GP42 class announce calendar

Second year of racing to take place in Med and Atlantic

While we await the announcement of this year's calender for the Breitling MedCup for the TP52s, the International GP42 Association has finalised their 2008 schedule.

The second season of racing for the fast-growing GP42 class should be richer in events and more international than the inaugural year. The GP42 2008 Cup will consist of six events in four European countries.

The starting gun of the 2008 season will be fired in the Italian city of Santa Margherita, on the Ligurian coast. The Yacht Club Italiano will organize the season's inaugural event, Trofeo Pirelli-Copa Carlo Negri, from 1-4 May.

The second event will take place in France again under the auspices of the Yacht Club Italiano, off Saint-Tropez for the Giraglia Rolex Cup, from 8-11 June.

The GP42 fleet will then move to Valencia in order to compete in the Trofeo de la Reina, from 10-13 July, before the fleet moves on to one of Europe's most famous and prestigious regattas, the Copa del Rey. The GP42 participation will be one of the highlights of this years event in Palma, Mallorca from 25 July to 3 August.

After four events in the Mediterranean, the GP42 fleet will move to the Atlantic, racing off Cascais, Portgual. The Trofeu Quebramar-Chrysler, from 28-30 August, will host the GP42s for a second consecutive year.

The closing event of the 2008 international season will again be on Atlantic waters, in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. After its success in 2007 as a part of the Spanish circuit, the Trofeo Puerto Calero-César Manrique, running from 15-18 October, will see the international GP42 fleet race for the last time in 2008.

At least five new GP42s are expected to competed in the 2008 championship.