Hurricane all of a sudden | Story of three Italian regattas that ended in a storm

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What an edition that of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud: pictures and videos of the storm that hit the crews of the historic regatta on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, have been making the rounds on the web.(opening photo by Loris von Siebenthal)

But this is not the first time a regatta fleet has faced a sudden gale. Even in Italy and the Mediterranean we have had some good “flailing.” Tracing back over the past few years, three immediately come to mind (there are definitely others, remind us with a comment!).

GIRAGLIA, ROGUE GALE – 2016


Do you remember the 2016 Giraglia? Wind and sea claimed three “victims”
: 60 miles from Genoa, Federico Massari’s Grand Solei 341 Mariel, 20 miles after rounding the Giraglia rock, launched May Day for losing her rudder. The French Coast Guard intervened and sent a helicopter.
Another boat, a Comet 45S, Alberto Pagliano’s Ireal, with 11 sailors on board, called for help from the Genoa Harbor Master’s Office after breaking its rudder 25 miles in front of La Spezia. Then Daniel Gallina’s X-Elor, X-412 experienced a breakdown and was rescued, at 1 a.m., by coast guard patrol boats five miles in front of Portofino. Below are all the stories from the Giraglia of the storm:

THE STORIES OF THE GALE’S GIRAFFE

I LOST THE GIRAGLIA TO SAVE A BOAT

SAVED! HOURS OF PANIC AT THE GIRAGLIA

SO WE GOT THROUGH THE GALE UNSCATHED

GALE REPORT FROM ABOARD THE GIANIN VI

THAT STORM ON LAKE GARDA – 2003


As we got to see at the Bol d’Or, when the lake “gets pissed off,” it’s trouble. Incredible are the images from the 2003 Gorla Trophy on Lake Garda: “Wind at 65 knots, 75 men rescued,” reads the Garda Volunteers website(http://www.volontaridelgarda.it, from which these photos are taken).

The big boat with terraces, lying with its mast inside the garden of a lakeside villa is Esimit (formerly Riviera di Rimini): 60 feet long, it was going strong in all the “sea” regattas, from the Giraglia to the Barcolana. As yachtsman Francesco Ansaloni recalls on Facebook, “that year they had the idea (which might have seemed bizarre, given the size of the boat) of taking it to the Lake to challenge the famous Garda Free Class: that’s the end it came to tasting fresh water.”

WHAT BARCOLANA WOULD BE WITHOUT BORA? – 2000

The 2000 edition of the Barcolana was truly memorable: the bora arrived and “knocked out” quite a few participants. The video below shows the arrival with 55 knots of air!

HERE THE BEAUTIFUL ACCOUNT OF THE BARCOLANA 2000 BY MAURO FORNASARI

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