Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Esimit Europa 2 convincingly took line honours at the Giraglia Rolex Cup, the first regatta in the 2011 season – The maxi yacht, with Gazprom as main sponsor, sails in the name of a united Europe and gathers on board many of the best European sailors
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
by Gorazd Mauri
Esimit Europa 2 cut Giraglia Rolex Cup’s finish line in Genoa at 10:33 PM CET, more than 40 nautical miles ahead of the closest competitor. The race, a 243 nautical miles journey from Saint-Tropez to Genoa, has been attended by almost 200 yachts from 20 different countries.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
The weather conditions, with extremely light winds, have been very challenging for the 100-feet maxi, but its outstanding technical features and Sidney Gavignet’s good tactics allowed them to use effectively all the available breeze. Esimit Europa 2, facing occasional dead calms at open seas, managed to take advantage of the light south-easterly breeze until the turning point at the Giraglia rock, where they accelerated away from the fleet at an average speed of over 13 knots. Nevertheless, the convincing victory is a proof that all the right choices were taken by Esimit Europa 2’s outstanding crew, starting from navigator Juan Vila’s accurate weather forecast.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
“I am extremely satisfied with the team’s performance. Even though they experienced frustrating conditions from time to time, they were constantly trying to figure out the best solution. There has been great synergy among us, and this was and will always be the foundation of our work, on which we will build our successes. I would like to congratulate all the team members for their contribution to this victory and to thank all our endorsers and friends, who supported this amazing European crew during their first regatta,” stated Igor Simčič, owner of the Esimit Europa 2 yacht.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
“It has been a really long race and we are now exhausted. We have experienced many light air situations during the day, searching for some winds during the night time. Fortunately, the best moments came just towards the finish line, which helped us to focus on the key manoeuvres at the end of regatta. The crew did an amazing job and I enjoyed every single part of the race. I am very much looking forward to the next challenge,“ added Jochen Schümann, the yacht’s skipper.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
The Giraglia Rolex Cup is the first regatta in 2011 for Esimit Europa 2, whose crew has been recently enlarged to include several of the best European sailors, thus establishing the first European sports team in history. The official presentation of the team has recently taken place in the Yacht Club de Monaco in Monte Carlo, at the presence of HSH the Prince of Monaco Albert II. There are 5 more regattas to come in Esimit Europa 2’s schedule: the next one will be the Palermo – Monte Carlo, followed by the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Sardinia, the Bernetti-Lombardini Cup and Barcolana in Trieste and the Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta.
Image copyright Marco Kandut.
Esimit Europa
Giraglia Rolex Cup
