Photo credit: Rolex /Carlo Borlenghi
Owner Simcic paid tribute to the Esimit crew: “This Giraglia was different from last year, we had all the time this light wind and for the boat it is very important to not stop. We looked all the time how to keep it running and had to keep our attention focused on everything. The whole team made their contribution to this success.“
As Esimit crossed the line in Liguria, the nearest yacht, Alegre (GBR), were some 44-nautical miles behind. It promises to be a long night at sea for the remainder of the fleet.
The countdown clock is now running for the overall corrected-time victory.
FLEET ARRIVING INTO GENOA
By 10:00 CEST this morning, a further 41 yachts had followed Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) into Genoa, completing the 243-nautical mile adventure from Saint-Tropez. As expected, Andres Soriano’s Alegre (GBR) and Sir Peter Ogden’s Jethou (GBR) finished in second and third place in real time, having occupied these positions for most of the race. The gap between the first and second finishers was around six hours. Nat Ives, navigator on Jethou, confirmed the difficulties for the crew in the light conditions: “It was a very stop start race, whenever we thought we could get going, we had to stop again.” The first Italian boat to finish was the Baltic-65 Stig, which completed the course in 41 hours, 20 minutes, 58 seconds.
Caol Ila (USA) owner Alexander Schaerer, whose crew finished around 20 minutes after Stig reflected on the race: “It was great even if there was not enough wind, at least on one stretch. In a way it helped us as our tacticians positioned us way north so we got the wind first and a better angle to get into the Giraglia as we passed some of the racing boats, before a nice run back to Genoa.”
As the remainder of the fleet head slowly into Genoa, the confirmation of the overall winner may take some time. A full press release covering today’s events will be available later.
The order of arrival for the first ten boats was as follows:
1. Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) 33.48.20
2. Alegre (GBR) 39.41.23
3. Jethou (GBR) 40.50.15
4. Stig (ITA) 41.20.58
5. DSK Pioneer Investments (ITA) 41.27.05
6. Caol Ila (USA) 41.40.42
7. Aegir 2 (GBR) 41.42.57
8. Near Miss (SUI) 41.43.16
9. Pace (GBR) 41.45.35
10. Paprec Recyclage (FRA) 42.05.50
From Regatta News
