Roma is back. Especially in the hearts. Sailing is back and with it the desire to get drunk with the wind, to be masters of one’s own destiny. “Roma is only the forerunner of all the regattas to come – commented the CNRT president Alessandro Farassino with satisfaction – starting from the Lunga Bolina which starts here from Riva, up to La Duecento which awakens Caorle and the upper Adriatic. And we’ll be back in the water too, with the Roma-Giraglia in September. A very busy IVF calendar that we hope will be respected. It looks like we’re putting this damn covid behind us and starting to look forward again. Roma returned not only to the boats that raced it, but also to the hearts of those who participated. As an acquired Roman, I find myself in a famous song by Venditti … ‘some loves don’t end, they make huge turns and then they come back’. Here … I read this love in the eyes of many I know very well, such as Tullio Picciolini or France sco Mengucci or Pietro D’Alì, but also in sailors who approached Rome for the first time and who discovered how much beauty and how much ocean we have in our small and beautiful Mediterranean Sea. “
ROME FOR ALL
The “Garmin Marine Rome for all” was thrilling. Kuka3, Swiss Cookson 50 led by Franco Niggeler, Pietro D’Alì and Mitch Booth, dominated the competition defending himself well from attacks and thus putting the prestigious Don Carlo Cup on the showcase. She went into the water to win and she won. But credit also goes to Splinter, Swan 42 by Nino Merola, who fought like a lion assisted by Alberto Bona and Cecilia Zorzi, and had also toyed with the idea of overall victory for a short time. Lipari is always a crossroads of emotions, where you can easily enter Papi and leave Cardinals. But this did not happen.
After an imperious but not easy descent with a lot of wind against, the ‘petole’ of Lipari hit, even if the winds were not absent as on other occasions. But the crazy turn of the breezes around this island always puts the boats in difficulty. A nasty top made Kuka3 waste time in the passage, but then on board they engaged the turbo, arriving first in the wind that pushed them to Riva di Traiano.
“It was challenging – commented Franco Niggeler – also because it was the first race in a year and a half. Then it was all upwind. Upwind to go down and upwind to return. In Lipari the wind dropped but, once we passed the island, we were lucky enough to enter the front that arrived and then be able to take a direct route to Riva di Traiano. The crew was exceptional. Very good guys, a team of friends, people I respect, very good and I’m really happy to work with them “.
Behind her the second place was never in question. There was Scheggia and then, far behind, the battling fleet. Music2 e Sir Only if they are sportingly played with good reason. Simone Taiuti’s X442 prevailed which, on the other hand, preceded Giuliano Perego’s Sydney 39 by about an hour and a half.
These are the final rankings
IN REAL TIME – 1) Kuka3 2) Splinter 3) Muzyka2
IRC-1 (Kuka3 2) Muzyka2 3) Sir Biss
ORC -1) Kuka3 2) Splinter 3) Muzika2
ROME FOR 2
The winner you do not expect is him, Davide Paioletti, an always composed sailing rage that has however built up over time until this excellent result. At the finish line was preceded by MIA, who won the Line Honors, but it was a Swan 48 against a Sunfast 3600. The alchemy of the ratings that Grape handles with the delicacy of a fragile porcelain, have put all the boats back in row, according to their actual performance.
“This victory starts from the ground – declares Davide Paioletti – with the preparation of the boat and careful physical preparation. Then we were very fast, we got the tactic right and therefore it was a race all ahead, apart from a few moments before Lipari. , when we decided to go east of Salina. Then the ascent was extremely fast “.
Andrea Caracci: “With our Swan 48 even this tough regatta was in the end quite easy, precisely because the Swan is very suitable for dealing with demanding weather conditions. Conversely it would have been very disadvantaged in case of light weather and in fact in the Lipari lap we a bit ‘suffered “
And these are the general rankings. MY (Luigi Stoppani and Andrea Caracci) still brings home the most coveted Trophy, the Admiral’s Trophy which, for two years had been in the hands of Libertine (Marco Paolucci and Lorenzo Zichichi) who lost the torpedo of the bulb while they were leading the running. For Loli Fast (Davide Paioletti and Giovanni Bonzio) a descent towards Lipari always “core to core” with JK Sail (Luca Davoli and Vincenzo Race) and, after a passage in Lipari made almost simultaneously, we witnessed the immediate restart of the Sunfast 3600, which put itself in the wake of the Swan 48 and did not let go of a mile until the end. JK Sail with a few miles to recover, made different choices looking for air under the coast. Option that was paying but not all the way. In the end he had to tag along with the leading duo and settle for a splendid third place overall. In IRC and ORC, the Sunfast 3200 took the third step of the podium Mima, by Enrico Fossati and Diego Tisci.
In IRC the second step of the podium was conquered by the workaholic Andrea Barbera who, after having made up and down the Tyrrhenian Sea (he left Agrigento to participate in Rome), conquered this splendid second place together with the dean of Italian minists Stefano Paltrinieri. Second place in ORC rewards a “home” crew, consisting of Francesco Mengucci and Stefano Greco on board the Sunfast 3200 UMA Fast.
REAL TIME -1) MIA 2) Loli Fast 3) JKSail
IRC – 1) Loli Fast 2) Firstissimo 3) Mima
ORC – 1) Loli Fast 2) UMA Fast 3) Mima
SHORE FOR EVERYONE
The Riva for all, short (so to speak) of 218 miles to Ventotene and back, has had the sporting merit (and bad luck) of taking all the bad weather of these days. While the Roma fleet, in fact, continued towards Lipari putting the bad weather behind it, the turning point of the island brought the crews of the Riva back into the midst of the disturbance. And since trouble never comes alone, a nice turn of wind meant that their ride was even wetter (and with the wind in their faces again).
The lion’s share was made by Gianluca Lamaro with his J99 Palinuro, who described his race as follows: “From a tactical point of view it went well. In the descent towards Ventotene we were the only ones to leave Ponza on our left and this was one of the most profitable choices of our regatta. The ascent went just as well. We passed between Ponza and Zannone, while the others passed outside Ponza. We have come a lot less road ”.
On the other hand, the very young Daniele Spiridigliozzi has come a long way and quickly, who managed the helm of theElan E5 Nimbus 2000 and with an amazing race finish he took second place. Third place went to Cheerful and Passionate, First 41S5 by Maurizio Gambini. In all this we must also talk about the second place in real time of the only double crew left in the race, namely Podracer, a beautiful GS 34 Race led by Giovanni Manni and Riccardo Macchi.