
Photo : S.Palfrader / Sea&See.it
Giraglia Rolex Cup
My Song wins the third coastal race
mercredi 19 juin 2002 –
The third coastal race of the fiftieth edition of the Giraglia Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Italiano, in collaboration with the Yacht Club de France and the Societè Nautique de St. Tropez, in partnership with Rolex departed at 11:30 this morning.
Once again, a light east-north east wind of just over 5 knots prevailed. And for the third consecutive day, Idea owned by Raffaele Raiola and Pigi Loro Piana‚s My Song fought it out neck and neck for the first positions. Today however, the king of cachemire‚s boat, My Song, got the better of his opponent and was first to cross the finishing line.
Bugia Bianca, owned by genoese businessman Massimo Dentice and which already has the Trofeo Zegna victory to her name, followed swiftly behind.
Overall winner of the third coastal race after handicaps is My Song, second Idea, third Bugia Bianca.
Overall winner after three coastal rounds (17, 18, 19 June) is Sottovoce owned by Arien Van Vemde, second Raffaele Raiola‚s Idea third My Song owned by Pigi Loro Piana, fourth Aldo Fozzati’s La Forza del Destino, fifth Bugia Bianca. Sottovoce wins a Rolex Submariner watch.
The pricegiving cerimony will take place this evening during a huge party being organized by Rolex at La Citadelle, and will be attended by the crews, owners and VIP’s who will be gathering in St. Tropez especially for the occasion.
In the meantime, the last boat that will be participating in the long race (243 nm) are arriving in the little port of St. Tropez. The departure is set for tomorrow midday and will cover the St. Tropez - Island of Levante -Giraglia rock - Genoa circuit.
An imposing fleet of 195 boats will be at the starting line tomorrow morning - a record for the Giraglia Rolex Cup. The weather forecasts are predicting a west-south wind of 5 to 15 knots and a calm sea. It will be virtually impossible to beat the record set by Riviera di Rimini in 1998 of 24 hours, 21 minutes and 47 second with an average speed of around 10 knots.