Moby and the Mumms

Andy Nicholson sets the scene and previews the form at the Mumm 30 World Championship

It is fairly unusual that your turn up to a regatta and find that one of the owners of a competing yacht has brought his 142me ferry with him to act as the mothership to the fleet.

Such is the case the in Italian venue of Portoferrario, where the assembled Mumm 30s await the start gun for the Mumm 30 World Championships on Wednesday. Patron of the Mascalzone Latino Americas Cup team, and avid participant of the Italian racing scene, Vincenzo Oronato has pulled off a blinder. His company is the Italian shipping giant Moby Lines and the ferry tied up within feet of the moored Mumm 30s is his rather teasingly named Moby Fantasy.

With all the shenanigans during the year of where exactly the Worlds were to be held a turn-out of 42 Mumms from all over Europe, plus entries from America and Australia, is way beyond expectations. Portoferrario on the island of Elba is not the easiest place to get to and reasonably priced accommodation for the crews not in abundant supply. Now the Moby Lines sponsorship has solved many of these issues and brought a new aspect to sponsor involvement in sailing.

We now have a floating regatta village. Many crews have taken the offer of discounted accommodation on the ship. Added to this is breakfast and dinner facilities, packed lunches, a bar, and live music each evening from Roberta, Manuela and Ivan in the Piano Bar - even the most weary of campaigner at the end of the season has it all served up on a plate. The Regatta Office is even on the Moby Fantasy.

As with all ferry trips, albeit this stationary one, there are a few whinges from the passengers. The rooms are very small, and if you have one in the middle of the ship, with no windows, wearing a watch at all times is essential if you want to have a rough idea of whether you are late for sailing - or drinking. On the seventh floor the passengers have complained of the noise from the generators the floor above.

But it does make for a great atmosphere for the event. Rather than everyone dispersed around the town; everyone is in the same boat, so to speak. I wonder however just what the corridors will smell like in a day or two's time - many Harken deck trainers have already failed to pass border patrol at the threshold of the cabins.

Unfortunately the weather is not ideal at the moment. Of course it's warm and sunny (ahh Italy), but it’s blowing a hooli. Over 30 knots in the harbour and over at Pisa (the nearest airport), flights are being diverted to Turin as the windsock has blown off its pole. Seasoned aviators know this to be a sign on sustained winds of over 50 knots.

Back to the good news. The breeze is supposed to continue through Monday and then start easing off, just in time for racing to begin.

First up is the Moby Cup, scheduled for Monday afternoon and Tuesday as a nice warm up for the fleet. I suspect this will not be as competitive as it could be. With everyone missing out on test sailing, tuning runs and manoeuvre practise, because of the weather, the Moby Cup could be one of the less impressive pieces of silverware to win this year.

The Worlds run from Wednesday through to Saturday, with three races planned per day.
It looks set to be a fiercely contested championship, with many boats sporting top crews complemented by star tacticians. The host nation must be favourite to pick up the trophy. The Italians have had a very strong domestic circuit this year and have an impressive list of professionals on their boats. Top of the form guide is Kismet, winner of the 2003 Italian circuit, with Prada’s Francesco Bruni on tactics.

Vincenzo Oronato will be helming his Mascalzone Latino, with Alinghi's Murray Jones as tactician. Another Moby Lines head honcho is Luigi Parente. He’s sailing his Maga Joanna, with his son Paolo driving and Britain’s Adrian Stead is on tactics.

A top class Italian event doesn’t exist without Vasco Vascotto, who is sailing on with Andrea Cecchettti on Bagua. Former Mascalzone Latino helm Paolo Cian is on Michele Perris’s Dangerous But Fun. On Enfant Terrible is Tommaso ‘Six Pack’ Chieffi. Team New Zealander Hamish Pepper is with the Italian team on Cheyenne. Mummas VI has double Olympic Bronze medallist in the Star, Gorla Dodo while the highly regarded Lorenzo Bressani is sailing on Wind Seven and that pretty much wraps up the formidable home favourites.

Don’t think that the Italians will get it all their own way, as the many other countries represented here could prove to be strong opposition. Leading the charge for Briitain is Louis Browne’s Asterix, winner of the UK Nationals. Secret weapon on Asterix for this event is the newly crowned 49er World Champion Chris Draper.

Of the four French boats that have made the trip, the favourite here would be Tour de France legend Jimmy Pahun on Region Ile de France. The French contingent is smaller than would be expected as at home the French sail the Mumm 30 out of class - with fully professional crews.

Good news for the girls is that Gordon Maguire is in Portoferrario, sailing on the Australian entry of Richard Perini, Foreign Affair. American Farr 40 owner Deneen Demourkas has made the trip over with a smaller Groovederci, Bouwe Bekking is on the crew.

Bent Dietrich’s Rainbow is rounding out a very busy season for his entirely non-German crew. Rainbow finished second at the recent Course des lles. The Swiss team on Bienne Voile are also expected to do well.

So it all looks set to be a very good World Championship. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates producing good, fair conditions, and that none of the local youths try to slash the mooring ropes of the good ship Moby Fantasy, otherwise we could all be in real trouble.

Entries

Sail #	Yacht Name	Owner/Charterer
ITA3098	ARGOCLIMA ITAI DOSHIN	Leonardo Martelli
GBR3093R	ASTERIX	Louis Browne
ITA3036	BAGUA	Andrea Cecchetti
SUI2500	BIENNE VOILE	Lorenz Muller
FRA4	BITE THE BULLET	Theoule Mandelieu Tour Viole
MON1999	BITIPI	Savino Formentini
FRA18329	CHACAL	Pascal Lestang
ITA13078	CHEYENNE	Claudio Recchi
		Carla Silva Ubertalli
MON2003	DANGEROUS BUT FUN	Michele Perris
	DEFI PARTAGE	Thierry Bouchard
ITA3017	DREAM IN ACTION	Maurizio Volonte
GBR1430	EL BUSINESS/MUMBL JUMBO	Geof Gibbons
ITA3078	ENFANT TERRIBLE	Gianluigi Serena
ITA3074	FIAMMA	Alessandro Barnaba
AUS6133	FOREIGN AFFAIR	Richard Perini
USA32	GROOVEDERCI	Deneen Demourkas
FRA46	IN EXTREMIS	Marc Emig
NED3405	INTL YACHTPAINT.COM	Johann Mast
ITA3058	KISMET	Massimo/Stehano Leporati
ITA3076	LA MARACHELLA DI DRI DRI	Marco Pecorella
		Leopoldo Gimmelli
ITA3081	LE COQ	Raimondo Cappa
ITA3087	MAGA JOANNA	Paolo Parente
SWE14	MAGI	Jan Hagg
NED6922	MAGICOLOR	Fezi Khalegi Yazdi
ITA2121	MASCALZONE LATINO	Vincenzo Onorato
ITA3064	METALLURGICA CALVI	Carlo Alberini
ITA3090	MUMMAS VI	Umberto Battista
		Massimo Battista
		Luca Simeone
ITA3003	MUMMY ONE	Mauro Venceslai
ITA3054	MUMMY TWO	Andrea Bartoli
SUI303	OLYMPIC	Jean-Marc Monnard
		David Etienne
GBR1305	OVINGTON BOATS LIKE	David Ovington
GBR7930R	PANTHER	Mike Sparks
MON1	PARIMOR-THULE	Fausto Rubbini
GER4640	RAINBOW	Bent Dietrich
FRA2012	REGION ILE DE FRANCE	Jimmy Pahun
NED6553	SCUD	Benodet Stichting
ITA3018	SHINING SR	Alessandro Zampori
ITA3040	STORM SYSTEM	Franco Loro Piana
USA316	TEAM BOLD	Nelson Stephenson
GER3358	TOPAS	Dr. Harald Bruning
MON2000	TOROSCATENATO	Guido Miani
ITA3063	WIND-SEVEN	Pierpaolo Cristofori
		Biagio Menditto

Crew lists

Argoclima Itai Doshin	Foreign Affair	Olympic
Leonardo Martelli	Richard Perini	Bertrand Favre
Tommaso Del Rio	Cameron Percival	Nicolas Wyler
Errico Coppede	Nathan Ellis	Damien Cardenoso
Piero Cappelli	Curtis Florence	Bastien Clement
Alessandro Bagnoli	Suzie Wulff	Loris Von Siebenthal
Gabriele Benussi	Gordon Maguire	Jean-marc Monnard
Corenzo Del Rio	Darren Jones	Etienne David
Asterix	Groovederci	Ovington Boats Like
Louis Browne	Deneen Demourkas	Duncan McDonald
David Evans	Tim Harris	Alastair McDonald
Jeremy Reed	Oliver Davis	Andy Nicholson
Roger Douglas	Eric Chowanski	Martin Boatman
Mat Kelly	Kristen Loewenthal	Nick Kincaid
Chris Draper	Bouwe Bekking	David Ovington
Shane Hughes	James Baxter	David Lenz
Bagua	SCAC Total	Panther
Andres Cecchetti	Jean-Marc Pelanchon	Mike Sparks
Cesare Bozzetti	Nicolas Lunven	Brian Allen
Nicola Felici	Eric Charrier	Ian Finlay
Jacopo Signorile	Maxime Lebessou	Jeremy Needs
Marco Perazzo	David Abrard	Guy Salter
Vasco Vascotto	Marc Emig	Tony Wetherell
Maciel Cicchetti	Olivier Gimmig
Bienne Viole	Intl Yachtpaint.com	Parimor-Thule
Eric Monnin	Joke Zwart	Fauso Rubbini
Peter Arbenz	Sven Korver	Alessandro Paoli
Jean-Francois Gouzer	Luut de Zee	Claudio Magrini
Stefan Bernsdorf	Johann Mast	Michele Cannoni
Jan-Eike Andresen	Lars van den Berg	Davide Patuelli
Nils Frei	Rogier van Overveld	Matteo Ivaldi
Jean-Claude Monnin		Sandro Montefusco
Bite The Bullet	Kismet	Rainbow
Guillaume Berenger	Stefano Leporati	Bent Dietrich
Peter Bonham-Christie	Massimo Leporati	Paul Williams
Vincent Trinquet	Giorgio Tortarolo	Ashley Farrington
Colette Nivelleau	Alessandro Sodo Migliori	David Cunningham
Mikail Mergui	Giovanni Mascetti	Graham Vials
Chritopher Pratt	Marco Carpinello	Kevin George
Sylvain Chtounder	Francesco Bruni	Jerry Eplett
Bitipi	La Marachella Di Dri Dri	Region Ile De France
Savino Formentini	Marco Pecorella	Nicolas Pauchet
Enrico Pucci	Francesco Agnostini	Victor Lanier
Michele Mennuti	Claudio Michelotti	Antione Gautier
Matteo Auguadro	Armando Cardola	Jean Pierre Nicolle
Giorgio Benussi	Leopoldo Gimmelli-alt.	Julien Tanguy
Flavio Grassi	Salvatore Eulisse	Xavier Vandame
Gaetano Figlia di Granara	Francesco Ivaldi	Jimmy Pahun
	Rosario Vannucchi
Chacal	Maga Joanna	Scud
Alexandre Pallu	Paolo Parente	Sjoerd Wasserval
Francois Duguet	Luigi Parente	Kay Bekker
Stephane Marciak	Alberto Simeone	Rene Baartmans
Hugo Helen	Mario Sassi	Mark van Gelderen
Pascal Lestang	Riccardo Apolloni	Eduard van Lierde
Christophe Espagnon	Adrian Stead	Martyn Baartmans
Philippe Boudgourd	Alberto Barouver
Cheyenne	Magi	Shining Sr.
Claudio Recchi	Jan Hagg	Alessandro Zampori
Guiseppe Maletto	Jonas Holm	Gianni Sommariva
Carla Ubertalli	Jorgen Preuss	Bruno Broccanello
Francesco Di Caprio	Kristian Jensen	Andrea Magni
Roberto Martinez	Christian Backhausen	Alfio Lavazza
Massimo Bortoletto	Thomas Olsson	Pietro D'ali
Hamish Pepper		Giuly Romanengo
Dangerous But Fun	Magicolor	Storm System
Michele Perris	Fezi Khaleghi	Franco Loro Piana
Gian Luca Perris	Jurgen Gaarlandt	Giacomo Loro Piana
Andrea Cattaneo	Marc Bleij	Stefano Bonadeo
Dennis De Lavaux	Gijs Glinneman	Tommaso Marmont
Fabien Guisset	Dries Leys	Alessandro Barmettler
Paolo Cian	Maxim Van Pelt	David Benvenuto
Jean Redolato	Maurice Paardenkooper	Lorenzo Sorbi
		Edoardo Piva-alt.
		Matteo Bert-alt.
Defi Partage	Mascalzone Latino	Team Bold
Thierry Bouchard	Vincenzo Onorato	Nelson Stephenson
Florent Gaggero	Matteo Savelli	Garrett Woodworth
Sebastien Clergue	Francesco Aversano	Abigail Woodworth
Michel Milanese	Daniele Fiaschi	Tim Willis
Serge Lewden	Massimo Paolacci	Brian Wood
Oliver Krauss	Murray Jones	Anthony Kotoun
Paul Maxime	Giovanni Cassinari	Chris Williams-alt.
Dream in Action	Metallurgica Calvi	Topas
Luca Falcioni	Carlo Alberini	Harald Bruning
Antonio Costamante	Alessandro Santangelo	Jan-Hinnerk Bruning
Gianfranco Filippini	Riccardo Chini	Volker Hinrichsen
Marco Cornacchia	Giuiseppe Cojana	Michael Muller
Emanuele Ciummei	Rachele De Stefanis	Jens Rohn
Sandro Benigni	Paolo Montefusco	Christian Soyka
Maurizio Volonte	Enrico Passoni	Roland Klietz
		Frederike Bruning-alt.
El Business/Mumbo Jumbo	Mummas VI	Toroscatenato
Geof Gibbons	Luca Simeone	Damien Desprat
Rachel Larman	Umberto Battista	Vincent Nevo
Ed Hill	Massimo Battista	Jean Marc Lacroix
Chris Hughes	Luigi Falco	Romuald Chasseray
Laura Hodd	Albatros Turco	Claude Rodelato
Nick Gibbons	Andrea Ribolli	Guido Miani
Cori Rousselle	Gorlo Dodo	Silvio Sanani
Enfant Terrible	Mummy One	Wind-Seven
GianLuigi Serena	Mauro Venceslai	Pierpaolo Cristofori
Riccardo Lalla	Pietro Corbucci	Marco Cristofori
Santiago Vacca	Mauro Solmi	Edgardo Vieytes
Stefano Luporini	Alfredo Cardi	Camilla Bert
Gianfranco Noe	Aurelio Menghi	Biagio Menditto
Claudio Novi	Ruberto Murgia	Alberto Fantini
Tommaso Chieffi	Roberto Zanzani	Lorenzo Bressani
Francesca Mariani-alt.
Fiamma	Mummy Two
Alessandro Barnaba	Roberto Pardini
Matteo Del Fante	Andrea Bartoli
Davide Di Maio	Bianca Elena Minghetti
Andrea Gemini	Antonio Sussarello
Giuliano Zito	Giandomenico Murru
Riccardo Papa	Giancarlo Piroddi
Branko Brcin	Michele Paoletti
	Sandro De Muro-alt.
	Giorgio Minchetti-alt.