Vascotto nails start

Vertigo leads Swan 45 fleet on first day of Rolex Capri Sailing Week

Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2008 opened on Wednesday with a 33.4 mile coastal course that took all classes on a short beat to windward, followed by a fetch across the Golfo di Napoli from Capri to a mark off the equally glamorous island of Ischia and back again in a fresh south-south westerly, that at times was gusting upwards of twenty knots. The initial beat and subsequent fetch were fairly straightforward. For the tightly bunched Swan 45s and the Comets, though, the trip back offered more options as witnessed by the variety of headsails used on different yachts. To change or not to change that was undoubtedly the question. For the yachts out front the risk was clear, make the wrong choice and risk being overtaken. For those at the back, take a look at what was going on up front and guess accordingly.

The course was scored twice, with the halfway point off Ischia acting as a scoring gate as well as the final finish line back at Capri. At the end of the first day, Vertigo heads the Swan 45s with a first and a second. Alfa Romeo leads in the Maxi Class with two bullets; with Favonius atop the Swan Maxi division. In the Comets, Agora Patrimoni Immobiliare has a narrow one-point lead over Libertine.

Smallest surprise of the day was the blistering pace set by Neville Crichton's supermaxi Alfa Romeo, who showed off her 30.5 metres and canting keel to great effect, finishing the full course in just over two hours - the second half only two minutes faster than the first. She even had a reef in the main. No one else came close on the water. The Swan 80 Favonius scraped in in just under three hours, but was still shy of Alfa's overall corrected time by over ten minutes at both scoring points. Next home was the Swan 88 Grey Goose. Sir Peter Ogden twice won the battle of the Swan 601s on corrected time, beating Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone by three minutes at the halfway stage and a mere five seconds at the end - which must have left the Italians wondering which wave or gust they misjudged on the return leg.



For the smaller yachts of the fleet, the first short beat was uneventful; although the Swan 45 start line was not, certainly at the committee boat end. On Nemo, Andy Green and helm Ken McCullough - substituting for owner Bernard Lambilliotte whose arrival on the island had been delayed by the weather and business commitments - looked pretty good at one point and appeared close to shutting the door at that end. But leave Vasco Vascotto an inch and he has the confidence to make it look like a mile as he calmly sailed in front of the line up, hardening up to perfection and promptly leaving the rest of the nineteen boat division choking in his wake.

This bold move allowed Marco Salvi's Vertigo to lead the Swan 45s to the first windward mark and onto Formiche di Vivara, a mark lying in the narrow gap between Ischia and Isla di Procida. A few centuries ago the Neapolitans swapped Capri for Ischia. At the point when the Swan 45s and Comets reached the turning mark you could be forgiven for wondering why. Sheathed in foreboding, dark black clouds and intermittent but torrential showers, this end of the course was not a pleasant place to be. Had the crews realised that worse was to come some might have ducked into the harbour for a swift Limoncello before the return trip.

Main trimmers, helms and tacticians had already endured an hour and a half long fetch, making the most of the gusts that occasionally topped twenty knots, weaving their way through the confused sea that was throwing rollers at the boats with some regularity. At times the sea state was more akin to an offshore race than a short hop between two idyllic Mediterranean islands. Some of the northern European crews might have been thinking they were still in The Solent.

The return leg was even more of an endurance test. A slightly wider wind angle kept offering hope that a change up to a reaching sail or spinnaker would be possible. With steeper seas, arriving abeam it was not clear cut at any point, especially as the wind had a habit of opening the angle and then closing it again. Act too quickly and end up with problems. Act too late and miss the opportunity. For some sticking to the middle ground and doing nothing was the easiest, but bravest decision; and which sometimes paid off.

Vertigo reached the far side of the bay first in the Swan 45s, with a lead of 14 seconds over Hendrick Brandis' Earlybird; by no means a secure advantage in these conditions. As the fleet reached back to Capri decisions became no easier for the tacticians as they closed in on the finish. Vertigo watched her early rival Earlybird lose a headsail and consequently her front of the pack position. Salvi and Vascotto then watched their lead eaten into, subsequently yielding it to the well-sailed WISC of Glynn Williams. Never one to give up without a fight, Vascotto answered the impudence of WISC by ordering the hoisting of a reaching kite in an attempt to recover her position. Onboard the midfleet Nemo, the dilemma was no less exacting. Sticking with the No. 3 Genoa had seemed the prudent course for much of the leg, but as she bore down on the finish it was clear a bolder decision would be called for. Boats higher and lower were hoisting bigger sails, despite clear evidence ahead that the stretch to the finish line was subject to some unhealthy gusts. Just ahead of Nemo the Comet 45 I.Nova was struggling to contain her spinnaker, eventually suffering a spectacular blow out and the ignominy of recovering shredded fabric. Others were on the edge too at times.

WISC held on to beat Vertigo to the finish by twenty seconds. Nico Poons and Charisma held onto third throughout the race.

In the Comets, Libertine was first to the gate and first home, by a sufficient margin to take the bullet on corrected at the halfway point, but only third over the whole course. Agora took home a 2,1 corrected scoreline.

At the end of a long day, Capri had one last trick up her sleeve for the tired crews as they docked tired and cold in the Marina Grande. A monumental downpour arrived right on cue to help clean the decks, but hinder the tidying up process and delay the much-deserved liquid reviver on offer dockside. Thursday is, of course, another day and the forecast is for an improvement in the overall situation and the prospect of some sun.


Place Boat Name Owner Nation, R1-R2- Points

MAXI
1. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1-1-2.0
2. FAVONIUS Roel Pieper BVI, 2-2-4.0
3. SPIRIT OF JETHOU Sir Peter Ogden GBR 3-4-7.0

SWAN 45
1. VERTIGO Marco Salvi ITA, 1-2-3.0
2. CHARISMA Nico Poons NED, 3-3-6.0
3. WISC Glynn Williams GBR 6-1 7.00

COMET
1. AGORA Marco Franco c/o Emmeffe Sail Srl ITA, 2-1-3.0
2. LIBERTINE Maurizio Biscardi ITA, 1-3-4.0
3. FRA DIAVOLO Vincenzo Addessi 4-2-6.0