Porto Cervo, 6th September 1999

Day One

THE SKY CLEARS AND SO DOES SOME OF THE MYSTERY

Lifting clouds put the seal on perfect conditions for the first day of racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, held in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. And as the clouds cleared, so did some of the mystery that always attends the first day of any regatta.

For crews new to their boats, boats new to their crews, those who have changed the set-ups, or just bought new sails - the first race always lifts the veil on whether all that work and effort has been worth it. Who will be quick, and who will be slow? That was of particular concern for Pier Luigi Loro Piana, whose stunning IMS 85 foot cruiser/racer, My Song, made her debut today at these championships.

My Song was designed by American firm, Reichel/Pugh, and built in New Zealand, by Cookson's - boat builders for both the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup. Loro Piana was delighted with his new boat, "First impressions are that she is very fast, I am already in love with this boat. She has a lot more potential, but we have to learn how to get the best out of her." The IMS handicap results underlined Loro Piana's words. Although first across the line in both her races, My Song struggled on handicap, with a seventh and ninth in the two races, for an eighth overall.

Leading the IMS fleet, with a first and a third, is George Coumantaros' ILC Maxi, Boomerang. For the four boat fleet of ILC Maxi's, also racing within the bigger IMS fleet, it was more a question of renewing old rivalries, than lifting veils on new boats. Though Jim Dolan's Sagamore is new this year, this fleet is into the final leg of their three regatta championship, taking up where they left off after Cowes Week and the Fastnet.

For Sayonara, normal service was resumed today. Having won Cowes Week, but come an unusual last in the Fastnet, Larry Ellison's Farr design needs a good result to take the 1999 International Class A Yacht Association (ICAYA) Championship.

Sayonara has altered her configuration to her established Mediterranean mode. Sailing Master, Chris Dickson commented that they had added a little more sail area to both headsails and spinnakers, and taken some weight out of the boat. All of which should make her quicker in the light air - a perceived weakness during Cowes Week.

Sayonara still had enough gas in the tank to take a comfortable win in the eighteen knot breeze of the afternoon race, leading at the first mark and never caught. But she had to settle for second in the morning, behind Boomerang. Tommaso Chieffi, the Italian Admiral's Cup skipper, has joined the Sayonara crew to help out with the local hazards - of which there are plenty. Chieffi said that in the first race, 'Boomerang had the best of the start, and after crossing ahead, controlled the race from then on.' With a first and a second in the ILC Class results, Sayonara and Boomerang go into day two, dead even.

While the IMS fleet duked it out on windward/leeward courses, the cruising division was treated to an altogether more scenic option, with a race around the Costa Smeralda. Here there was plenty of mystery to be revealed, as classics like George Lindemann's beautiful schooner Adela, went up against the high-tech power of the eight boat Wally fleet.

With eight Wally yachts racing for the first time, there was also plenty to play for in another class within a class. In the end, the honours went to one of the smallest boats in the fleet, Marco Tronchetti Provera's, 79 foot Kauris II. For Elio Petracchi - normally trimmer aboard Pasquale Landolfi's top Admiral's Cup fifty, Brava Q8, but racing here as tactician aboard Kauris II - it wasn't the clearing skies, or even the increasing breeze that made his day, but the progressive windshift to the right. Petracchi put the boat in the right place for both the windward legs - and was rewarded with first place on handicap.

Tomorrow is another day of inshore racing before the serious business of the offshore starts on Wednesday. And the owners and crews must leave behind the elegant delights that this Rolex regatta and beautiful resort have to offer.