9:38 PM Wed 10 Jun 2009 GMT
Day one of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta could not have been more picture perfect: sunshine, blue skies and 15 to 18 knots of Sardinia's legendary Mistral wind accompanied the 19 participating superyachts on a 30 mile course through the La Maddalena archipelago.
Pierluigi Loro Piana's My Song took victory on handicap in the first of four scheduled races in the event organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Boat International Media which will run until June 13th. The 37 metre Moonbird is sitting in second place in the overall classification followed by Charles Dunstone's Hamilton II.
Fastest around the course were three of the five competing Wally yachts. Albert Buell's Saudade completed the course in just over 2 hours and 28 minutes and was followed by Claus-Peter Offen's Y3K, which added just 30 seconds to Saudade's time. Margic Carpet2 , owned by Lindsay Owen-Jones, came third in elapsed time. With a special prize on offer for the best classified Wally yacht competition will be tough among these vessels.
'It was the perfect sailing day' commented Wally CEO Luca Bassani who was on board Indio today. 'We had around 18 knots of wind and this is the perfect place to have regattas, even if I would have preferred a little more wind myself.'
Albert Buell, owner of Saudade agreed 'This race today was exciting and very close. Unlike other places you can sail much closer together among the islands as there is much less swell. It's very good as well that the normal ISAF rules are ion force, we don't need special ones. In total it was a good race. In the end we were lucky that the strap between the halyard and headsail broke before the start of the race and so it only cost us 3 minutes and 10 seconds.'
The first start of the event was given this morning 12.05 and the rest of the fleet followed one-by-one at two minute intervals. The Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta uses pursuit style racing in which each yacht has a separate starting signal based on their IRC handicap. This format ensures safety on the starting line and fun on the water as the faster boats that started last catch up with the slower yachts that started first and the fleet races around the course in close proximity.
Taking into account the steady north westerly breeze, the YCCS Race Committee sent the superyacht fleet on a course which took them first on a beat through the Bisce straits and past the island of Santo Stefano before heading north along the channel between the La Maddalena island and the island of Spargi.
After rounding the Barettinelli di Fuori islets at the northern end of the archipelago the fleet then headed back south past the La Maddaelna and Caprera islands and on to leave Monaci island to starboard before crossing the finish line in the Pevero Gulf, just south of Porto Cervo.
Even those who finished further down the classification were happy with today's race. 'It was the perfect course for today's conditions' said Andrew 'Dog' Palfrey, Olympic Star sailor for Australia (2008) and tactician aboard Kokomo, currently sitting in 10th place. 'Calling tactics on this 52 metre yacht is not much different than on the Farr 40 or even in the Star class. I am really enjoying working with such a large crew though.'
Tomorrow, Thurdsay 11th June should see another beautiful day's racing with more of the same conditions predicted. Approximately 18 knots of westerly winds should accompany the first starting signal, scheduled for 12 midday.
www.loropianasuperyachtregatta.comor www.yccs.it
Fitzroy Yachts are Gold sponsors of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2009. Alloy Yachts, Future Fibres and Lufthansa Private Jet are Silver Sponsors of the event. IBS Yachts, Louis XIII by Remy Martin, Royal Huisman, San Lorenzo, Scorpion and Wight Vodka are contributing sponsors.
by Event media
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