The reception for Giovanni Soldini and his record-breaking crew of seven was rapturous as they entered the Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada after their outstanding performance. The line honours winners set a new record for the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Transatlantic Classic.
Soldini's Multi70 "Maserati" made the leap across the pond in 5 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 26 seconds. It beat the old record for the RORC Transatlantic Race by almost 17 hours.
Giovanni Soldini: "I am so proud of my team!"
What looked easy from a distance was hard work on the water. Strong winds and rough seas were a huge challenge for the crew. "I am very happy! We were very fast and covered a very nice distance in this race," commented Soldini. "We had a big problem with the centreboard and a rudder, but we kept fighting. I'm so happy to be here in Grenada and I'm so proud of my team. They are very special guys."
This was the fourth RORC Transatlantic Race for "Maserati". Last year, the Multi70 had already prevailed in a photo finish. This year's victory was even better for the 56-year-old skipper from Milan. After more than 40 transatlantic crossings, Soldini believes that this race was one of the best.
First missed the wind, then danced with it ...
Soldini said: "We made a mistake at the beginning when we were looking for thermal winds in the Canary Islands. We probably missed it by half an hour. After that we did a really good job if you look at our course. We held onto the turns well and came out of every manoeuvre with a good angle."
The two German boats were well in the running on Saturday evening. Stefan Jentzsch's IRC 56 "Black Pearl" was fifth after almost 1,900 nautical miles and still had around 1,200 nautical miles to go to the finish line off Grenada. Henri de Bokay's Elliott 52 "Rafale" was eighth in the field of 20 transatlantic challengers after 1,300 nautical miles to the finish.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
