Small boat race

Polaris 33 takes handicap honours in Giraglia Rolex Cup

In 1997 Camillo Capozzi sailed his ageing Polaris 33 Ala Bianca to victory in the offshore race of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. Nine years later, sailing with the same boat and much of the same crew, Capozzi has repeated that performance and upstaged the newer, professionally-crewed boats entered in the 197 strong fleet.

There is nothing particularly special about Ala Bianca, a Ron Holland design built in the early 1980s, but Capozzi and his five crew have sailed together for years. They may not be professional, but their approach to the race is professional and their understanding of each other is complete. Capozzi could not contain his delight. "A win is always fantastic, but to win the Giraglia Race two times, nine years later, with the same boat. I don't know what to say. Fantastic is not enough, it is more than a dream!"

Of course, as with every offshore race, the wind played a big part in the outcome. Adelaide Giromella, who sailed with Capozzi on both winning occasions, said the wind had worked in favour of the smaller boats in the fleet. "It was good for us," she said. "We found no wind near the Giraglia Rock. But after Giraglia we had good southerly wind which took us to the finish in Genoa. The big boats found no wind at Giraglia and no wind in front of Genoa. They had to stop more times than we did."

Sometimes referred to as the Fastnet Race of the Mediterranean, the outcome of this year's Giraglia Rolex Cup bears many similarities to last year's Rolex Fastnet Race. There the New Zealand maxi, the rotating masted, canting keeled, hydraulically powered Maximus took line honours by a country mile in a frustratingly light-wind race through the English Channel and Irish Sea. With the rest of the fleet still stranded in no wind, it looked as though Maximus would win on handicap as well as line honours, until a new breeze brought the smaller boats surfing back towards Plymouth at high speed. A 30-year-old French 33-footer Iromiguy stole Maximus's thunder and won the race on corrected time.

This year Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, another hi-tech maxi from the Antipodes, dominated the race for line honours although the New Zealand owner never really expected to feature in the race for handicap victory. None of the big boats even got a sniff of victory this year, with the first boat over 60 feet being the 65ft maxi Edimetra in 21st place. Alfa Romeo was 91st.

When Ala Bianca sailed across the finish line just before 0930 hours this morning, it seemed unlikely any of the remaining yachts could catch her on corrected time. So it proved, with the 33-footer winning by just under 20 minutes on IMS corrected time from the 41-footer Aurora. Almost an hour behind Aurora on corrected time was the French 35-footer Teshipa XI Team. So this year's 243-mile race from St Tropez really did play into the hands of the small boats.

Adelaide Giromella hopes that one day Ala Bianca might win for a historic third time. "Nine years ago we won against a hundred boats. Today we won against almost 200 boats, and we won with the same boat. It would be wonderful to do it again, but you never know. It's an old boat compared with Alfa Romeo and all these big new boats. It's really special to be the winner in one of the oldest boats, and against so many teams with professionals on board. But we are a good team, and that is one of the most important things for success. There is no way to be successful if there is something wrong between the crew. If you have a good crew who can do many different jobs on the boat, that is very powerful, and even more powerful if you get on as a team. In a way, you always win if you have a good team spirit."

The race from St Tropez to Genoa is a race that tests sailing skill, team work and patience, but Giromella and the Ala Bianca crew plan to return next year, like every year. "The Giraglia Rolex Cup is one of the most beautiful races in the Mediterranean. To go on the Giraglia is a dream. It's one of the oldest races. When you reach the Rock and see the Giraglia, all the efforts you have made seem worthwhile. It's the Giraglia, that's all you need to say."

The prizegiving will take place on Saturday afternoon at the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa, when the winners will be presented with their trophies and Rolex watches. Now in its 54th year, the Giraglia Rolex Cup is established as one of the classic regattas of the Mediterranean. The regatta, sponsored by Rolex for the past nine years, comprises three days' inshore racing in the Bay of St Tropez, and culminates in the 243-mile offshore race via the Giraglia Rock to the Italian port of Genoa.

Overall results of 243-mile Giraglia Race (IMS corrected time)

1 Ala Bianca - Camillo Capozzi (ITA) - Polaris 33 - 21:18:53 (IMS corrected time)
2 Aurora - Berruto/ Bonomo - Canard 41(ITA) - 21:38: 32
3 Teshipa XI Team - Alexis Le Pesteur (FRA) - A-35 - 22:35:04
4 Chestress 2 - Giancarlo Ghislanzoni (ITA) - J-133 - 22:43:31
5 Glen Ellen - Dominique Tian (FRA) - IMX-38 - 22:59:00
6 Synergy - Alexei Nikolaev (RUS) - Grand Soleil 40RC - 23:01:56

Winner line honours - Alfa Romeo (Neville Crichton)

Finishing Time: 1630 hours
Elapsed Time: 27 hours 48 minutes 12 seconds

Overall results of the inshore series in St Tropez

Class 0-1

1 Atalanta II - Carlo Puri Negri (ITA) - Farr 70 IMS Racer - 13 points
2 Edimetra VI - Ernesto Gismondi (ITA) - 65-foot Maxi - 18 points
3 Brave - George Vasilopoulos (GRE) - Farr 520 - 28 points

Class 2-5

1 Synergy - Alexei Nikolaev (RUS) - Grand Soleil 40 RC - 7 points
2 Despeinada - Italo Borrini (ITA) - Grand Soleil 40R - 10 points
3 Clean Energy - Alberto Cogni (ITA) - IMX 40 - 11 points