Alfa Romeo Wins The Giraglia Regatta

‘Alfa Romeo’ and her Kiwi skipper, Neville Crichton, have proved they remain the team to beat with a crushing 12 minute victory over Australian rival, ‘Wild Oats’, in the final inshore race of 2007 Girgalia Rolex Cup to win the series 2-1 for line honours.

Alfa Romeo's lead never faltered as she finished the final race in 1st position, 12 minutes ahead of Wild Oats XI who ended up finishing 3rd in the race after Magic Carpet Squared took 2nd place on corrected time. The Overall standings see Alfa Romeo in the top position, after two line honours wins and a second place in race two, followed by Magic Carpet Squared in 2nd and Wild Oats XI in 3rd.

As the Maxi's rapidly left St Tropez, Alfa Romeo was at the head of the group, leading the fleet into the 30-mile course along the coast which was later shortened due to a complete lack of wind. This lead never faltered, as Alfa Romeo was also the first of the IRC class to return to St. Tropez.

"The best moment of the day was getting the gun at the end of the race," said Alfa Romeo's skipper and owner Neville Crichton. "We had a good race today with a good start. That made the difference as we made our way around the course and we had about a 4.5 stand at every mark."

Wild Oats and Magic Carpet trailed behind at a long distance.

"Well I think they were about 12 minutes behind," commented Crichton. "We broke free on the finish line. We are now going to race the Giraglia off-shore race. We're going straight to Genoa and then we'll turn around and sail to Palma."

Tuesday's races saw the first part of this weeklong regatta come to a close as the focus now shifts towards the second part of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. Wednesday will see the start of the offshore race that is known as the "The Fastnet of the Mediterranean", a race that is well into her 55th year and that is one of the most popular regattas in Southern Europe.

The Giraglia Race is a famous 243-mile course that takes the boats from the Gulf of St Tropez, South West along the French coast, around the island of Levant, across the Ligurian Sea and to the Giraglia Rock just North of Corsica before finishing in front of the Italian Port of Genoa. The Giraglia Rock is one of yacht racing's most famous landmarks, lending her name and serving as the turn mark for this now classic regatta.

At the end of the offshore race trophies and prizes are will be awarded to the top three yachts in each class based on corrected time. The first boat to round the Giraglia Rock will be awarded the Beppe Croce Trophy, the Rolex Trophy and the Rene Levainville Trophy are awarded to the yacht that wins line honours, and the Giraglia Rolex Cup will be awarded to the boat with the best corrected time overall for the long race.

The weather forecasts remain as varied and as unpredictable as ever, with very light breezes of 4-6 knots forecasted for tomorrow from east south-easterly directions in the morning that shift to south-westerly winds in the afternoon. One never knows what the weather will do for the Giraglia Race but the start is tentatively scheduled for 12 noon tomorrow.

Aside from most of the yachts that have competed in the inshore racing this week, a number of new arrivals have joined the fleet for the Giraglia Race, bring total entries to 182 at the time of going to press, although entries are open until 18.00 so the total number of participants is sure to continue rising.

Overall Results for the inshore races
IRC Class (Top 3)
1. Alfa Romeo - Neville Crichton - Super Maxi
2. Magic Carpet - Lindsay Owen Jones - Wally 94.2
3. Wild Oats XI - Robert Oatley - Super Maxi
IMS Class Groupe A (Top 3)
1. Edimetra VI - Ernesto Gismondi c/o Cemate - Wally 65
2. Atalanta II - Carlo Puri Negri - Ferr 70 Racer Mod
3. Nikimar - Christophe Picard - Farr 52OD

IMS Class Groupe B (Top 3)
1. Calima - Javier Pujol - Proto
2. Citta' Di Genova - Maurizo Postani / Orzapoggia Sailing - VROLJK 37
3. Lima Golf 3 - Giorgio Gobbo - Mescal 31 Mod

Overall Results on Corrected Time (IMS System) - Giraglia Rolex Cup Race 3

IRC Class (Top 3)
1. Alfa Romeo - Neville Crichton - Super Maxi - 4h35min et 31s
2. Magic Carpet - Lindsay Owen Jones - Wally 94.2 - 4h42min et 16s
3. Wild Oats XI - Robert Oatley - Super Maxi - 4h30min et 15s

IMS Class Group A (Top 3)
1. Magic Simca - Laurent Lavaysse - IMX40 - 04:08:49
2. Aria TX Active - Alberto Franchella - Comet 41S - 04:14:00
3. Fast Wave 3 - Laurent Charmy - 04:17:22

IMS Class Group B (Top 3)
1. Citta' Di Genova - Maurizo Postani / Orzapoggia Sailing - Vroljk 37 - 04:08:33
2. Calima - Javier Pujol - Proto - 04:09:32
3. Almogaver Ikks - Antoine Illies - X-332 - 04:12:18

ENDS

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