Onorato by a nose

Mascalzone Latino boss ecsatic about Rolex Farr 40 Europeans win

In the end they made winning the Rolex Farr 40 European Championship 2006 look easy, but as Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team approached the dock to the clapping and cheering of their opponents and the blasts from their mother ship's horn, Vincenzo Onorato and his victorious crew knew they had been in fight.

The final day closed the series with two more demanding races in light and shifting conditions where the wind rarely got above 5 knots. Once again there were plenty of opportunities for big gains and just as many chances to slip up.

Adrian Stead felt that this had been toughest racing of the championship: "today was probably the hardest day of the four. Very tricky conditions, quite patchy, and even when you thought you were in front of the opposition they came right back at you and as we saw in the last race TWT got passed us up the last beat. So it was nice that we had a five-point lead going into the last race." Stead praised the crew for their efforts, pointing out that even with a four point lead at the start of racing there was plenty of room for costly mistakes: "we knew that everyone would have to work a bit harder today [because] there were plenty of snakes and ladders out there. It was very easy to get yourself back down in the pack. But the team sailed really, really well; really fast and the boat handling was excellent -so great performance all round."

As tradition demands, Vincenzo Onorato was thrown into the water on arrival back at the dock and he was joined for a swim by each of his understandably delighted crew. Onorato enthused about the victory: "I feel great. This has been a great European Championship with the best sailors in the world here, [particularly] the Alinghi crew, which is by far away the number one crew in the world. So winning here is again a great victory for Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team."

Mascalzone Latino's performances so far this year must put the fear of God into the opposition. As Onorato acknowledges, "it has been a great season - we won in Key West, we won the [European Farr 40] circuit and we won the Team World Championship [Sardinia Rolex Cup] in Sardinia so we are quite happy." But he is not to be drawn on chances for the forthcoming Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, responding to the question with a laugh, "I come from the south of Italy, from Naples, and I am quite superstitious so I don't want to say anything about that!"

Mascalzone's overall success overshadowed an excellent performance today by Calvi Game On, which scored two emphatic bullets. For much of the week, Carlo Alberini and crew have struggled among the back markers with only a third yesterday to lift their spirits. Today was a different matter for Alberini: "I am happy because we finally found the formula. A fast boat, the right tactics and all went well. It is a great satisfaction to beat Vincenzo and also Bertarelli who both belong to the best worldwide." Of his performance this week, Alberini was keen to compliment his tactician, "I am very happy with our tactician, Matteo Ivaldi, who is one of the best. We just could not find the right set up before. Finally today it worked and all becomes very easy; this is wonderful." And just the right way to end the season in the Mediterranean, before heading off to the Worlds in Newport in September, "Yes, to have won this two last races gives us a lot of satisfaction and is of course motivating us to do hopefully the best we are able to in America".

TWT did not give up at any point, least of all today. Carrying a four point deficit into the final day proved too much in this strong fleet and Marco Rodolfi was typically gracious in defeat: "We enjoyed the week, we prefer a little more wind like everybody but it was a good championship, with very strong people and strong boats. Today was difficult. Four points is a lot and we lose a race and we won a race against Mascalzone, but in the end we remain in second with four points the difference like yesterday. They sailed very well and while yesterday there may be some luck, today they won in a very good way. "

Principal Race Officer for the Club Maretimo de Mahon, Pedro Palay Artigues, had said he would do his best to get a full eleven races completed and so he did, setting two more 6.5 nautical mile courses. The breeze settled earlier today from the north-northeast and the first race was underway at noon, with the fleet beating into an awkward swell and chop that only added to the difficulty of the conditions.

Race ten saw the sixth out of the nine boats post a win, as outgoing European Class President, Carlo Alberini, and his crew on Game On got everything spot on. Heading way left at the start, Alberini and tactician Matteo Ivaldi took advantage of the private battle between Mascalzone and TWT to secure a comfortable lead on the first beat ahead of Cannonball and Fiamma. Meanwhile, Alinghi was having a shocker eventually finishing plum last after failing to make up for a poor first beat. Another beneficiary of the overall regatta leaders' distraction was Enfant Terrible, who quietly slipped into second in the final beat, finishing the race 14 seconds behind Game On.

In the final race of the series, Carlo Alberini - clearly inspired by his success in race ten - seized the early initiative following a perfect pin end start. TWT and Mascalzone came together more than once on the first beat and, with TWT having to put boats between the two of them, the pressure was on Marco Rodolfi. Tactician Tiziano Nava did his utmost, but despite getting in front of Onorato on the last beat it was too little too late. Alinghi showed her true colours with a solid second behind Game On, while Enfant Terrible did enough to secure her third place overall in the championship by finishing fifth. Gian Luigi Serena was duly ecstatic with his final Championship position and back on the dock joined in the celebrations liberally spraying champagne and cava over anyone in range; a fitting end to a top class series.

At the prize giving ceremony held this afternoon at the Club Maretimo de Mahon, Vincenzo Onorato was rewarded for his team's victory with a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Steel and the European Farr 40 Championship Trophy.

Overall results:

Pos/Boat/Owner//R1/R2/R3/R4/R5/R6/R7/R8/R9/R10/R11/Total
1/ Mascalzone Latino/Vincenzo Onorato/ 3.00/2.00/2.00/4.00/3.00/5.00/2.00/2.00/1.00/4.00/4.00/32.00
2/ TWT/Marco Rodolfi/ 1.00/1.00/4.00/5.00/1.00/3.00/6.00/3.00/4.00/5.00/3.00/36.00
3/ Enfant Terrible/ Gianluigi Serena / 5.00/5.00/1.00/3.00/4.00/4.00/5.00/1.00/5.00/2.00/5.00/40.00
4/ Alinghi/Ernesto Bertarelli/ 2.00/3.00/3.00/2.00/2.00/2.00/8.00/7.00/3.00/9.00/2.00/44.00
5/Fiamma/Alessandro Barnaba/ 4.00/4.00/5.00/1.00/6.00/8.00/1.00/5.00/7.00/3.00/6.00/50.00
6/Cannon Ball/Dario Ferrari/ 8.00/7.00/7.00/8.00/7.00/1.00/7.00/4.00/2.00/6.00/7.00/64.00
7/ Calvi Game On/Carlo Alberini/ 6.00/6.00/9.00/7.00/8.00/9.00/3.00/9.00/6.00/1.00/1.00/65.00
8/ Mukka Express/Manifredo Toninelli/ 9.00/8.00/8.00/6.00/5.00/6.00/9.00/8.00/8.00/7.00/8.00/81.00
9/ La Marachella/Sandro Pantaleo/ 7.00/9.00/6.00/9.00/10.00/4.00/6.00/9.00/8.00/9.00/84.00