229 crews registered for the 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar. The name says it all: 151 nautical miles to be conquered. The regatta was launched by Roberto Lacorte, President of the Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa and owner of the 19-metre foiler "FlyingNikka". The early summer middle distance is organised with the support of the Yacht Club Livorno (start port) and Yacht Club Punta Ala (finish port). Lacorte had in mind a technically demanding race for regatta sailors, but one that also appeals to less experienced crews. At the premiere on 20 May 2010, 53 yachts sailed around and through the Tuscan archipelago.
New Miglia route without Giraglia rocks
This year, the race organisers came up with a new course. Instead of rounding the Giraglia Rock off northern Corsica, the route was tighter around the Tuscan Archipelago. This change was well received by the maxi owners, even though the wind died completely on Saturday afternoon and led to a six-hour gap between the arrival of the eighth-placed "Tapioca" and Alois Neukirchen's Mylius 66RS "Schorch".
While the majority of the fleet had to contend with difficult wind conditions, the maxis fought for line honours. Furio Benussi's 100-footer "Arca SGR" was the first yacht to cross the finish line at 06:08 on Saturday morning. With a total time of 15 hours, 31 minutes and 57 seconds, "Arca SGR" beat the course record of "Rambler 88" by almost two hours. "The race was really nice," commented Benussi. "There was a tricky transition between Elba and Formiche, but we reached it in the right mode and got through very quickly. It only went down to 2-3 knots for a few minutes, but we never stopped completely."
The light conditions were also a challenge for Roberto Lacorte's foiler "FlyingNikka". According to project manager and sailmaker Alessio Razeto, the boat only spent eight per cent of the time sailed flying. "It was great fun, but it went up and down with the wind conditions. However, we are continuously improving our displacement mode and there were times when we caught up with ARCA SGR," explained Razeto.
Changeable conditions for the Miglia fleet
In the twelve-strong Maxi class (IRC over 60 feet), Guido Paolo Gamucci's "Cippa Lippa X" finally claimed its first major victory after a season full of second places. At 10:12 on Saturday morning, the Mylius 60 crossed the finish line of the 151 Miglia Trofeo Cetilar with Canting Keel. For Gamucci, whose home club is the co-organising Yacht Club Punta Ala, it was a particularly emotional triumph in front of a home crowd. The road to victory was anything but easy for "Cippa Lippa X". After the start of the Maxi class off Livorno at 14:05 on Friday, she initially fought a close race with Roberto Lacorte's "FlyingNikka", Marco Malgara's RP78 "Nice" and the defending champion "Atalanta II" of Carlo A. Puri Negri. When the competitors parked off the north-west coast of Elba in the doldrums on Friday evening, "FlyingNikka" was initially able to pull away.
Dramatic race to catch up during the night
The decisive phase of the race took place in the early hours of Saturday morning. Between 01:00 and 03:00, the leading boats rounded the new south-westerly turning mark at Pianosa. Here the race was restarted when the fleet got into a transition zone. When the wind picked up again, "FlyingNikka" was able to pull away again, while "Nice" and "Cippa Lippa X" fought a thrilling duel to the finish. "It was a pretty easy race with dominant high pressure," explained Michele Regolo, tactician on "Cippa Lippa X" and former Olympic participant in the Laser. "We had a fantastic start and a good first phase. Then we decided to gybe off Elba, which would normally be the end, but we actually found a local breeze." This bold tactical decision was to pay off in the end.
The 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar was the fourth event of the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge 2024-25 and the series will continue on 11 June with the Loro Piana Giraglia offshore race.
