The Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg’s Swan 60 sailing yacht Bronenosec is preparing to compete in the third event in the Mediterranean, travelling this week to St. Tropez, France, to race in the Giraglia Rolex Cup. Taking place from the 9th June to the 16th, the event consists of a series of inshore races, followed by a 242-nautical mile offshore race to Sanremo, Italy, via La Giraglia islet.
The Gazprom sponsored team made up of Russian and Italian sailors will be racing the Swan 60 yacht in Saint-Tropez with the momentum of two events already behind them Credit: MartinezStudio
Having already raced in Palma Vela, in Spain, and also the Rolex Volcano Race, in Capri, the Gazprom sponsored team, made up of Russian and Italian sailors will be racing the Swan 60 yacht in France with the momentum of two events already behind them.
Yesterday saw the official start to the regatta, in its 60th edition, with the prologue race from Sanremo, Italy to St. Tropez, France. With the yachts expected to arrive in the Bay of St. Tropez later today, it is the perfect opportunity for the luxury yacht Bronenosec to see what everyone is made of and gauge their performance in advance of the week’s racing.
At stake is the Giraglia Rolex Cup along with the current race record. But perhaps most importantly is the honour and pleasure that the Bronenosec team along with more than 1500 sailors will extract from racing on the finest yachts across the ever tricky Mediterranean Sea.
Situated just 1.5 miles to the North of Corsica, measuring 800 metres long by 50 metres wide and whose highest point is just 60 metres above sea level is the rocky islet known as ‘la Giraglia’. Exposed to all wind directions and isolated from humanity for most of the year this once strategically important rock with its lighthouse, medieval tower and accompanying chapel has lent its name and served as the turn mark to the largest offshore race in the Mediterranean.
Bronenosec yacht’s skipper, Vladimir Liubomirov is excited about the prospect of Bronenosec’s first Giraglia Rolex Cup: “The best experience comes from racing, and now that we have completed two events as a team, the way in which we are working together is developing and improving. This is reflected in our results. We will use the in-race on the water experience and momentum from our last two regattas to help us achieve a good result in St. Tropez.”
The Yacht Club of Saint-Petersburg will maintain training schedules on boat preparation, fitness and boat handling in order to produce a successful season-long campaign that leads into Copa del Rey, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup, a leading event on the prestigious Nautor’s Swan calendar held biannually in Porto Cervo, Sardinia.
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.
