Winner out of the box

Talisman picks up first race of Rolex IMS Offshore World Championship in Capri

The US entry, Marco Birch's Talisman with Terry Hutchinson as helmsman, crossed the finish line of the IMS Worlds Offshore race at 11pm (local time) on Tuesday, 18 May but it would take until the rest of the 66-boat fleet straggled in through the pre-dawn hours to confirm their win overall and in the 'non-corinthian' division of the regatta. Italtel - Meridiana with Vasco Vascotto at the helm was second, followed by Gabrielle Benussi on X-Prozac.

The 80-mile Offshore Race was scored as two separate races: the first the triangle Capri-Naples-Procida-Capri, the second as an overall race including the additional two legs: Capri-Procida-Capri. The first 'race' was won by Italtel with Talisman second, and Twin Soul with America's Cup helmsman Paolo Cian as skipper, third.

The overall race was won by Talisman with X-Prozac second, and Italtel third.

In the Corinthian division, 1st, 2nd, 3rd were: Tsunami (Alberto Bolzan, skipper), Cherokee (Matteo Savelli, skipper), and Naos (Pietro Fiammenghi, skipper).

At the race start, the wind was 8-10 knots from the northeast, but as the fleet headed up the first beat, the breeze dropped. For the frontrunners, the westerly sea breeze filled in late in the afternoon at up to 20 knots, though by the last leg to the finish, it was dying yet again. For the smaller boats in the fleet the breeze was more elusive, and at times they were completely becalmed - the last boat finished around 10:00am (local time) this morning.

For Talisman, the boat was in the right place at the right time. Terry Hutchinson commented, "We were lucky in some ways, but Peter (Isler, navigator) and Adrian (Stead, tactician) did an awesome job keeping us in the pressure. The red boat (X-Prozac) is pretty fast, but we stretched on them all the time." Talisman, a Botin & Carkeek designed 58 fotter was launched just last month and the crew have trained for only four hours prior to the start of the regatta. "Our biggest strength is our crew - owner/skipper Marco Birch put together a great group of professionals," continued Hutchinson.

More photos on the following pages...

Top 50 results

Pos	Sail nr.	Yacht	Skipper	Type	Elapsed	Corr. Time	Pnts
1	ITA2010	MERIDIANA-ITALTEL	Vasco Vascotto	GRAND SOLEIL 42 R	07:37:21	00:00:00	0.75
2	USA482	TALISMAN	Terry Hutchinson	B/C 58'	06:31:30	00:02:13	2
3	ITA14310	TWIN SOUL 4	Paolo Cian	GRAND SOLEIL 44	07:40:47	00:10:09	3
4	ITA14500	TSUNAMI	Alberto Bolzan	CANARD 41 MKII	07:53:05	00:10:16	4
5	ITA121	X-PROZAC	Gabriele Benussi	GRAND SOLEIL 56 R	06:44:01	00:11:53	5
6	ESP6446	SIXTY GROUP	Giorgio Goldoni	RODMAN 42	07:48:12	00:12:29	6
7	NOR9990	FRAM XV	Christoffer Spone	FARR 50	06:57:08	00:14:49	7
8	ITA1155	RAIFFEISEN C.M.	Lorenzo Bressani	GRAND SOLEIL 42 R	08:00:10	00:20:12	8
9	ITA14351	SEAWONDER	Mauro Pelaschier	MC 46	07:24:16	00:21:34	9
10	ITA2121	CHEROKEE	Matteo Savelli	FARR 51	07:13:15	00:28:13	10
11	SUI1957	NEAR MISS	Thierry Peponnet	GRAND SOLEIL 42 R	08:06:21	00:28:46	11
12	ITA2110	MAN	Matteo Ivaldi	GRAND SOLEIL 42 R	08:08:30	00:30:46	12
13	ITA2452	NAOS	Pietro Fiammenghi	GRAND SOLEIL 40 R	08:25:42	00:33:37	13
14	ESP7010	BRIBON TELEFONICA	Pedro Campos	EVENTO 46	07:55:22	00:37:14	14
15	ITA808	SEI UNA DIVA	Fernando Battistella	GRAND SOLEIL 44 M	08:13:12	00:40:34	15
16	ITA13388	SEXY	Carlo Varelli	X-332	09:13:51	00:42:02	16
17	GBR9741R	SILK 2	Filippo Masci	BH 41	08:05:29	00:42:16	17
18	ITA6326	TEAM REVOLUTION	Manfredo Toninelli	SINERGIA 40	08:24:37	00:44:02	18
19	ITA14114	SLY FOX	Stefano Colabucci	X-332 SPORT	09:05:44	00:46:01	19
20	ITA14535	MORGAN	Sandro Montefusco	FIRST 44.7	08:15:34	00:46:38	20
21	ITA14999	CITTA DI JESOLO	Bruno Fezzardi	VROLIJK 37	08:58:08	00:49:23	21
22	CRO431	AA	Darko Priznic	IMX 45	08:13:29	00:56:26	22
23	ITA13631	DON ALVARO	Francesco Siculiana	X-362 SPORT	09:08:02	00:57:12	23
24	ITA13474	POLYANN	Riccardo Antonio	FIRST 40.7	08:53:11	00:59:10	24
25	GER5222	WESTWIND	Kaivon Berg	FIRST 36.7	09:10:03	01:00:04	25
26	ITA14367	DI MARE TEC.IMP. VAIMO'	Sandro Cuomo	FIRST 36.7 MOD.	09:10:43	01:00:16	26
27	ITA15109	SAGOLA	Fausto Pierobon	J-109 MOD.	09:09:49	01:00:55	27
28	ITA14140	VAHINE' 5	Daniela Diana	GRAND SOLEIL 40 R	08:54:23	01:01:27	28
29	ITA14204	SWING 2	Paolo Leonardi	GRAND SOLEIL 40 R	08:54:53	01:01:43	29
30	ITA13555	ATAME A VITTORIA	Alfredo Galassi	X-362 SPORT	09:13:24	01:01:44	30
31	ITA329	DR.FAUSTROLL	Maria Quarra	GRAND SOLEIL 44	08:31:25	01:02:43	31
32	ITA13999	MON AMI	Andrea Fornaro	VISMARA 40	08:48:30	01:02:54	32
33	ITA14039	BIZZOSA-SUR	Stefano Bettarini	FIRST 36.7 MOD.	09:17:53	01:03:44	33
34	ITA14537	SQUALO BIANCO 2	Andrea Boscolo	VROLIJK 37	09:11:08	01:05:47	34
35	ITA13957	BONHEUR	Vincenzo Merlini	FIRST 36.7	09:19:37	01:05:51	35
36	ITA14034	LE COQ HARDI	Raimondo Cappa	FIRST 36.7 MOD.	09:17:54	01:06:22	36
37	ITA14085	L'ISOLA	Peppe Morani	FIRST 36.7	09:18:11	01:07:12	37
38	ITA14177	CRI CRI 2	Antonio Niccoli	X-332 SPORT	09:26:42	01:07:46	38
39	ITA13882	MAMMY THE BEST IV	Ubaldo Sgherri	GRAND SOLEIL 40 C	09:12:10	01:09:31	39
40	URU2004	MEMO MEMULINI	Riccardo Fabini	GRAND SOLEIL 42 R	08:49:03	01:10:56	40
41	ITA14040	IL PIFFERAIO MAGICO	Piero Mortari	GRAND SOLEIL 40 R	09:02:48	01:11:34	41
42	ESP7227	FORUM FILATELICO	Gonzalo Araujo	IMS 42'	08:51:39	01:13:55	42
43	ITA14061	ATHYRIS CUBE	Sergio Taccheo	GRAND SOLEIL 40 R	09:06:21	01:14:11	43
44	ITA14560	AUM AUM	Mario Di Vincenzo	FIRST 36.7 MOD.	09:27:59	01:14:36	44
45	ITA235	WORLD CARGO QQ8	Riccardo Simoneschi	EVENTO 46	08:34:45	01:15:00	45
46	ITA14275	MARE A VELA	Francesco Cappellani	FIRST 36.7	09:28:22	01:15:22	46
47	ITA13921	SQUALO BIANCO	Giacomo dell'Aria	FIRST 40.7	09:10:02	01:15:52	47
48	ITA2020	SKY	Stefano Martini	CANARD 42 MARTINI	08:54:40	01:16:15	48
49	ITA12960	QUERIDA	Francesco Graziani	VISMARA 40'	08:54:54	01:16:52	49
50	ITA13235	XANTO 2	Gianluca Barone	X-332	09:47:40	01:18:56	50