Nokia Enigma windseeks her way to handicap victory

Nokia Enigma windseeks her way to handicap victory © Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

NOKIA ENIGMA WINDSEEKS HER WAY TO HANDICAP VICTORY

Nokia Enigma is shaping up as the most likely victor of the long offshore race in the Giraglia Rolex Cup. With Nokia having finished late last night, only a miraculous increase in breeze could possibly launch one of the smaller boats to victory on IMS corrected time. The flags in the humid port of Genoa have been wafting gently all afternoon, but the smart money is on Charles Dunstone to go one better than last year's race, when he and his Nokia crew finished runner-up to Alberto Roemmers' Alexia.

The pale-blue British Maxi finished just before midnight last night, while the smaller yachts in the 186-boat fleet have yet to cross the Genoa finish line. Nokia tactician David Bedford said: "We wanted to get into Genoa before the sun went down and the wind disappeared, but it didn't work out that way. We thought we had two hours to go, and then two hours later, we thought we had another two hours to go. The closer we got to Genoa, the slower we got." But somehow they found something to drag them the last painstaking miles to the Italian coast.

Bedford said their windseeker headsail was invaluable in the frustratingly light conditions. "We normally use it to accelerate the boat, and then once it's up to speed we'll hoist a lightweight genoa. But we just kept on using the windseeker." Nokia reached the coast at Portofino and found pockets of land breeze to waft them the rest of the way along the coast to Genoa.

Nokia was running a professional crew that included Volvo Ocean Race skipper Lisa McDonald and a number of America's Cup veterans from GBR Challenge. However, until the final slow 10 miles into Genoa, it was a predominantly amateur crew on board Atalanta II who were looking favourites for the win on corrected time. But the Farr 72 stopped dead while Nokia somehow kept on moving. Despite the presence of Prada America's Cup helmsman Francesco de Angelis on board Carlo Puri Negri's sleek IMS Maxi, the Italians could find no way forwards. "We did everything we could do," said navigator Giampaolo Rocca, who races in these waters throughout the year. "I think we were doing very well until the last 12 or 15 miles, it was very frustrating."

Another potential threat was the Grand Soleil 42R Near Miss, which spoilt the Maxis' dominance of the inshore racing at St-Tropez earlier this week. She came close to upsetting the bigger boats again, but Franck Noel's Swiss/French team arrived in Genoa just a little too late this morning. They currently lie third overall behind Atalanta.

This has been a long, slow race for everyone, but nowhere near as frustrating as for the Farr/Vismara 66 Mister A, which ran into a three-mile wide fishing net, stretched right across the course just past the Giraglia rock. Owner Aldo Pagani was far from happy, as he arrived into Genoa many hours later with traces of slashed fishing net still draped across the foredeck. "There were no lights on the net, and so we never saw it until it was too late," he said. "The fishermen, they don't care what happens. We spent over half an hour cutting the boat free, but I think it lost us four hours in total, because we had to find our way around other nets in the dark."

Neville Crichton had put out a warning call out to the fishermen earlier that day as he had found himself on the verge of steering Alfa Romeo into the same nets. A sharp 90 degree turn helped the 90-foot Maxi escape ensnarement in the tuna nets, and she sailed on to an untroubled line honours victory at sunset yesterday. Crichton was banking on the fading winds to hand him the double, both line honours and corrected time, but Alfa has since been relegated to 5th place under IMS calculations.

Tomorrow evening the Yacht Club Italiano will host the prizegiving, when Nokia Enigma will know once and for all if they have won the 243-mile classic.

The Giraglia Rolex Cup has been sponsored by Rolex for the past seven years, with BMW and San Pellegrino as co-sponsors. The Giraglia Rolex Cup 2004 is the largest yet, with 186 teams from 15 countries, and more than 20 yachts competing in the spectacular Maxi division. The regatta reaches its climax with the 243-mile offshore race from St-Tropez in France to Genoa in Italy, via the ancient Giraglia Rock a few miles from the northern tip of Corsica.

Provisional Results from the 243-mile offshore race:

1 Nokia Enigma (GBR) - Maxi Charles Dunstone 30:42:19 2 Atalanta II (ITA) - Farr 72 Maxi Carlo Puri Negri 31:10:24 3 Near Miss (SUI) - Grand Soleil 42R Franck Noel 31:17:32 4 Sotto Voce (NED) - Judel/Vrolijk 62 Arien Van Vemde 31:29:55 5 Alfa Romeo (NZL) - Reichel/Pugh 90 Neville Crichton 31:32:11 6 Despeinada (ITA) - Grand Soleil 40R Italo Borrini 31:44:55

* Corrected time under IMS (hrs:min:sec)