AUSSIE YACHT ALFA ROMEO DOMINATES MAXI WORLD CUP WITH LINE HONOURS AND HANDICAP WINS, AS WELL AS SERIES VICTORY

There was no stopping Australian super maxi, Alfa Romeo, in the 2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup which finished at the weekend (13 September 2003) after five days hard competition saw Neville Crichton’s Australian-made yacht and her Australian and New Zealand crew confirm their position as the world’s fastest team under sail.

Alfa Romeo, which is being sponsored by the Italian car maker for five of the world’s largest yachting regattas, continued her winning ways which started with the 2002 Rolex Sydney to Hobart, continued with a record-breaking win in the Giraglia Rolex Cup and victory in the Fastnet Race in August.

At the Maxi World Cup, which was held in Sardina, Alfa Romeo took line honours and third place on corrected time on Day One; Day Two saw Alfa Romeo take both line honours and the handicap win on the toughest sailing of the event; Day Three saw another win and a second place after a spinnaker blew out; Day Four and it was yet another line hours and handicap win for Alfa Romeo; The Final day saw no change: Another Line hours and handicap win for Alfa Romeo.

“The Maxi World Cup has been the best racing we’ve had so far in Europe,” said Neville Crichton. “We had some of the strongest winds of the season, the demanding conditions lived up to their reputation and we were up against the toughest competition in the world. But despite this, other than one spinnaker blow-out, everything went to plan and once again we were able to prove that Alfa Romeo and her crew are the fastest in the world.”

2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Day One

On the button of noon the start sequence commenced for the 2003 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. Organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda the thirty four-boat fleet was sent on the longest course available to the race committee, and in the fresh conditions quick work was made of the 40-mile distance.
Divided into three groups on the water, the fresh 20-25 knot North Westerly winds gave exciting conditions for this most impressive fleet of boats. The first start saw the IMS and IRC race machines line up in the one metre swell and head off upwind to be followed just 10 minutes later by the eleven boats of the Wally Class.


The first two groups were sent on the same course which meant a 20 mile upwind leg through the inside passage of the Maddalena Archipelago, one of the most spectacular race courses anywhere in the world. As the fleet of Maxi yachts short-tacked upwind through the narrow gaps between Palau, Santo Stefano and Spargi Islands, navigators on board were wary of the hazards along the rocky coastlines and the traps that are easy to fall into. With a wind driven current running against the fleet, the shores were the favoured place to be and with the harsh gusts of wind blowing straight over the hilly islands, sail trimmers and helmsman had to be on their guard.
Marking the southern most tip of Corsica is a rocky outcrop called Lavezzi, and the navigation buoy positioned over the top became the half way point and the turn for home. Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo rounded first, two minutes short of two hours after the start and set a running spinnaker at the same time as emptying her water ballast tanks.

Ten minutes later the grey-hulled boat from New Zealand was just a speck on the horizon as the rest of the fleet made there way to the turn. The route back to the finish was outside the islands in rougher water and crews enjoyed some good surfing conditions. Much of the fleet had boat handling problems and several spinnakers were destroyed. What had taken the leader two hours upwind took one hour downwind and the 40 mile course took just three hours to complete

2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Day TWO

In almost carbon copy conditions of the first day, the 34-boat fleet at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup again enjoyed fresh 20-28 knot winds amid blistering scenery. Day Two used the full scope of the possible race course area sending the fleet on a 30-miler up and down the notorious ‘Bomb Alley’. Fleet line honours were taken in style by Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo who also managed to win the IRC Class on corrected time.
The fresh winds blowing across the top of Sardinia yielded flat water and the slightly more Westerly direction gave the left hand side of the course a distinct advantage for the first section. Many of the fleet realised the conditions would require a more seamanlike rig than yesterday and opted for reefs and small headsails.
For the first start with the IMS and IRC boats, it was Carlo Perrone’s Virtuelle with Thierry Pepponnet on tactics that won the pin end of the line whilst Idea was in control from the committee boat end.

The 30-mile course took the combined fleets upwind through the Bisce Straights, across the Gulf of Saline, past the island of Santo Stefano, leaving Spargi Island to starboard before returning to the finish down the same track. Commonly known as ‘Bomb Alley’ by the crews on board due to the narrow twisting nature of the track, winds are usually oriented down the ‘alley’ yielding a shifty beat on the way up and a gusty reach and run on the way down as the geography, hills and squalls affect the fresh winds hitting the immense sail plans of the Rolex Maxi fleet.

2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Day Three

The third day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Sardinia again yielded perfect sailing conditions. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda regatta committee split the main fleets across a coastal race for the Wally Class and two windward leeward courses for the IMS and IRC Classes. The day was marked by a start line collision in the second race between the Argentinean Alexia and the British yacht Leopard, resulting in serious mast damage on the former. Both yachts retired.
The shifty North Westerly wind made for a tactical day on the water especially for the IMS and IRC Classes on the 2.5 mile windward-leeward course. Random shifts of as much as 25 degrees keep tacticians on their toes. With such a spread of size of boats and such a short start line, the toughest job for most boats was to find a position on the line where they wouldn’t be affected by faster boats straight away.

The day belonged to Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo that revelled in the fresh winds and flat water, posting a 2nd and a 1st in spite of blowing out a spinnaker in the first race.

2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Day Four

The penultimate day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup featured light winds that never went above seven knots all day, often staying down as low as three. Organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda the 34 boat fleet were sent on a 30-mile course visiting the bays, rocks and islands to the South of Porto Cervo.

First home again was Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo, managing to win on handicap for the third time in a row in the IRC Class. In the IMS Class Raffaele Raiola’s Idea SAI had a close race with John Kahlbetzer’s Bumblebee 5, whereas in the Wally Class Luca Bassani’s Wallyño won by a staggering 38 minutes on corrected time.
With a light thermal breeze from the East today the committee decided to set a weather mark and send the entire fleet Southwards to the island of Soffi before diving deep into a turn mark in the Cala di Volpe, just offshore from a hotel by the same name where Rolex had received the owners and media for dinner the night before. From here the course took the fleet back out to Mortoriotto Rock before turning for home.
The light winds that plagued the fleet all day let one type of boat and then another gain the upper hand depending on the point of sail and the actual wind speed. Alfa Romeo and some of the Wallys sailed well upwind when the wind was over 5 knots but lost out to the likes of Idea SAI and some of the others with overlapping headsails when the wind dropped below this speed. On the reaching and downwind legs, the boats equipped with masthead asymmetric sails always had the edge.
Idea SAI had a new rival to deal with today. What had been a two boat race between Idea SAI and Alberto Roemmers’ Alexia for the championship ended with the retirement from the regatta two days ago when Alexia broke its topmast in a start line collision with Leopard. Idea SAI has all but won the championship now, needing to just finish tomorrow’s race if Bumblebee wins.

2003 World Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: Day Five

The Race Committee sent the entire fleet on an ambitious 26-mile coastal race, the decision turned out to be a smart one as the day progressed and the wind slowly increased. A short two mile beat to a weather mark in a light 4-knot breeze with plenty of left over sea gave the IMS boats with big overlapping genoas the kind of conditions they needed to overwhelm their sisters with non-overlapping headsails.

The giant Alfa Romeo rounded the first mark first after just 17 minutes but hot on her heels was the pale blue Italian Maxi Idea SAI. A headsail reach to the island of Monacci saw another set of headsail choices appear on the leading two boats, Alfa Romeo with a jib top arrangement, Idea SAI with a high clewed reacher. At Monacci the course took the fleet straight downwind past Caprera Island and deep into the bay to round a leeward mark. With the thermal breeze slowly building the smaller boats were able to sail a more direct route to the bottom mark, something that kept the low rating Wallyño competitive in the Wally Class.
The upwind leg from this leeward mark took the fleet past Isola delle Bisce and then on two long two-sail reaching legs, first to the Mortoriotto Rock and then to the finish, via the rocky outcrop at the Eastern end of Pevero Bay. Crichton’s Alfa Romeo collected line honours again just two and a half hours after the start with his extra fast boat managing to win on handicap again and comfortably lift the IRC Class overall from Carlo Perrone’s Virtuelle, who again finished second today in class.

Results: IRC Class
Place Boat Type Owner Race 1,2,3+4,5,6/TP
1st Alfa Romeo Reichel/Pugh 90 Neville Crichton (3),1,1,1,1/4
2nd Virtuelle Proto C/R Carlo Perrone 1,(3),1,3,2/7
3rd Unfurled Frers 112 Harry Macklowe 2,2,3,(5),3/10

(ends)

Details of Alfa Romeo and high resolution pictures may be found at www.alfaromeo.com.au/shockwave

For further information

Neville Crichton Edward Rowe

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