“Vananty felt things were going well, until the final moments….” Valencia Sailing
The Mediterranean’s top offshore race, the 62nd Giraglia Rolex Cup, finished this year with flying colors. From Sanremo, yachts sprinted across the churning waters to Sant-Tropez harbor for inshore racing before the offshore competition that set them circling the Giraglia rock on the island of Corsica, with the finish line at Monte-Carlo this year. 206 yachts, including some 12 double-headers ~ a first time event ~ competed in this highly respected race that brings crews from different parts of the world. This years race began with some difficult winds, but 189 yachts remained undaunted and finished the course.
Bernard Vananty and Tixwave landed the main prize as overall winner of the offshore race. He came in second last year and was pleased to have come up one better this year.
“We arrived in windy conditions, but 20 to 30 metres from the finish line there was hole and we were in trouble. We started to check the time, thinking that all our efforts had been ruined in these last metres… it took us 14 minutes to cross the finish line!”
Slovenian Igor Simcic, a member of the Yacht Club de Monaco and owner of Esmit Europa 2 were first through the finish line for the 4th time.
“The race was perfect. In the beginning we had some light wind, which made it a little tricky in deciding which tactic to follow. Then it became much easier when the fresh breeze came in during the night and we were really fast. For me it was the best finish in my life. It was a unique idea to finish in Monte-Carlo.”
Thetis, owned by Italy’s Lucca Locatelli, was Tixwave’s nearest rival coming in at second place. They won the Trofeo Challenge Marco Paleari for the Combined Classification of Sanremo to Saint-Tropez Race + Saint-Tropez Inshore Series + Offshore Race. Not too bad!
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Timeless Italy Travels 