Sailing around the Giraglia rock in the north of Corsica has been organised since 1953. The start is now off Saint-Tropez and the finish off Genoa. This year, the race organisers changed the course due to military exercises taking place in the west, which meant that 241 instead of 243 miles had to be completed. In addition, forecast winds of 35 to 40 knots meant that many teams in the maxis, which are designed more for offshore racing, decided not to take part in the offshore final. In the end, over 100 boats crossed the line, still in light winds. After a few nautical miles, the 100-footer "ARCA SGR" had to give up with hydraulic problems.
The "My Song" from new event sponsor Pier Luigi Loro Piana set off on the open triangular course. Tacticians on the ClubSwan 80 was Tommaso Chieffi, who reported a break: "We were heading for the Giraglia rock in 30 knots of wind and debated whether we should jibe or tack. Or put in a second reef, which didn't happen. When we were about a minute beyond the layline, we jibed. The code was stuck on the windward side of the forestay and we tore the main over the leech - the boom vang was loose and the old backstay was still attached. A lot of things should have gone differently. But you only know afterwards." In consultation with the owner, who was also steering, the decision was made to continue sailing. This resulted in challenges for the foredeck crew, who could no longer rely on the mainsail cover when changing sails.
"My Song" finishes in second place despite torn large
"My Song" crossed the finish line just under four hours behind "Black Jack 100". The 100-footer reported gusts of 37 knots and, with a sailed time of 15 hours 11 minutes 43 seconds, missed the record set in 2012 by just 15 minutes. Several boats reached record speeds on the reach course to the Giraglia Rock. For "Black Jack 100", which was built for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the conditions were not unusual, nor were her top speeds of 28 to 30 knots. "It went really well - we always try to match the wind speed with our boat speed until it's around 40 knots," said skipper Mark Bradford. "There was some swell, but everyone is invited to come to the Sydney Hobart Race to experience real swell!"
The TP52 "Red Bandit" from the Bayerischer Yacht-Club made it to Genoa in sixth place, finishing within two minutes of three other boats. Carl-Peter Forster logged a whopping 26 knots with his young crew, most of whom are between 19 and 31 years old. Forster's impressions: "It's a race boat, but it felt a bit like a submarine. Everyone was really wet. Sailing through the night was fabulous." Calculated, "Red Bandit" was 15th out of 62 starters and finished the Inshore Races in IRC 1 in fourth place. In the combined ranking with the offshore part, the TP 52 from 2008 even finished in third place.
Eric Tabarly's nephew won long distance calculated
The overall winner of the Giraglia endurance race is the fastest driver in the largest group, in this case IRC, according to corrected time. "Lann Ael 3", a prototype of the NM35, was the front runner. Sam Manuard and Bernard Nivelt designed the eleven metre long offshore racer for handling with a small crew. Didier Gaudoux and co-skipper Erwan Tabarly - the son of Eric Tabarly's brother Patrick - covered the 241 miles from Saint-Tropez-Giraglia-Genoa in 24 hours, 49 minutes and 17 seconds.
The Loro Piana Giraglia was organised by the Yacht Club Italiano in collaboration with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. The long-distance race was preceded by a four-day inshore series with up to 20 knots of wind and courses of 22 to 30 miles. The races were organised in the Maxi A and B classes as well as in two IRC and two ORC groups. The Wallycentos "Magic Carpet Cubed", "Galateia", "V" and the Wally 93 "Bullitt" were among the largest maxis. Several mini maxis such as "North Star of London", "Jolt" and the victorious "Jethou" were involved in close races. The 60-foot foiler "Flying Nikka" also shot through the field, but did not compete in the final 241 nautical miles.
