Every year some of the world’s greatest sailors gather for the Giraglia Rolex Cup, a combination of three days’ inshore racing in the waters around St Tropez and culminating in the 243-mile Giraglia Race to Genoa via the Giraglia Rock, off the northern tip of Corsica.

This year the likes of Russell Coutts - the most successful America’s Cup helmsman of all time - and Roy Heiner - who masterminded Team ABN AMRO’s domination of the recent Volvo Ocean Race - were present aboard some of the bigger boats. Neville Crichton had arrived with his new 98-foot canting-keeled Supermaxi Alfa Romeo in a bid to smash his own course record for the Giraglia Race, set by the previous 90-foot Alfa Romeo three years ago.

On the first glorious day’s racing off St Tropez however, a group of friends aboard a humble 41-footer called Canard stole everyone’s thunder. The big, professionally-crewed yachts finished far down the rankings under IMS handicap, even if Alfa Romeo romped around the 33-mile course light-years ahead of the next Maxis. Aurora’s skipper Paolo Bonomo commented afterwards, with tongue firmly in cheek: “We came here only to win.” He added: “We are friends and some of us have sailed together for 30 years.” So how did it feel to beat a fleet that numbers some great professional sailors in its ranks? “That is a problem for them, not for us,” he laughed.

In the small-boat division, two Grand Soleil 40s finished just 10 seconds apart on corrected time, with Alexei Nikolaev’s Russian entry, Synergy, beating Italo Borrini’s Despeinada to the punch. A further 11 seconds back was Camillo Capozzi’s Polaris 33, Ala Bianca - but more of that boat later.

Whatever the outcome of the racing on that first day, the 113 competing yachts couldn’t have asked for better conditions, with blue skies and the wind blowing 14 to 17 knots. Calling tactics aboard Swedish Swan 601, Artemis, Russell Coutts commented: “We had great conditions today. It was just perfect. I haven’t sailed many times in St Tropez when it’s been like that. Fantastic.”

If day 1 was a day for the small boats, a dying breeze on day 2 played into the hands of the big boats. Although Alfa Romeo rates terribly under the IMS handicap system, such was the New Zealand Supermaxi’s lead before the wind started dying that Neville Crichton took handicap victory and line honours in race 2. So efficient is this wonderboat that at times it is capable of sailing at double the windspeed, which certainly helps when wind is in short supply.

The finishing order across the line was matched almost boat for boat under handicap, with two Italian Maxis, 85-foot My Song and 70-foot Atalanta II taking 2nd and 3rd place respectively. As the breeze dropped ever lighter, the smaller boats struggled to reach the finish line before the time limit expired. Only 16 of the 43 entrants in the big boat division completed the race.

There was a similar pattern to the outcome of the small-boat division, whose 26-mile course was shortened as it became apparent that the wind was disappearing. A trio of IMX 40s took the top three places. Alberto Cogni’s Clean Energy won by over five minutes from Luigi Balestra’s Maluba, followed by the French boat Magic Simca, owned by Laurent Lavaysse, a further six minutes back.

On day 3, the final inshore race was only 19 miles long in anticipation of a fickle light breeze. However, soon after the start the breeze built up to a very pleasant 15 knots and the yachts completed the course unexpectedly quickly. Mad IV, Clive Llewellyn’s Grand Soleil 50, won the big boat race on handicap, although of course Alfa Romeo had once again sped around the track at a phenomenal pace, despite a broken checkstay forcing Crichton to lower the mainsail 10 minutes before the finish. It meant the yacht finished only at 10 knots boatspeed instead of 15 or 16 knots.

In the small-boat division, a second inshore race win for the Russian Synergy gave note of a likely contender for handicap victory in the 243-mile race to Genoa the following day. Alexei Nikolaev’s crew were showing great consistency, beating sistership Despeinada by three points for the inshore series. In the big boats, Carlo Puri Negri’s Atalanta II prevailed over Ernesto Gismondi’s Edimetra by 5 points in the inshore series. That evening, as talk turned to the possible weather for the long race to Italy, the 198 crews entered for the Giraglia Race attended a spectacular dinner and fireworks display at La Citadelle, which looks down across the rooftops of St Tropez. Alexei Nikolaev and Carlo Puri Negri went up to receive their trophies and Rolex watches for their successful inshore campaigns.

The next morning, attention was fully focused on the offshore campaign, with the prospect of a good wind to send the 198 boats speedily out of the Gulf of St Tropez and on towards the first turning mark at Les Porquerolles islands. Neville Crichton was burning to beat his 2003 course record of 22 hours, 13 minutes and 48 seconds. “We’ve measured in overlapping headsails and optimised the boat for the long race. I don’t care how we do in the handicap racing. We’re here to win the race to Genoa and to set a new course record.”

Unfortunately the good weather forecast of the previous day was beginning to give way to a less optimistic one, with a number of holes in the wind predicted between Les Porquerolles and the Giraglia Rock. The final 70 miles from Giraglia to the finish in Genoa was even looking even less certain. Russell Coutts said the key would be to keep the boat moving for as long as possible. “Strategy is key, particularly in light winds, because you’ll get huge differences of breeze. If you’re in 5 knots of breeze and other people are in 2 knots or zero knots, then you’ll make huge gains. The long race is all going to come down to who manages the park-ups better than everyone else.”

Just before the midday start, Crichton was beginning to believe a record attempt was looking unlikely. “I think as the sun goes down, the wind will do down with it, so it’s a matter of how far we can get before that happens. We’d like to think we can get to Giraglia Rock [before the wind disappears], but we don’t think we will. We’ll probably get half way across between Les Porquerolles and the Giraglia. After that I think we’re going to struggle for breeze, then we’ll get a bit of breeze in the morning and then the breeze could disappear again just before Genoa.”

For the start itself, however, Alfa Romeo was tearing down the track, matching windspeed on a close reach at about 15 or 16 knots as she waved goodbye to St Tropez. With the small boats starting 15 minutes before the big boats, the whole fleet was making good progress in perfect winds as they beat upwind towards Les Porquerolles. That evening, however, Crichton’s pessimistic prediction proved accurate as the wind disappeared with the setting sun. The Kiwi Supermaxi wouldn’t reach the Giraglia Rock until 0917 hours the following morning. The 2003 record was looking safe, very safe, as the wind refused to grant Crichton his wish.

After some more stop-start sailing, Alfa Romeo eventually finished in Genoa at 1630 hours, with an elapsed time of 27 hours 48 minutes and 12 seconds. “A very slow race,” said Crichton. “We thought we were going good until midnight last night then ran out of breeze. Up until then it looked good - we were flying. We came out of the Giraglia Rock well, but the wind died about 12 miles from the finish. So no records, maybe we’ll have to try again this time next year.”

Tactician Michael Coxon felt he would arrive in Genoa much earlier in the day, having just missed his plane back to Sydney. “I’m disappointed at not getting on a plane at 6.30 this evening. I was hoping to see my son play rugby on the weekend. I must have been a bit optimistic about when we would finish!” Despite the disappointment, Coxon remains an avid fan of the Giraglia Rolex Cup. “It’s a great mix of conditions and different people. This was a fun race, not a lot of wind, but 100-footers are always fun. They impress me more in lighter conditions. It’s amazing how this boat can do double the windspeed. The top speed we hit was 20 knots, but what’s impressive is when you can be sailing with a jib top in 7 knots breeze and be doing 14 knots through the water.”

The next Maxis started arriving at the Yacht Club Italiano around dusk that evening, as a new breeze started to build overnight. The smaller boats were making excellent progress towards Genoa. New boats were appearing at the top of the handicap leaderboard by the hour, and it would take some time before it became clear who had won. By late the following morning it looked unlikely that any of the remaining boats still racing would beat Ala Bianca, which had finished around 0930 hours. By midday at the Yacht Club Italiano, it was confirmed that Camillo Capozzi’s Polaris 33 had indeed won. It was a wonderful victory, a repeat victory from 1997 for the same boat and the same crew.

Capozzi could not contain his delight. “A win is always fantastic, but to win the Giraglia Race two times, nine years later, with the same boat. I don’t know what to say. Fantastic is not enough, it is more than a dream!” Adelaide Giromella, who sailed with Capozzi on both winning occasions, acknowledged that they had enjoyed the luck of the wind. “It was good for us,” she said. “We found no wind near the Giraglia Rock. But after Giraglia we had good southerly wind which took us to the finish in Genoa. The big boats found no wind at Giraglia and no wind in front of Genoa. They had to stop more times than we did.”

The small boats dominated the top placings on handicap, with Ala Bianca beating Paolo Bonomo’s team of friends on board the 41-footer Aurora by 20 minutes on handicap. Almost an hour behind Aurora on corrected time was the French 35-footer Teshipa XI Team. Edimetra was the first Maxi to finish, in 22nd place, with Alfa Romeo in 104th. Edimetra’s owner, Ernesto Gismondi, overhauled Atalanta II in the combined rankings from the inshore and offshore races to win the combined trophy in the big boat division. A 6th place in the Giraglia Race combined with Synergy’s strong inshore performance gave combined victory in the small boat class to Alexei Nikolaev by a comfortable margin.

Of the 198 starters, 151 yachts completed the 243 miles from Genoa to St Tropez. The prizegiving took place at the Yacht Club Italiano in Genoa. For line honours victory, Alfa Romeo skipper Neville Crichton was awarded a Rolex Submariner in gold and steel. For victory under corrected time Ala Bianca skipper Camillo Capozzi received a Rolex Yacht-Master in steel and platinum.

The race from St Tropez to Genoa is a race that tests sailing skill, team work and patience, but Ala Bianca plans to be back once again next year. Adelaide Giromella explained the enduring appeal of the race: “The Giraglia Rolex Cup is one of the most beautiful races in the Mediterranean. To go on the Giraglia is a dream. It’s one of the oldest races. When you reach the Rock and see the Giraglia, all the efforts you have made seem worthwhile. It’s the Giraglia, that’s all.”

Now in its 54th year, the Giraglia Rolex Cup is established as one of the classic regattas of the Mediterranean. The regatta, sponsored by Rolex for the past nine years, comprises three days’ inshore racing in the Bay of St Tropez, and culminates in the 243-mile offshore race via the Giraglia Rock to the Italian port of Genoa.

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