A fleet of 138 yachts sets out to conquer the Giraglia

There were 138 yachts on the Sanremo start line at midday today in perfect conditions that were better than expected yesterday: a 15kn easterly that allowed a splendid start with first the 18 big maxis (of more than 18 m) of group 0, then it was the turn of the 64 yachts in group 1 and finally the smaller ones in group 2.

It was a spectacular start with the line a few hundred metres from the breakwater of the old port of Sanremo and an offset mark about 1 ½ miles to the east; from there the yachts hoisted their big asymmetrical spinnakers and quickly disappeared towards the first mark in Cala del Forte. This was the last mark in the Italian part of the race, with the second mark of this unprecedented Rolex Giraglia at Chretienne off the Rade d’Agay, about 15 miles from the Gulf of Saint-Tropez with a committee boat of the Société Nautique de Saint Tropez waiting to record the roundings of all the yachts. During the remainder of the day the wind was expected to drop and then back Southwest and intensify (this morning about 15/18 kn were forecast) from tomorrow. And while the race record is not under threat (in 2012 Igor Simcic’s Esimit Europa 2 logged a time of 14 hours, 56 minutes and 16 seconds) the big battle will be for “line honours”, with the big 30 m yachts that started eating up the miles right from the start and are expected to arrive in Genoa between midday and 4 PM tomorrow. As mentioned, stronger and more stable winds are expected for late tomorrow afternoon and could favour the trailing boats that could thus close the gap in compensated time and overtake the larger and faster 100 footers such as Magic Carpet Cubed, Arca SGR and Leopard 3, who will have been sailing with lighter winds.

So the game is still very open and the organisers are waiting for news from the Rade d’Agay and later, after hundred and 10 miles of open sea, from the Giraglia islet. At the time of writing, the big yachts were making more than 10 kn with Arca SGR rounding the French mark at around 4:30 PM.
 
Live TV coverage continues with the Rolex Giraglia on screen with daily reports from the sea and from dry land. Live coverage of today’s start was very exciting, with a commentary of three hours very well handled by journalist Matteo Cantile on Primocanale - Canale 10 digital, and on the YouTube channel of the Yacht Club Italiano.
The Rolex Giraglia 2021 is live every day until June 19 at 8 AM, 1 PM and 6 PM, in addition to online tracking at this link.

COVID safety protocol
To access the race village it is obligatory to register by mail and download a pass, which will be sent to all participants, and is indispensable for accessing the private areas of the event at the Yacht Club Sanremo and Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa. Full information is available in this section of the rolexgiraglia.com website.