Winners announced at Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2008

Porto Cervo, Italy. 6th September 2008. The 19th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, concluded today with the announcement of the winners based on yesterday’s overall results. The Race Committee and the forty competing Maxi yachts waited and prayed to the wind Gods on the waters off Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda until 13.45, but the light and shifty breezes failed to reach more than an average of 2 knots of intensity and PRO Peter Craig was forced to abandon racing for the day.

Overall victory therefore went to George David’s Rambler (USA), Ernesto Bertarelli’s Numbers(SUI), Ranger (CAY ISL) and Lindsay Owen Jones’ Magic Carpet2 (GBR) in the Racing, Mini Maxi, Cruising and Wally divisions respectively.

With Rambler and Alfa Romeo 3 the only competitors in the Racing division, the four days saw a constant leapfrogging between the two with the last to win taking control of the overall classification. Alfa Romeo owner Neville Crichton had confided in today’s race as his last chance to seize victory but instead saw Rambler, with America’s Cup strategist Ray Davies on board, take the top spot.

“The team feels great, the guys sailed pretty well, we had a bit of luck there were a couple of breakdowns on the big Alfa” affirmed Davies “and that really was in our favour obviously and that was a couple of lucky breaks, but aside from the lucky breaks the team sailed really well all week and on behalf of George, he’s really proud of the guys and it was a really fun week.

Porto Cervo is a fantastic venue, you can’t beat it – the absolute top-notch level venue. Racing around those islands, and up through bomb alley, and all of those boats. we started in the back of the fleet and had to sail through the J-boats and Wally’s – it was probably the highlight of the week, it’s just a sensational venue.”

“It has been a really fun event for me.” Commented Crichton. “It’s a shame that we had a technical problem with the motor yesterday which prevented us from exploiting the boat’s full potential. It’s also a pity we didn’t have a chance to catch up on Rambler today but that’s the way it goes. I am really pleased with the new Alfa Romeo 3 in the Mini Maxi division however. Only 15 days after being launched she showed that she is a very fast boat and one which will be very competitive next year.”

While Alfa Romeo 3 came in fourth in the Mini Maxi division it was Bertarelli’s Numbers, whose crew included Ed Baird, Brad Butterworth and most of the America’s Cup-winning Alinghi team, that dominated from the beginning and finished with a five point delta over second placed Rosebud/Team DYT (USA), owned by Roger Sturgeon. Jim Swartz’s Moneypenny (USA), with America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Paul Cayard aboard, took third place.

“Having one day in the week like this is not a problem after the days we’ve had.” Commented Bertarelli on today’s cancellation. “ It’s a shame it’s the last day because some classes still had some close racing that needed to be resolved but overall it has been a fantastic week of sailing, no question about it.”

He was suitably pleased with the performance of the crew and the boat: “It’s a crew that works like a Swiss watch so it’s on time in the manoeuvres and the trimming is precise. It’s fun. We are very proud of the design of the boat, Rolf (Vrolijk) is our head designer for Alinghi and a lot of the things we learned with Alinghi in the last America’s Cup have been introduced on this boat and the results show on the water. We were out to have some fun and we had great racing with very strong winds the previous few days so overall no regrets, fantastic sailing, a good result – I can’t ask for anything more!”
The J Class Ranger, a reproduction of the classic 1937-launched yacht of the same name, stormed to victory in the Cruising class with a clean run of bullets and an eleven point advantage over second-placed Hetairos (GER). Velsheda (GBR), the other competing J Class, took third place.

In the Wally class, which had eight competing yachts, L’Oreal President Lindsay Owen-Jones took first place with his Magic Carpet 2 (GBR) ahead of Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling X (GBR) and Thomas Bscher’s Open Season (GER). The final overall classification shows just how close competition was in this division with only two points separating the top four boats.

Each of the division winners was presented with a trophy and a Rolex Yachtmaster Timepiece at the prize giving ceremony attended by YCCS President His Highness the Aga Khan and Rolex CEO Patrick Heiniger.

Top-class racing continues at the YCCS next week with the Rolex Swan Cup in program from 8th to 14th September.

For further information on the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the entire YCCS sporting season please visit www.yccs.it or www.regattanews.com .


Fleet photo, credits Kurt Arrigo/Rolex. Photo Rambler, credits Daniel Forster/Rolex

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS Place Boat Name Owner Nation, R1-R2-R3-R4-R5-Points

Racing
1. RAMBLER George David USA, 2-1-2-1-6.0
2. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1-2-1-2-6.0

Cruising
1. RANGER, RSV Ltd USA, 1-1-1-1-4.0
2. HETAIROS, Rockport Limited GER, 4-4-4-3-15.0
3. VELSHEDA, Tarbat Inv Ltd GBR, 3-2-12(DNF)-2-19.0

Mini Maxi
1. NUMBERS, Meyers/Bertarelli USA, 1-1-(2)-1-1-4.0
2. ROSEBUD/TEAM DYT, Roger Sturgeon USA, 3-3-1-2-(5)-9.0
3. MONEYPENNY, Jim Swartz USA, 2-(5)-3-3-2-10.0

Wally
1. MAGIC CARPET 2, Lindsay Owen-Jones GBR, 1-4-4-2-11.0
2. HIGHLAND FLING X, Irvine Laidlaw GBR, 2-6-3-1-12.0
3. OPEN SEASON, Thomas Bscher GER, 6-1-2-4-13.0

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