Giraglia, no record (by a very small margin). Here are the first verdicts and who will win

The Giraglia of the “wind,” with gusts up to 30 knots, quite a few retreats, 3-meter waves is already providing its first verdicts.

Loro Piana Giraglia, the first arrivals

The first is that the “monster” did not beat itself. Black Jack, the 100-footer that is none other than the former Esimit Europa 2 (formerly still known as Alfa Romeo 2) completed the course taking 28 minutes longer than the historic 2012 record set by Esimit Europa 2 itself (then captained by Igor Simcic, skippered by Olympic legend Jochen Schuemann), or 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds. Black Jack, first across the finish line as last year, but with new owner Remon Vos and under the guidance of veteran Australian Mark Bradford, completed the 241-mile Saint Tropez- Ile du levant-Giraglia-Genoa course in 15 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds.

Thus Remon Vos: “It was an epic regatta, we bought the boat just over a month ago and thanks to an amazing crew we were able to handle fairly challenging conditions well. It must be admitted that this hull was born for this, has been constantly improved and updated, and is still competitive despite being built in 2005. Tonight we held very high averages, around 20 knots, with wind peaks of 37 knots and steep, breaking waves near the Giraglia. But what a thrill to shoot this mythical little island at sunset!“.

In second place on time was Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s ClubSwan 80 My Song ahead of Jean Pierre Barjon’s Botin 65 Spirit of Lorina.

What a fight in IRC 1 for overall Giraglia victory

Now, however, all eyes are on the handicap winner of the IRC category (the largest), which is the real winner of the Loro Piana Giraglia. Arrivals off the coast of Genoa are coming thick and fast, but the verdict now seems almost certain. Long Courrier, Gery Trentesaux’s Sydney GTS 43, got the better of Black Pearl, Botin 56, and on the two Ker 46 favorites on the eve : Lisa R, of owner Gianni Di Vincenzo(in this interview he had told us how to win races), and Daguet 3, sister boat of Frederic Puzin, authors of a no-holds-barred duel. This is supposed to be the overall IRC, which has undergone “ups and downs” in the little wind in front of Genoa.

Barring surprises these will be the winners, but never say never, because the Giraglia is still the Giraglia.

A memorable edition

In any case, this edition will remain memorable:“We retired, but we had a great time, my MAT 12 Dajenu gliding at 18 knots of speed” (photo above), our contributor Marco Cohen told us.

Enthusiasm also from aboard the Cheyenne, the Rodman 42 (photo above) on which our Mauro Giuffrè is embarked, straight from the Giraglia rock: “A7 Giraglia-Genoa highway. The Cheyenne Warrior is still standing!”

• Follow the live tracking of the regatta here

In a few hours new updates on the Loro Piana Giraglia 2024.