Rolex Capri Sailing Week - Day 1
by Rolex Capri Sailing Week 11 May 2021 21:22 BST
10-17 May 2021
Maxi Yacht Capri Trophy day 1 © ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi
The first day of racing in the Rolex Capri Sailing Week saw the Race Committee wait for the breeze to stabilise before starting the first race of the event. At 2 p.m. a decisive south-southwesterly blowing at around 10-12 knots allowed one race to be held on the regatta course positioned just off the Bocche di Capri.
At 2.30 p.m. the first windward-leeward race got under way on a course of around 8 miles, which the maxi yachts completed in just over an hour to see the fleet's early leaders emerge. After calculating compensated time, the top yachts from race one were the 60-foot Blue Oyster, followed by Shirlaf, owned by Giuseppe Puttini, and Lorina 1895, owned by Jean-Pierre Barjon.
At 4:10 p.m. a second start was sounded on the same course, with the breeze now stable at 12-14 knots, and fixed at 245 degrees. At the end of the first windward leg, the breeze shifted significantly to 270 degrees, just as the weather models had predicted, forcing the committee to reposition the marks accordingly. This operation was carried out rapidly, thanks to the use of the new MarkSetBot robotic buoys, but the prompt course adjustment served for little in the end, as the breeze proceeded to die out just before the finish line, forcing the committee to cancel the second race of the day.
Worsening weather conditions are expected for tomorrow, due to a low-pressure area set to bring rough seas and strong gusts to the waters off Capri.
Among the new initiatives for this edition of the RCSW is remote management of the race course thanks to the use of MarkSetBot robotic race marks. These buoys use self-propelling GPS technology to position themselves in a specific location and hold that position, with no anchor, until instructed to move. With a user-friendly mobile interface, the repositioning options make course laying simple and precise in all conditions and, above all, without the need to have mark boats and personnel at sea.
Live racing and playback can be followed online thanks to the TracTrac tracking system, tinyurl.com/38bfrpha
Complete results at tinyurl.com/bjkm9dec
All information on the race, official announcements and results are available on the official website www.rolexcaprisailingweek.com