First among the 13 maxi entries in the full 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar fleet of 180 was Giancarlo Gianni’s Durlindana 3, winning by a substantial 1 hour 21 minutes 4 seconds under IRC corrected time.
With numerous park-ups of varying degrees and it was a mix of luck and skill to anticipate from which side of the course the wind would fill in this year’s 151 Miglia-Trofeo Cetilar – the fourth event in the International Maxi Association’s seven event 2022-23 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Championship.
Out on the race course competitors enjoyed the warmth of an early summer offshore race and a magnificent sunset on Thursday night but otherwise had to maintain strict concentration in order to hunt out every available zephyr in the otherwise weak fickle conditions.
Durlindana’s Navigator Massimo Capuano commented: “In a couple of places we stopped, but especially off Elba – close to the gate, in fact all along the south coast of Elba.”
Durlindana 3, racing with the second lowest IRC rating in the maxi fleet, had gained an advantage from the yachts ahead parking up, “but,” pointed out Capuano “they restarted before we started again. We made good choices in the second part of the last leg [from Elba to Punta Ala] stayed on the southern side.”
Through the race they never saw more than 8 knots of wind – on both occasions this being the sea breeze off the Tuscany coast, during Thursday’s start and then approaching the Punta Ala finish a day later.
“On the last leg we were stressed because we knew that we were competing minute by minute with our competitors, but finally we were successful,” concluded Capuano.
A major dust-up in the maxi race was between Mylius 65 Oscar 3 of Aldo Parisotto and Dario Castiglia’s Baltic 65 RE/MAX One2, both of a similar length and rating.
Aldo Parisotto’s team crossing the line 16 minutes ahead, correcting out under IRC to a 20 minute 40 second advantage.
In the final tally Oscar 3 and RE/MAX One2 completed the maxi class’ podium, Oscar 3 runner-up for a second consecutive year.
Next in the International Maxi Association’s seven event 2022-23 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Championship will be the Rolex Giraglia offshore race starting from Saint-Tropez on 14 June, the series concluding with August’s Palermo-Montecarlo.
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