Mauro Melandri and the Volvo Cup Media Team have already posted some great interviews and video coverage of the Italian Open/Volvo Cup Regatta in Cagliari and will be posting additional video footage shortly. In particular look out for the spectacular day two racing footage and for interviews in English and Italian with all the top sailors.
Volvo Cup Official Photographer Pierrick Contin brings us an amazing Gallery of photos from the four day Italian Open Championship/Volvo Cup Regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Enjoy!
The final day of the Italian Open Championship and event 4 in the 2009 Italian Volvo Cup Series in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, brought more incredible sailing conditions and three final races in this tightly fought twelve race series. Going into the day Flavio Favini helming Franco Rossini’s Blu Moon had a narrow three point lead over Italy’s Luca Bressani helming Lorenzo Santini’s Uka Uka Racing.
The stage was set for a stunning finale, the weather gods performed bringing sparking sunshine and a steady 10-12 knots of wind from the south-east as the teams set up for a dog fight to beat all dog fights. Round one went to Uka Uka with Blu Moon hard on their heels in second. Third place went to Furio Patrizio Monarco on Billo Baccani with Andrea Racchelli’s Altea fourth. Blu Moon and Uka Uka Racing were now separated by just one point with two more races still to come.
Round two/race eleven was to prove the decisive moment in the Championship. Uka Uka Racing kept their heads and sailed a conservative race to finish in third place behind winner Luca Valerio in Alina Helly-Hansen and second placed Nicola Celon sailing Fantastica. For Blu Moon however, it was to be a disasterous race with them eventually crossing the finish line in 11th position.
Going into the final race Uka Uka now had a six point lead over Blu Moon and the two teams went at it hammer and tongs from the moment of the warning signal. Blu Moon did everything they could to best Uka Uka Racing but ultimately it simply wasn’t possible to shake their competitors off and put boats between them and at the line it was Blu Moon finishing first with Uka Uka Racing hard on their heels in second place and claiming the overall victor’s laurels.
The battle for third place had also been hard fought through the day and third place was eventually claimed by Pietro Sibello sailing All In with Nicola Celon in Fantastica fourth and Carlo Fracassoli sailing Saetta in fifth. Winners of the Corinthian, all amatuer division, were Fabio Mazzoni and his team aboard ITA567 Spirit of Nerina.
The battle for supremacy between Flavio Favini, with Franco Rossini’s Swiss Blu Moon Team, and Lorenzo Bressani, with Lorenzo Santini’s U Italian ka Uka Racing Team, continues in Cagliari, Sardinia, at the Italian Open Championship. After three days of racing and nine races Blu Moon continues to hold the upper hand by 3 points overall but Uka Uka Racing will not be giving up the fight until the proverbial fat lady sings at the conclusion of Sunday’s final races.
Day three of this four day championship brought more glorious hot and sunny sailing conditions with the Mistral winds still in play but now a little reduced to 10-12 knots. Initially Uka Uka Racing got the upper had in races seven and eight with impressive wins, however, race nine did not go their way and they finished in 7th. Meanwhile Blu Moon continued to demonstate stunning consistency with a 2, 2, 3 scoreline for the day. With Blu Moon on 17 points and Uka Uka Racing on 20 these two boats now have a fairly comfortable margin on third placed Pietro Sibello in All In on 29 points. Carlo Fracasoli sailing Saetta is in fourth on 35 points with Nico Celon and Fantastica fifth on 38 points.
Going into the final day of racing there’s everything to play for and we can expect a stunning showdown between Blu Moon and Uka Uka Racing as well as a dramatic showdown for third place.
The Mistral winds arrived in Cagliari today at the 2009 Italian Melges 24 Open Championship and brought with it some truly spectacular sailing conditions for the 35 strong fleet competing in the latest Volvo Cup event. With three more races completed, bringing the total races sailed to date to six, it’s turning into a two boat battle between Flavio Favini, helming Franco Rossini’s SUI782 Blu Moon and Lorenzo Bressani helming Lorenzo Santini’s ITA715 Uka Uka Racing who lie on 10 and 11 points overall respectively.
The day got off to a lousy start for the Blu Moon team when they were black flagged in race four, however, we understand that Blu Moon intends to protest this decision so we await further developments later this evening. For those who were on the right side of the starting line it was an exciting race in glorious sunshine and 25 knots. First across the line was Pietro Sibello sailing ITA778 All In, followed by Andrea Racchelli’s ITA722 Alina in second with Carlo Fracassoli in ITA716 Saetta third and Uka Uka Racing fourth.
As the Mistral intensified Blu Moon came back with a vengance in race five taking the race from All In with Uka Uka third and Nico Celon sailing ITA756 Fantastica fourth. The sixth race was to be dominated by Uka Uka Racing with Blu Moon second and Furio Patrizio Monarco sailing ITA682 Billo Buccani third.
With the discard now in play after six races it’s clearly going to be a close championship. We hope to have photos and videos for you shortly so stay tuned.
The first day of racing at the 2009 Melges 24 Italian Open Championship, the fourth event in the 2009 Volvo Cup Series, brought the 35 competing crews three fantastic races in a steady 10-12 knot southerly wind. The incredible depth of talent in the fleet was clear and was clearly demonstrated by the fact that there are three different winners at the end of the day.
Race one went to Flavio Favini, helming Franco Rossini’s SUI782 Blu Moon with Melges 24 World Champion and match race/AC star Sebastien Col whispering tactical sweet nothings in his ear. It wasn’t an easy win however and Favini spent much of the race virtually match racing reigning Melges 24 World Champions Lorenzo Bressani and Lorenzo Santini’s ITA71 Uka Uka Racing. Also putting in a great showing in this race were 2006 Melges 24 World Champion Nico Celon helming ITA765 Fantastica, who finished third and Pietro Sibello, helming ITA778 All In, who finished fourth.
As the committee prepared for race two the wind shifted and increased slightly. Uka Uka Racing spotted the shift and went on to dominate the race with no serious challengers. Fantastica and Dodo Gorla sailing ITA701 Blue did battle for second place with Fantastic getting the upper hand at the finish while Blu Moon remained consistent to take fourth.
By the start of the third race the wind was beginning to decrease and on the start line there was a collision between ITA730 Eta Beta, helmed by Javier Alberto and ITA122 Provincia di Cagliarim helmed by Lorenzo Gemini. Despite their collision Eta Beta crossed the finish line in 12th place. It was Luca Valerio at the helm of ITA722 Alina who put in the best performance in race three, winning from Blu Moon in second with Carlo Fracassoli helming ITA716 Saetta third and Andrea Racchelli helming ITA735 Altea fourth. Sadly for Uka Uka Racing this was not a great race and they finished in ninth place.
In the overall standings after three races Blu Moon leads Uka Uka Racing with Fantastica third, Alina fourth and All In fifth.
The Volvo Media Team have just come ashore and we hope to have video and photos for you shortly so check back with us again soon.
In Cagliari, in the far south of the beautiful island of Sardinia, Italy, the Melges 24 teams are leaving the dock this morning ready to do battle for the 2009 Italian Open Championship and event four in the 2009 Volvo Cup Series. Our spies on the dock tell us the sun is shining and conditions are perfect for some great sea breeze conditions. As always the Volvo media team will be on the water videoing and photographing the event so we’ll have lots of great coverage for you later today.
In the meantime check out the great pre-event interviews with Sebastien Col and Jonathan McKee (in English) and Lorenzo Santini (in Italian) on http://www.zerogradinord.net/volvo-cup/.