Rolex Giraglia - Line Honours update
by Quinag 18 Jun 2021 08:20 BST
13-19 June 2021
Arca SGR ghosts towards Genoa to secure Rolex Giraglia 2021 line honours © ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi
The Rolex Giraglia regularly delivers close line honours contests with this year's 68th edition proving no exception. Partnered by Rolex since 1998, the event is one of the Mediterranean's most historic and respected sailing competitions.
Crossing the finish line off the Yacht Club Italiano's clubhouse in Genoa at 14:08 CEST this afternoon, Arca SGR marked her race debut by securing the line honours crown awarded to the 241-nautical mile (446-km) offshore race's fastest finisher.
The Italian-crewed Maxi skippered by Furio Benussi, a former Rolex Giraglia overall winner, assumed leadership of the race shortly after the Sanremo start at midday on Wednesday. At 07:01 CEST this morning she rounded the race's emblematic landmark the Giraglia rock, located off the northern tip of Corsica, a little over 15 minutes ahead of Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones's Wallycento Magic Carpet Cubed, her nearest rival.
"Victory in real-time was our aim," said Guido Miani at the finish, "but it was in doubt right to the last miles with Magic Carpet Cubed, which was very close all through the race. We sailed well and is far possible, we were a bit slow in the first part of the race with rather light winds, but a fantastic final leg paid us back. After rounding the Giraglia we touched peaks of more than 21 kn. Setting a record in these conditions was unthinkable, but the boat showed all her potential against tough rivals."
Although the time difference between the two 30-metre (100-ft) yachts was similar at the finish line, Magic Carpet Cubed, a two-time Rolex Giraglia line honours winner, had threatened to mount a comeback after making gains on her rival in the final stages of the race.
Arca SGR's elapsed time of 26 hours, eight minutes and ten seconds ensures the race record of just under 15 hours set in 2012 will stand for another year.
As of 15:45 CEST following the arrival of the fleet's other 100-ft Maxi Leopard 3, three yachts had completed the race, seven had retired and 128 were still at sea, the majority yet to round the Giraglia rock. The arrivals over the coming hours will have a significant say in who claims the race's coveted prize of overall victory on handicap.
Live TV coverage continues with the Rolex Giraglia are now for the first time with daily reports from sea and dry land. Today a long report from the Primocanale Production troupe followed the approach and finish of the 1st to arrive in real-time. All the footage is available on the Primocanale website and on the YouTube channel of the Yacht Club Italiano.
More from James Boyd of the International Maxi Association
After a slow start, when they were third to the weather mark behind Magic Carpet Cubed and Leopard, the 100ft Arca SGR finally had pulled ahead at the inshore mark off Ventimiglia. As the fastest maxi in the fleet (based on her IRC rating of 1.847), she then led for the remainder of the race despite Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones' Wallycento Magic Carpet Cubed constantly nipping at her heels.
The passage across to the Giraglia Rock was difficult with a shift from the northeast to east southeast initially failing to materialise. Instead the wind dropped allowing Magic Carpet Cubed to eat into the Trieste-based maxi's lead. Finally the expected shift arrived 25 miles short of the Rock which they eventually rounded at 0700 this morning, 15 minutes ahead of Magic Carpet Cubed. Bearing away around the Giraglia, Arca SGR saw the wind veer further to the southeast and building to 20-25 knots enabling the former 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours winner to reach speeds of 20-22 knots.
"It was really fast downwind after Giraglia," said Arca SGR's skipper Furio Benussi. "We went 22-23 knots at times, which was really nice. Upwind Magic Carpet is really competitive with us." Extending her lead to eight or nine miles, Arca SGR's high speeds dwindled around 20 miles short of the Genoa finish line, when she put in a final hitch west to cover Magic Carpet Cubed. After the usual slow final miles to reach the Genoa finish line, Arco SGR arrived at 14:08:10 CEST, followed by Magic Carpet Cubed at 14:23:55.
"I am very happy because this boat and this crew are amazing," said Benussi, once Arca SGR was moored off the Yacht Club Italiano's Genoa clubhouse. "Everyone was really strong. For us it was important to be here in first place with this boat. Winning line honours is perfect for us." This victory comes on the back of Benussi's maxi claiming line honours in the recent 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar.
Finishing second on the water, but substantially ahead of Arca SGR under IRC corrected time, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones was pleased with the result of his 'family cruiser'. This was the dark blue Wallycento's first event in 20 months although he has used Magic Carpet Cubed for holidays during this period. "We were so close to beating a pure racer - one of the fastest 100 footers in the world," he said. "That was very nearly a big thing. They sailed very well, so our hats off to them. We don't have any big regrets. Their boat is just a little bit quicker than ours. So it was a good day and we were all just so happy to get back on the water."
A regular competitor, Owen-Jones compares the Rolex Giraglia race to an itch he has to scratch even though the race is often light. Of this year's race he said: "It was full of really big shifts that you couldn't possibly forecast. While over the whole area it was easterly, we suddenly at midnight got a west wind so some of the back markers caught us up a bit. Even when it is very light, there is usually a little wind at the top of the rig so you can build on that. I don't think we ever dropped below about 5 knots of boat speed."
Magic Carpet Cubed's renowned Dutch navigator Marcel van Triest said that the light patch 30 miles short of the Giraglia was in fact a mini system. "It got calm and we worked to the north - it wasn't a wind hole, it had a 'full swirl'. It saw them [Arca SGR] go up and for a long time they were doing 12 knots when we were going 5 knots and they were in a northwesterly." However all was forgiven after rounding the Rock as the wind picked up to 20+ knots enabling the blue 100 footer to hit similar speeds.
Leopard was third home at 15:32:17 CEST having dropped back in the middle of the small depression.
"We had quite a nice race," said tactician, double Olympic medallist Mitch Booth. "We were very impressed with how the boat went and the team did a great job. We got stuck in the middle of one hole - this big void in the middle of everything. The wind seemed to be coming from every direction at one point... But the rest of the race went very well for us. We thoroughly enjoyed it."
Booth felt they had sailed the first downwind leg along the Italian and French rivieras well until they got to the turning mark off the Rade d'Agay. "We were right in touch with them both still and we almost had a crash with Magic Carpet going into that mark... There were a bit of fireworks then... Overnight we thought we sailed well and we came back to be very close to them, but then they escaped the light air better than us."
Generally Booth said they were satisfied with their result considering that Magic Carpet Cubed is "the master of this race" and the Italians [Arca SGR] "are the light air specialists. We can't expect to match those guys in these conditions. But we were very happy with the boat. For Joost [Schuijff, Leopard's new owner] this was his first real offshore race. He really enjoyed it - we couldn't get him off the wheel!"
Further maxi arrivals are expected this evening while tomorrow a winner of the maxi class under IRC is expected to emerge.
The race can be followed on the SGS tracker at www.sgstracking.com/live/index.html?id=255