“My first VELA Cup I won’t forget!” The story (and all the race finishes in real time)

After telling you about the VELA Cup Liguria/Chiavari, which saw as many as 70 boats at the start in the Gulf of Tigullio(here is the news with chronicle and final rankings) and showing you all the most beautiful photos of the first leg of the most crowded regatta/festival circuit in Italy, it is time to relive it in the story of those who were on board and were at their “first time.” Our Federico Lanfranchi was aboard the fast Rodman 42 Cheyenne, winner in the overall Sport Boat classification. Here is how he experienced the VELA Cup Liguria (and why, as of today, he has become an aficionado of the event).

Relive the regatta too with her story, Margherita Solia’s photos and FocusVision Team’s video summary. And at the bottom of the article, we also reveal the order of finish of all the boats in VELA Cup Liguria and all the times they finished with.

The first VELA Cup is never forgotten

The invitation is one of those to which it is hard to say no: to participate in the first leg of the VELA Cup(read the leg report) aboard Cheyenne, a Rodman 42 completely refitted to be competitive in regattas. As soon as I was asked, the affirmative answer came out on its own, immediately. I was curious to take part in one of the VELA Cup stages, because it is one of those events I have always heard about but had never been able to attend before last Saturday, May 3. My expectations, created by stories and information taken from the press were good, but I must say they were betrayed in full. Why? Because it went much, much better than what I had in my head!

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My first SAIL Cup

The appointment was set for 09:30 a.m. in front of the reception of the Marina di Chiavari Calata Ovest, and immediately upon my arrival I was impressed by the number of people crowded in front of the appointed point. In addition to the Race Committee’s explanation of the race course, I found the talk by a meteorologist who explained the forecast of weather and wind development to all the racers very interesting-a treat. The atmosphere immediately seemed friendly to me, with teasing and laughter typical of a party among friends.

Let the party begin

Finally, it’s time to get in the boat and get acquainted with the crew, already tried and tested and broken in after years of miles at sea chasing buoys; after a brief summit and division of duties on board, it’s time to cast off the moorings and head out to the race course. After the sails are hoisted, we make a few practice boards and to see how Cheyenne performs in maneuver; all is well, it’s time to look for the jury boat and head for the start.

VELA Cup Liguria – FocusVision Team’s video summary

As I was focused on accomplishing what I was asked to do, I wondered what happened to all the people I met at the briefing, imagining the number of boats; looking up at the start, I was startled to see the throng of sails engaged in the approach maneuvers: more than 70 boats frantically painted one of the most beautiful gulfs of the Ligurian Riviera, the Gulf of Tigullio, which for the occasion brought out its best and gave us the best conditions to have fun: from 7 knots at the start up to 20-knot gusts toward the end of the event and seas with barely formed waves.

But how many of us are there?

The time has come for Cheyenne, too, to jump into the midst of this carousel of colorful sails, and once again, I realized that more than a regatta, this event is a party for everyone; in fact, numerous were the families present at the regatta with their families, ranging from grandparents to grandchildren. Cheyenne, a race boat made and finished, was entered among the so-called “sport boats,” which competed with the change of sail on the bow and the ability to hoist spinnakers, tails 0 and what have you.

Those who do not feel like sailing “with a knife between their teeth” can still register in the cruising category, dedicated to those who intend to sail with white sails. I was also amazed to see all kinds of boats on the water, from a boat of 5 meters or so to a queen of the seas of more than 20 meters, all present to show that this is truly a festival for all sailing lovers. The siren sounded, indicating the minute to the start, and the whole crew jumped headlong to give the boat speed and set off quickly toward the first buoy, which we reached in second position, behind the Swan 78 Azzurro which, majestic, immediately took off in front of our bow.

We rounded the first buoy with satisfaction and crossed the rest of the fleet, which in the meantime had begun to thin out; our bow is now headed toward Portofino, where we will have to leave the meda of the park boundary on our left; meanwhile the wind strengthened by a couple of knots, settling at 10 knots with gusts up to 14 knots, a condition that our sails like, but not too much. In fact, we were caught up and overtaken by Spirit of Nerina halfway up the last tack and had to fight with Raffica 3 all the way to the finish line, which we crossed fourth overall and glad to have been part of this celebration.

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• VELA Cup in Chiavari: see all the photos

Rich prizes and cotillion

We returned to the harbor after about a couple of hours of racing and with a nice text wind, and as soon as I disembarked, I wanted to take a tour among the boats that were returning to the dock in the meantime to see the moods of the crews, and I heard nothing but happiness, as I was also told by some of the boat owners who unanimously said, “wonderful experience, to be repeated and recommended!”

After waiting for the arrival of the last boat, which arrived around 4:00 p.m., all the crews gathered under the prize-giving stage at the Marina di Chiavari Calata Ovest, which saw many prizes (including raffle prizes) provided by the GdV partners. I can only associate myself with the choral thought of the participants and share it in full, hoping with all my heart, to be able to take part in some other stage of the VELA Cup: maybe already at the next one, the one on May 23-25, scheduled at Marina Cala de’ Medici on the day of the great celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GdV!

Federico Lanfranchi

VELA Cup, here’s how the boats did in real time

You already know the rankings of the VELA Cup Liguria, now we reveal the order of arrival of the boats in real time: the fastest was – respecting the predictions – Bruno Veronesi’s Swan 78 Azzurro – which completed the course in Tigullio (departure in front of Marina di Chiavari Calata Ovest, upwind to Lavagna fish farm, return to Chiavari, long side to Portofino meda, arrival again at Marina di Chiavari for a total of dicrca 12 miles) in one hour and forty minutes. Also masterful was the performance of the smaller ClubSwan 42 Spirit of Nerina, which arrived less than three minutes behind, and Walter Tronconi’s GS 43 Raffica 3 (one hour and 49 minutes), winner of the overall leg. By contrast, the most “patient” was Marmelin, Grimoldi’s First 325, the last boat to cross the finish line after 4 hours and 21 minutes. He who has it tough wins it!