How well Zorzi and Gamenara did at the Mini Transat! And meanwhile, the Class 40s at the Transat Café l’Or…

After Francesca Clapcich’s splendid second place at the Transat Café l’Or, with Ambrogio Beccaria’s fourth, there is still plenty of Italy to talk about in the Ocean. From the Mini Transat, with the arrivals in Guadeloupe, to the still-open fight among the Class 40s at Café l’Or, there is so much more to tell.

Cecilia Zorzi 11th, Nicolo Gamenara 15th

This time we start with the Mini Transat, where Cecilia Zorzi and Nicolò Gamenara were engaged. The Transat dedicated to the Mini 650s had seen the cancellation of the first leg, due to a storm that would hit the fleet, and the regatta was awarded with a single leg from Gran Canaria to Saint François, Guadeloupe. An edition with a trade wind that, although shifted far south due to the “vagaries” of the Azores Anticyclone and depressions in the North Atlantic, pushed the Mini 650 fleet well into fairly toned-down conditions.

A Mini Transat with an overall positive balance for the two Italians, who battled close to the top 10 in a category, the Series, that had 55 boats at the start. Cecilia Zorzi finished with a time of 15 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes and 15 seconds. Nicolo Gamenara followed her across the finish line in Saint François a few hours later with a final time of 15 days, 23 hours 49 minutes and 29 seconds. Two solid performances, not starting out as favorites, and in Zorzi’s case also having to deal with several technical mishaps during the course: in particular Cecilia, after the cancelled first leg, had returned to port with serious hull and rudder failures due to a collision with an unidentified object. Well done to them both, and with a promising future, if they will, ahead of them.

Transat Café l’Or – In the Class 40s, everything can change

Let’s get back to the Transat Café l’Or, with the Class 40 regatta still a long way from finding a definitive turning point. Arrival in Martinique is 1,500 miles away, but the fleet will cover them in two diametrically opposed routes: those coming from the north, and those coming from the south.

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This is because a large anticyclonic bubble, which reformed after the passage of a series of depressions, cut the Atlantic Ocean in half forcing a very complex strategic choice: go around it from the north or from the south. As we told you in our previous installments, leader Corentin Doguet went north, and among the Italians the same choice was made by Andrea Fornaro and Alessandro Torresani on Influence 2. Few actually believed in the north option, partly because in the first days this choice encountered decidedly extreme wind and sea conditions and upwind. However, the mileage course of this tactical option was significantly shorter on paper.

Instead, the bulk of the fleet headed south of the anticyclone, chasing the trade winds, which were positioned virtually south of the Canary Islands. It was an equally complex choice, with many more miles to go than the northern option. Luca Rosetti’s Maccaferri Futura, co-skipper Matteo Sericano, but also Alberto Riva on Ekinox and Pietro Luciani on Les Invincibles believed in this vision.

Until a few days ago the northern route seemed to have a distinct advantage, but in recent hours the situation is gradually reversing. In fact, the anticyclone is expanding, and it has greatly narrowed the route for Class 40s aiming for Martinique. In the last 24 hours leader Corentin Doguet has covered just 130 miles; to the south they are instead traveling at a pace close to 300. In the last 3 days Doguet compared to the first boat in the southern group, Seafrigo, has lost nearly 200 miles of the 300-mile lead he had. In fact, the race is reopening completely, not least because those who have gone north will have to battle for at least another 24 hours with the anticyclone. A chess match in short, still far from electing a winner.

As for the positions of the Italians in the rankings: the best is currently Pietro Luciani in sixth position, Andrea Fornaro is tenth, Luca Rosetti twelfth, and Alberto Riva fifteenth.

Tracking

Mauro Giuffrè

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