ORC the winner was the Swan 45 From Now On.
In Group B IRC, a fine race by the JPK 10.10 Raging Bee and the Italia 9.98 Sarchiapone Fuoriserie in the ORC division.
In Class 0, a show of strength from the Maxi 72 Jethou, winner of the day's race in the Racer Class. Walliño won in the Cruiser Class, while Sao Bernardo was first in the zero Class.
Also off Pampelonne, the ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone came first in today's race ahead of the Suisse boat Mathilde and Fram XVIII of the King Harald V of Norway; the Rolex Giraglia inshore races are part of The Nation Trophy Med League 2019 circuit.
Racing continues tomorrow, with more reliable weather and moderate north-westerly winds.
Full results here