The 60th edition of the Giraglia Rolex Cup in St. Tropez today hosted more than 170 yachts and 1,500 sailors ready to compete in this popular race. With the race fleet eagerly anticipating the beginning of racing, the sun was shining with a good breeze of 20 knots in the Bay of St. Tropez.
Swan 60 yacht Bronenosec is currently leading class IRC at the Giraglia Rolex Cup (c) Rolex/Kurt Arrigo
It may be the first time that the Swan 60 luxury yacht Bronenosec has appeared here in the waters of St. Tropez but the conditions were clearly to the liking of Vladimir Liubomirov and his team on board the Swan 60. The Swan has put herself in pole position and will lead them in good stead for the week ahead. Combined with a 3rd in the prologue race from San Remo to Saint-Tropez and a 2nd today in the first of the inshore races, the team are currently leading in their IRC class.
Tommaso Chieffi, Helmsman, was very pleased with today’s result: “It was a great day for us, we had a good start right next to Jethou. We had a quick first beat up together and we crossed the first mark in third position. Downwind the wind picked up to 25-30 knots so we had a very fast run and we maintained our position. Rounding the island we were in very good shape and just concentrated on keeping our place and not making any mistakes. There was a mark missing that we weren’t sure whether to go round but we took the safe option and did it. However, I don’t think this would have affected the results. I’m very pleased because in the same conditions at the Rolex Volcano Race we did not do so well so now we know the boat has a good potential.”
Three days of inshore racing are planned as a lead up to the main event, the 242-nautical mile distance course this year will take the fleet from Saint-Tropez to San Remo, via the fabled Giraglia rock. The day-trippers and holidaymakers of this part of the Côte d’Azur will have plenty to watch from the beaches and waterside restaurants over the next few days.
The Giraglia Rolex Cup is organised by the Yacht Club Italiano, in conjunction with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez and the Yacht Club de France.
