ITALY RED LEADS MARINA YACHTING SARDINIA CUP RANKING
IN FIRST TRIAL, VICTORY FOR ALEXIA, BRAVAQ8 AND BLUE STORM
SECOND TRIAL WON BY BRIBON, WINTERTHUR YAH MAN AND MASCALZONE LATINO & CO.

Porto Cervo, 18th September 1998

In the ironies of Mother Nature, after three days of high winds, today only a light breeze blew across the Costa Smeralda. Two regattas of the Marina Yachting Sardinia Cup were sailed today, counted as the third and fourth trials.

In the first trial, a two-buoyed technical regatta of approximately nine miles, the Argentinian Alexia, with Guillermo Parada at the helm, prevailed in the large-craft category; the German Rubin XV (Germany) followed in second place; and Paolo Gaia’s Italian Breeze (Italy Red), with Tommaso Chieffi, finished in third.

In the medium-boat category, it was the Neapolitan Pasquale Landolfi’s Brava Q8 (Italy Red), with Tom Dodson at the rudder, who triumphed today; registering second place was Osama (Malta) of the Merit Cup Pro team, with Vasco Vascotto taking the helm. Vittorio Rava’s Winterthur Yah Man (Italy Green), commanded by Lorenzo Bressani, finished third.

Finally, the small-craft category saw once again an Italian victory, with the first-place positioning of Blue Storm (Italy Red) of the Tuscans Gualberto Gualtieri and Luca Santella. Mascalzone Latino & Co. (Sardinia), with Roberto Pardini of Cagliari at the helm for Vincenzo Onorato and Luigi Parente, came in second, followed by third-place winner Aero Sail 3 (Germany).

The second trial was another two-buoyed regatta of approximately nine miles. Among the large boats, it was Bribon Desafio Valenciano (Spain), with Pedro Campos at the helm, who prevailed; coming in second was Gaia - Chieffi’s Breeze (Italy Red), while Rubin XV (Germany) registered a third-place finish.

The craft vying in the medium category were bested by Rava - Bressani’s Winterthur Yah Man (Italy Green), followed by Costa Azahar (Spain) and, finally, by Evolution (Argentina), with Thierry Peponnet at the rudder.

It was Pardini - Onorato / Parente’s Mascalzone Latino & Co. (Sardinia) to emerge victorious among the small boats, followed by Gualtieri - Santella’s Blue Storm (Italy Red) and, in third place, Aero Sail 3 (Germany).

After four trials completed, the provisional team rankings are as follows: In first place, Italy Red (Breeze - Brava Q8 - Blue Storm) with 28.00 points. Registering second at the moment is North Sea (Rubin XV - Mean Machine - Aero Sail 3), with a total of 34.00 points; and in third place is Sardinia (Moby Lines 49 - Moby Lines 36 - Mascalzone Latino & Co.), with 36 points.

Tomorrow’s programme calls for two trials along a short route, with start-off scheduled for 11:30 a.m. For updated information and scores, visit www.sardiniacup.com, provided by After, or call (+39) 078994269.

Presented by Service & Production AFTER S.r.l.