First day of inshore races for the fleet of 184 yachts of the Rolex Giraglia.
An early morning full of clouds covered Saint-Tropez but the sun broke out just as the impressive fleet of the Rolex Giraglia 70 began leaving the Vieux Port and heading for the race course. A festive procession of yachts of all sizes which is by now one of the most characteristic and spectacular moments of the regatta.
“As every year we return to Saint-Tropez with great joy," said the president of the Yacht Club Italiano Gerolamo Bianchi, "and with the satisfaction of seeing so many yachts that arrived from all over the world to celebrate this important birthday. The Rolex Giraglia is the demonstration of the results of teamwork thanks to the support of Rolex and the collaboration of the Clubs which, together with ourselves, work for months organising this event, the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez and the Yacht Club Sanremo. For this year we have been even more meticulous and brought in several innovations including a regatta village with a completely revised layout and a crew village at the Tour de Portalet which will be animated by the crews at the daily prize-givings every evening."
On the water, things started smoothly with the big Group 0 Maxis starting at 11.20 on a course of about 19 miles inside the big Gulf of Saint-Tropez with an E/NE of seven or 8 kn. The Maxis were divided into three groups: IRC 1, IRC 2 and ORC. In the first group, Dario Ferrari's Botin 75 Cannonball dominated from the start, arriving first both in real-time and in corrected time, ahead of the Maxi 72 North Star owned by Peter Dubens (11 minutes behind the winner) and the Wallycento Galateia, which sailed a remarkable race coming less than a minute behind the second placed yacht. In group 2 there was an excellent start for Wallyño, the Wally 60 owned by the president of the IMA (International Maxi Association) Benoit de Froidmont, which beat Remax One 2, a Baltic 65 owned by Dario Castiglia, which sailed very fast to finish ahead of third-placed Itacentodue, Adriano Calvini's Ice 61.
In the ORC group, Valter Pizzoli's Swan 601 Les Amis won in corrected time ahead of its only adversary – for today – Roberto Lacorte's Mills 65 volante FlyingNikka.
Among the other groups, there was the same course for the Maxis with the start around midday, a course of 19 miles, but the times were much slower because of the wind which dropped halfway through the afternoon. While Group 1 managed to complete the course within the time limit of 18.00, for the smaller yachts in Group 2 the Race Committee decided to shorten the course to allow everyone to complete the rankings for the first day.
The day then ended that the crew village at the Tour de Portalet with an anchoiade, a Provence speciality offered to the entrance by the commune of Saint-Tropez, presentation of the awards to the day's winners followed by a dj-set to celebrate the end of the first day of racing in Saint-Tropez. The appointment is for tomorrow with the first start fixed for 11 AM.
