Under starters orders

Yachts ready for Rolex Capri Sailing Week

Capri is the magical setting for a brand new event with Rolex as title sponsor within the Mediterranean sailing circuit, the Rolex Capri Sailing Week.

The event sets off tomorrow, Wednesday May 18 and runs through Saturday May 21. The Rolex Capri Sailing Week - organized by the Yacht Club Capri in conjunction with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, with the support of the Italian Sailing Federation (FIV) and the Unione Vela Altura Italiana (UVAI) - will feature highly competitive one design and handicap racing with both windward/leeward races and one coastal race, for a maximum total of nine races.

The fleet, moored in Capri's Marina Grande, includes the two successful one design classes Farr 40 and Swan 45. The rest of the event will be comprised of various yachts racing under the IMS rule with a limited range of rating (GPH 560-610). For the Farr 40 class, the Rolex Capri Sailing Week will also be the opening act of the Deutsche Bank Farr 40 Sailing Trophy 2005, while for the Swan 45 class, the Rolex Capri Sailing Week is the second event of the Swan 45 Mediterranean Circuit 2005.

Thirty one yachts (9 IMS entries, 16 Farr 40s and 6 Swan 45s) have so far registered to compete in the Rolex Capri Sailing Week, with crews representing Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece and Italy.

Among the Farr 40 class, a boat to watch closely will be the Italian Farr 40 Nerone of Massimo Mezzaroma - with Lorenzo Bressani calling the tactics - winner of the Deutsche Bank Farr 40 Sailing Trophy 2004 and Farr 40 World Champion in 2003. Another tough contestant will be Marco Rodolfi's TWT, who finished third at the 2005 Rolex Farr 40 Worlds. The Greek yacht Atalanti XI, owned by George Andreadis, has Sofia Bekatorou - 2004 and 2002 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year and gold medalist in the 470 class at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games - among its crew members, besides several big wins to its name. Vincenzo Onorato, Chairman of the Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team, challenger for the 32nd America's Cup, will also be on the start line in Capri with his Mascalzone Latino.

Among the Swan 45 class, the competition will be fierce, with entries such as Italian Cuordileone owned by Leonardo Ferragamo, who swept up all three rounds of the Primo Cup last February, inaugural event of the 2005 Swan 45 Class Mediterranean Circuit. Paul Cayard - seven-time world champion and a five time America 's Cup veteran - will be calling the tactics aboard Cuordileone. Mintaka, the Italian yacht who recently won the Italian National Championship Trophy in Portofino with a striking performance, besides having won the Swan 45 Gold Cup held in Capri last October, will be sailing in Capri under the name of Swing 3, having been chartered by Paolo Leonardi.

For the start of tomorrow's coastal race, scheduled at noon, Captain Filippo Petrucci - official meteorologist of the Rolex Capri Sailing Week - predicts moderate southwesterly winds ranging from 15 to 18 knots, shifting to a slightly lighter westerly later in the day. There will be a chance of light rain in the morning, due to a low pressure system moving tonight over the South of Italy, but conditions are set to improve during the day.

The Yacht Club Capri, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Rolex will officially welcome all the competitors tonight, May 17, with a "gastronomic tour" of Anacapri, the second largest town on the island - a little hidden and not as internationally renowned as Capri's bustling "Piazzetta". Starting from tomorrow, at the end of each day spent at sea the competing crews will also be able to unwind and relax with plenty of après sailing refreshments at the Marina Grande.

The closing Rolex Prize Giving Ceremony will take place on Saturday May 21 - daily prizes for each class and Rolex Trophies for the winner of the series in each class will be awarded. The ceremony will be followed by the Rolex Party at the Certosa of San Giacomo, one of the oldest examples of Caprese architecture. The open-air courtyard of the convent will provide a fantastic candlelit setting for an evening spent enjoying the best of the local Caprese food and entertainment.

According to Gianfranco Alberini, Commodore of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, "The Rolex Capri Sailing Week is set to become a prominent feature of the Mediterranean sailing circuit. For many years, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the Yacht Club Capri and Rolex hosted the IMS World Championship in the Gulf of Naples during the second half of May. This year, with the Rolex IMS World Championship being held in July in Menorca, Balearic Islands, we found an opening for an exciting event that could enable the owners and crews to test their skills at the beginning of the racing season. I am sure that many battles fought in the waters off Capri will become a permanent feature of the entire 2005 season."