Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007 starts today

All of the participants in the first edition of the Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup are now moored in the Marina de Santa Cruz in Tenerife ready for tomorrow’s start. Racing, which will take place under IRC handicap, will take the seven competing yachts from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the largest of the Canary Islands, to Simpson Bay on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten for a total of approximately 2,600 nautical miles. The race is promoted by the International Maxi Association (IMA) and organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS), with the collaboration of Real Club Nautico de Tenerife and St. Maarten Yacht Club, and is open to monohull sailing yachts of 18 metres (59 feet) and above.

The fleet boasts some impressive figures with Peter Harrison’s 115-foot Farr Sojana, for example, weighing in at over 96 tons (96,600 kilos). This does include her racing kit of 15 sails – including almost 3,000 square feet of mainsail for the 144-foot main mast -- and 14 crew. She has been known to reach a top racing speed of around 24 knots. Even the smallest yacht in this maxi fleet, Anders Johnson’s Blue Pearl, is over 70 feet long, has a race crew of 10 and is carrying 12 sails for this Atlantic crossing.

While some of the pure racing vessels will be stripped down to a bare minimum for this race, which has a time limit of 15.00 local time (UTC -4) on 14th December, others, such as Gerhard Reuther’s Zefiro, will be more comfortable equipped.

“The boat is a so called ‘performance-cruiser’” explained Reuther, “with very good racing abilities but it’s not a pure racing boat; it’s a cruiser racer. We like to be comfortable; in this race we have not taken out all of the furniture like many people do. We want to do a good race, we want to arrive safely and that’s why we are happy on a cruising ship with everything that belongs to a cruising ship. We have eight crew which is the capacity of the boat, we have eight sleeping berths and five bathrooms and that makes for comfortable living.”

This, however, does not mean that Zefiro will not be going for the Rolex Trophy: “There are some really fast boats here; the Wallys, being racing boats really, should have an edge. But again, it depends on the weather, you never know, there’s always hope! We have a fast boat, it’s a Doug Peterson design and he’s known to be a very good designer and we have every chance.”

One of the Wally’s in question is Morten Bergsen’s Nariida with skipper Knut Frostad, a veteran Volvo Ocean Race sailor who has very clear objectives: “There are two things we want to achieve, the first is to be the first boat to the finish and for this I think Sojana will be the hardest boat to beat, and we want to win on corrected time. On the rating I think it’s going to be harder with Dark Shadow and maybe Blue Pearl but some of these boats I’ve never raced against so it’s difficult to say.”

The full line-up of participants runs as follows:

Blue Pearl (GBR), a Swan 70 Bermudian sloop owned by Anders Johnson (SWE), designed by German Frers and launched in 2003.

Dark Shadow (MON), a Wally 100 Bermudian sloop owned by Andrè Auberton (FRA), designed by German Frers and launched in 2002.

Julie Marie (GER), a Swan 100 Bermudian sloop owned by Bernd Kortüm (GER), designed by German Frers and launched in 2007.

Nariida (NOR), a Wally 105 Bermudian Ketch owned by Morten Bergesen (NOR), designed by Luca Brenta and launched in 1994.

Sojana (GBR), a Farr 115 Bermudian ketch owned by Peter Harrison (GBR), designed by Farr yacht Design and launched in 2003.

Valkyrie (CAN), a Swan 78 Bermudian sloop owned by Will Apold (CAN),designed by Bill Tripp and launched in 2007.

Zefiro (GER), a Solaris 76 Bermudian Sloop owned by Gerhard Ruether (GER), designed by Doug Peterson and launched in 2004.

The Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2007 is scheduled to start tomorrow, 26th November at 13.00 UTC. Full details of the event, including live tracking, are available at www.yccs.it

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was founded on May 15th 1967 by its current President, His Highness the Aga Khan, and a small group of Founder Members, as a non-profit sporting association for those passionate about the sea and marine sports. The YCCS clubhouse, overlooking Porto Cervo Marina, is considered one of the most prestigious and beautifully functional structures of its kind anywhere in the world and offers members and regatta participants 24 guest suites, a modern Wellness Centre and a Bar and Restaurant on the panoramic Poolside Terrace. The adjoining Piazza Azzurra, the nerve centre of the Race Village during sporting events, hosts a series of cultural initiatives throughout the rest of the year. The YCCS is twinned with the New York Yacht Club and the Yacht Club de Monaco and has reciprocal agreements with the Royal Yacht Squadron.