A record fleet of over 110 boats took to the starting line off Borgo Santa Lucia in Naples for the first race of the ORC European Championship

The Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia was bustling with preparations today, Saturday 15 May, for the 7 p.m. start of the Regata dei Tre Golfi. The offshore competition represents the second stage of the Rolex Capri Sailing Week, and the 150-mile race set off on time at 7 p.m. with perfect conditions in the Gulf of Naples. The breeze of around 15 knots rotated from westerly to north-westerly and should accompany the fleet for a long upwind leg to round the island of Ponza, the northernmost summit of the Tre Golfi course. The fleet has been divided into two main groups, with the first start for boats competing in the ORC European Championship, and the second, at 7:30, for all other participants.

Although the traditional start of the race at the stroke of midnight was moved forward due to the current curfew regulations, this meant that the Gulf of Naples was resplendent as dusk fell, filled with a hundred sails setting off into the sunset.

The day at the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia began with a flag-raising ceremony at 10 a.m., attended by municipal and sporting dignitaries as well as the special patron of the event, Neapolitan actress Maria Vera Ratti.

Final preparations before departure then continued, and the crews received a very welcome 'comfort box' containing typical Neapolitan specialties and wine. The gesture served to highlight the impeccable hospitality of the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia which, under normal circumstances, has always offered all the sailors taking part a sumptuous dinner before the departure of the Tre Golfi.

Given the current weather picture, the fastest yachts are expected to complete the course in 20 to 24 hours, with a few favourites tasked with living up to this estimate. Among them are the maxi yacht Pendragon from the LightBay Sailing Team, owned by Carlo Alberini (with Slovenian tactician Branko Brcin), Kuka 3, the Cookson 50 owned by Franco Niggler with a highly experienced crew boasting Pietro D'Alì, Ambrogio Beccaria and Nello Pavoni to name but a few. Among those sighted on the docks, a special mention must go to the Mylius 18e35 Frà Diavolo, owned by Vincenzo Addessi and with Andrea Fornaro calling tactics. Fresh from victory at the Maxi Yacht Capri Trophy, Addessi must maintain his winning streak in order to claim the Rolex Trophy, which will go to the yacht with the best combined score from the MYCT and the Tre Golfi.

A range of nations are represented in the fleet of performance yachts competing for the ORC European Championship. The boat to beat here is reigning world champion Sugar 3, the Italia Yachts 11.98 owned by Ott Kikkas, with Sandro Montefusco at the helm and a tried and tested crew including Paolo Montefusco, Maurizio Loberto, Paolo Bucciarelli and Matteo Polli, the boat's designer.

The course

From the start off Naples, competitors will race to Ponza before returning to round the Li Galli islets off Positano. The fleet will cross the finish line in Capri, after approximately 150 miles of racing.

The fleet competing in the ORC European Championship will have until Monday 17 to complete the offshore race, making their base then in Capri for the second phase of the championship. From Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 May, 3 days of mark racing - with a total of 6 races scheduled, including the offshore - will be held to assign the title of ORC European Champion 2021. 

The racing can be followed live with online Tracking.

https://tractrac.com/event-page/event_20210515_ORCEUROPEA/2086

The weather forecast prior to yesterday's start proved to be correct, with competitors facing a long upwind leg against rough seas in order to round the natural mark of the island of Ponza.

A serious incident marked the early hours of this morning, when at 3 a.m. the Salona 37 Le Pelican, enrolled in the Tre Golfi in Class C as a participant in the ORC European Championship, disappeared from tracking screens. “The conditions were particularly challenging, with two-metre waves, and we were sailing upwind on a port tack" commented a crew member who was on deck at the time of the accident, "as a result of a bad manoeuvre, in minutes we found ourselves in a critical situation with a cargo barge navigating between Naples and Ventotene just a few metres from us, and at that point a collision was inevitable. We managed to get the life raft into the sea and in just under 3 minutes our boat went under.”

All seven crew members were rescued by the cargo ship and taken to port in Naples, all under the management of the Coast Guard. Fortunately, no one was injured and the entire crew of Le Pelican crew was able to breathe a sigh of relief at having avoided a much more serious outcome. In all this, it is worth emphasising the decision of the Organising Committee to make carrying a life raft on board mandatory, even though this is not a requirement for Category 3 under the World Sailing regulations for safety equipment.

Returning to events in the race: from the start at 7 p.m., the fastest hulls set off upwind against the sea to the island of Ponza, before heading south for a run towards Punta Campanella, on the tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and rounding the Li Galli islets. The brisk winds stayed constant throughout, and just after 1.24 p.m. CEST - after 17 hours, 54 minutes and 19 seconds of racing – the first boat to cross the finish line was the maxi yacht Pendragon VI, owned by Carlo Alberini. This beautiful hull designed by talented New Zealander Laurie Davidson, born to excel in long ocean races, was competing for the first time in the Regata dei Tre Golfi. “It was a fantastic race and a challenging one," confirmed Carlo Alberini at the finish, "it was the first time in this race for both myself and the boat and we suffered a bit on the long upwind leg, especially with a boat like ours, designed more for running downwind, but the spectacle of rounding the islands of the gulf made it all worthwhile, and taking Line Honours is a huge reward.”

“The race was very technical and demanding" declared Daniele Cassinari, tactician on the TP52 Xio, "these boats are very fast and ideal for ‘short’ races, but we too had to fight for hours upwind against the steep waves we met in the first part, we were always very close to our direct opponent, the TP52 Freccia Rossa, but it will be the scores under corrected time that define the final ranking.”

At the time of writing, around 30 of the more than 100 competing yachts have arrived in the port of Capri, it is therefore too soon to draw up a definitive ranking as the smaller hulls continue to arrive and corrected times are calculated.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to the remaining finishes and preparations for the boats competing in the ORC European Championship which will run from 18 to 20 May, with three days of mark racing on the waters off Capri.

During Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2021 we had the chance to have the amazing Carlo Borlenghi as official photographer of the event.

Here some pics from the races.

Maxi Yacht Capri Trophy 2021

66^ Regata dei Tre Golfi

ORC European Championship 

Here the full album available.