Shipowner accuses: still smarts at Rome for Two and All. Enough!!!

Controversy at Rome for All. One would be inclined to say: here we go again. We receive and publish a letter written by Giuliano Perego, owner of the Sydney 39 Sir Biss that just participated in the Rome X All. As reported by Perego, but Alberto Bona had also done so in one of the first videos from aboard, there was, and was made abundantly clear in a special communiqué, a ban on boating in an area adjacent to two military ranges. A ban that some did not comply with.

GIULIANO PEREGO’S J’ACCUSE.

“Dear Editor,

I am the owner of Sir Biss, Sydney 39 CR with which I participated in Rome X All 2017, which ended only yesterday with the award ceremony.

Unfortunately, there were several boats on the podium that, during the race, were responsible for serious misconduct and violations of the sailing rules as specified by the Sailing Instructions.

The pre-course of this beautiful regatta, which leads from Riva di Traiano to pass between Ventotene and Santo Stefano, and then between Lipari and Volcano and back to the starting port, passes by two military ranges, the one at Furbara immediately south of Cape Linaro, a few miles from Riva di Traiano, and another near Anzio.

To prevent accidents and ensure safety during any shooting exercises, the capitanerie of Civitavecchia and Anzio have regulated navigation in those areas with specific ordinances. Specifically for the Furbara polygon, there are two ordinances of the Civitavecchia Coast Guard, Ordinance 33 and 34 of 2017, which specify the coordinates where navigation is banned during weekdays.

The Rome X Race Committee, in order to avoid differences and disparities in the course, depending on the time of passage of different boats, has rightly included in the IdRs a prohibition for race participants to sail in the aforementioned areas for the duration of the event.

Since there had been numerous sailing violations in past years, both for those areas and for the protected area of Santo Stefano, this prohibition was extensively explained and emphasized by the president of the Riva si Traiano Sailing Club and the CoR president in the pre-race briefing.

Unfortunately, instead, in the presence of a weather situation that gave a strong advantage to those who passed in the‘interdicted area, immediately after the start, just past Cape Linaro, several boats set their bows toward the interdicted area. One boat, Artemisia, called them back via VHF, and almost every boat that had entered or was about to enter turned. So did Stefano Chiarotti, owner of Lunatika and Italian Offshore Champion,

I, again via Vhf, stated that I would protest those who entered. Some boats, despite the recall, they pulled straight ahead, shortening their course by several miles and enjoying a favorable wind rotation. The infraction is easily verified by anyone on the excellent race tracker.

The vessels that violated the navigation requirements, which I saw, were Air Force, Constellation, and Eighth Sin.

Similar VIolations also occurred during the return route. In this case, due to the distance between the different vessels, feedback is only possible via Tracker. Analysis of the tracks shows that sailing within the prescribed area, in this case, were the boats Junoplane, Andromeda and again Eighth Sin.

Upon my arrival at the end of the race, I duly protested the above five boats for violation of rule 28 of the regatta rules, and I then proceeded to inform the protestors (which I had already notified the Race Committee when passing through Lipari) of the protest (all except Areonautica Militare, which when I went to its berth I found closed and whose skipper Giancarlo Simeoli I could not contact).

Like me similar protest, for the same boats and I think some others was filed by Shirlaf. The O’Guerriero boat, which had declared to me its intention to protest as well and had offered to serve as a witness for my protest, was unable to do so due to expiration of time limits.

My protest unfortunately was not admitted to the merits discussion because I could not be

present at the hearing, which was convened at 12 noon on Saturday, April 15, for 3 p.m. the same day, due to

commitments
family members not deferrable, after 5 days spent at sea. Upon receiving the summons, I had formally given my willingness to attend the hearing by teleconference or videoconference, or in person at any time on Sunday. Referral was not possible, and I was not even called by phone during the hearing. Similar to mine, Shirlaf’s protest also lapsed in part due to formal flaws, was dismissed in part because it lacked witnesses, and the tracker trace was not considered valid evidence.

Given the outcome, and the manner in which it was rejected, I have decided not to appeal this ruling, which may be formally correct, but which does not penalize those who have unlawfully profited from the route violation, and above all, have failed in sporting fairness. I think, perhaps naively, that in the face of such misconduct it should be the offenders themselves who should self-report and ask to be penalized, Instead of disregarding it. I also particularly regret that one of the boats in question bears the Air Force insignia. Such a boat won the regatta, others among the protesters went to the podium.

With what honor? I feel great bitterness at the outcome of this affair, and sorrow for the commitment and effort expended by the Riva di Traiano Club, of which I am a member, which sees the outcome of this beautiful regatta partially compromised by the impropriety of a few dishonest people.

But beyond the specific incident, I would also like to raise the issue of non-compliance with navigational requirements, which is a recurring problem in offshore racing. Despite the general spread of tracking, which allows for (near) real-time tracking of the regatta and increased media appeal, federal regulations to date do not adequately allow its use to prove violations of this type.

I recall that recently, during the Vendee Globe, some competitors were forced by the committee to turn back, making many tens of miles upwind in the Roaring 40, for violating a sailing ban of even a few hundred meters. Violations were verified through the use of GPS tracking.

I think it is essential, in order to improve the transparency and rigor of this type of regattas, which are having a great growth in numbers and interest, to revise and modernize the regulations, better defining the rules to be included in the notices and the Sailing Instructions and using what technology makes available (in addition to GPS, for example, AIS, which many vessels now have on board as a safety device). It must be possible for committees to detect such violations directly and sanction them, as is the case with buoy jumping for sticks, without having to rely on the protests of other competitors and the burden of proof according to the formal protest process, designed for regattas where close sailing occurs but not for those of others.

I hope you will publish this speech of mine, or otherwise give relevance to the topic.

With esteem,

Giuliano Perego”

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