News from Costa Smeralda

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Porto Cervo, 9th September 2006. The fifth and final day of racing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, brought sunshine and slightly stronger breezes which accompanied the 46 competing maxi yachts on courses off the Costa Smeralda. Today brought to an end a week of light winds which made racing technical and demanding for these giants of the sailing world.

The Spirit of Tradition class saw the Cayman Isand’s Hetairos, with three firsts in five races, take first place overall. C.E. Van Asbeck’s Annagine (Ned) and George Lindemann’s Adela (Usa). The Racing division, which had seen hard-fought battles between Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo (Nzl) and Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats (Aus) with Wild Oats tending to take line honours while Alfa Romeo took handicap honours, saw New Zealand’s Alfa Romeo take the overall victory five points ahead of Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory (Ger) in second place and Wild Oats in third.

Rolex Swan Cup

Four winners of the Rolex Swan Cup, from four nations. DSK wins battle of the Swan 45s and Moneypenny takes Swan 601 title, while Aqua Equinox tops the Grand Prix division and Jacobite the Classic division.

September 17^th, 2006 - PortoCervo, Italy. The hard-fought quest for overall honours in the 14th Rolex Swan Cup, organised by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, ended with a testing day of racing. With the legendary northwesterly Mistral gusting up to 30 knots and heavy seas outside the islands, the 99 entries tackled a 17-mile coastal course.

Moneypenny (USA) won on a tie-break in the Swan 601 fleet, while Italy’s DSK Comifin was able to fend off a strong US contingent among the Swan 45s. Aqua Equinox (BEL) took overall honours on handicap in the Grand Prix division (21 entries) and Jacobite (GBR) came first among the Classic division (45 entries).