MASERATI MULTI 70 AND GIOVANNI SOLDINI CROSS THE FINISH LINE OF THE 5TH RORC TRANSATLANTIC THE ITALIAN TEAM FINISHES IN 6 DAYS, 18 HOURS, 54 MINUTES AND 34 SECONDS
At 06.54 34″ UTC (02.54 local time), Giovanni Soldini and the Maserati Multi 70 crossed the finish line of the 5th edition of the RORC Transatlantic in Grenada, in the Caribbean in 6 days, 18 hours, 54 minutes and 34 seconds. The Italian team is in first place in the Honours Multihull (first boat to cross the finish line in the multihull category) and second in the MOCRA ranking (which takes into account the time correction factor, with a corrected time of 14 days, 23 hours, 32 minutes and 28 seconds). Their PowerPlay rival, Peter Cunningham’s MOD 70, skippered by Ned Collier Wakefield, crossed the finish line at 07.40 12″ UTC (in 6 days, 19 hours, 40 minutes and 12 seconds, and a corrected time of 14 days, 20 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds). On board the Maserati Multi 70, alongside skipper Giovanni Soldini, are 6 professional sailors: Italians Vittorio Bissaro (tactician), Guido Broggi (mainsail), Nico Malingri and Matteo Soldini (grinders and trimmers), Spaniards Carlo Hernande Robayna (trimmer) and Oliver Herrera Perez (number 1), and Frenchman François Robert (piano). 2 A few minutes after crossing the finish line, Giovanni Soldini commented: “It was a very close race: for days on end, we sailed neck and neck, and even passed each other on sight three times in the middle of the Atlantic. PowerPlay is a very strong team, they know the boat from A to Z, and it’s been a fantastic experience for us: we’ve been able to do a lot of testing, improving and optimizing the way we pilot the Maserati Multi 70. We’ve learned a lot over the last few days and we’re very happy with this result. Truly, a difficult but exciting race!” Since the start of the regatta, the Maserati Multi 70 has been sailing on an asymmetrical asset, with an out-of-water rudder on port and a classic MOD rudder on starboard, because when it was delivered to Lanzarote, the Italian trimaran lost its right T rudder. Giovanni Soldini and his crew started the race in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) on Saturday November 24 at 12:00 UTC, on the starting line alongside PowerPlay and 8 other teams, with a 9-knot SW’ly wind. From the very first day of the race, the Maserati Multi 70 and PowerPlay battled it out in a fierce duel: for the first 36 hours, there was no more than 3 miles between the two multihulls. Three hours after the start, the Maserati Multi 70 suffered damage on board: while lowering the starboard foil, the adjustment system’s rope broke the upper part of the rudder on which it levers. The team worked immediately to solve the problem with laminating. On Sunday night, the Maserati Multi 70 headed south out of the high-pressure zone with little wind. PowerPlay was able to sail faster in light winds, later using gybes to gain a few miles. From there, the two teams chose different strategies: PowerPlay maintained its westerly route, while the Maserati Multi 70 headed further south. By moving away from the center of the high-pressure zone, the Italian trimaran was able to take advantage of the rising wind sooner. On Monday November 26, the Italian crew finally reached the trade winds, but had to slow down due to a problem on board: the bilge pump discharge hose came loose and the trimaran took on a ton of water. A few hours later, the problem was solved and the crew resumed their course downwind at between 25 and 29 knots. The race continued between the two trimarans, which passed each other just a few miles apart. On Tuesday night, thanks to a few well-executed gybes, the Italian team was able to gain many miles to the south. Maserati Multi 70 continued its gallop towards Grenada, gybing gennaker and mainsail as it tacked into the trade winds; and on Tuesday evening, Giovanni Soldini and his crew gained a 50-mile advantage over PowerPlay when their routes crossed. On Friday, the two multihulls began to head towards the finish line: the Maserati Multi 70, sailing an almost direct route to Grenada, and PowerPlay, neck and neck, 70 miles further north. On the approach to Grenada, PowerPlay found an unexpected wind shift in its favor: the wind shifted 20 degrees further north to put it on a more direct route to the finish line, and was able to gain many miles. The race, organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in its 5th edition, started from Lanzarote (Canary Islands) on Saturday November 24 at 12 noon UTC and finished in Grenada, in the Caribbean, a 2995-mile crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. 3 The Maserati Multi 70 will now return to the shipyard to prepare for its next mission: the Caribbean RORC 600 in February 2019. This challenge is supported by Maserati, the main sponsor giving its name to the trimaran, Aon as co-sponsor, and Ermenegildo Zegna, the official clothing supplier.
For more information, visit www.maserati.fr .
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