Gliss victorious at Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2009

After four days of racing in near perfect conditions, the 32 metre Gliss, owned by Switzerland’s Marco Vogele, has taken victory in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2009 organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in collaboration with Boat International Media. Gliss took first place seven points ahead of the Reichel-Pugh designed My Song owned by Pierluigi Loro Piana and was awarded the Silver Jubilee Cup during the prize giving in the Yacht Club’s Piazza Azzurra. Charles Dunstone’s 36 metre Hamilton II came in third, just one point behind My Song.

Vogele was delighted on arrival at Porto Cervo Marina: “The location is the best, the organization is the best and we enjoyed this regatta so much. Rocks, stakes and sticks are used as natural marks and it’s perfect for everybody. This event is exceptional and excellently organized.”

Today’s fourth and final race of the regatta saw some shifty wind conditions for the first time in the event. The majority of the fleet started in 12 knots of wind from 310 which unexpected swung round to 180° and fell to 8 knots during the starting sequence. The Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta uses pursuit style racing with staggered starts based on each yacht’s handicap: the pure cruising yachts therefore start first with the faster yachts starting at the end of the sequence so that the entire fleet ends up sailing together around the course. Today’s sharp wind shift meant that the first yachts started on an upwind beat while the last yachts to start were flying their spinnaker.

The fleet sailed north from the start off Porto Cervo to round Monaci island before turning back south to round the Secca Tre Monti rock and heading through the strait between the mainland and the Isole delle Bisce Island and the finish line off the Gulf of Pevero.

Today’s Race was won by Open Season, owned by Thomas Bscher, ahead of Gliss and Magic Carpet 2, owned by Lindsay Owen Jones.

Bscher was pleased with the week’s racing: “This was a super week, Porto Cervo at its best. The weather was a dream, ideal sailing conditions which you will not find at this time in Europe. Regarding Open Season, we did quite well on three of the days, except the second day when we made a wrong decision. The organization was first class, the race committee as well. We will definitely come again.”

Tommaso Chieffi, Veteran America’s Cup sailor (1986, 1992, 2003, 2007) and tactician aboard My Song which had an impressive 1, 3, 1 scoreline until she took twelfth place in today’s race, was philosophical “We were unlucky today. We had our start just when the wind swung from mistral to sirocco and we more or less stopped, along with the other five boats that started towards the end of the sequence. We had a good week and it has been a great event, it’s just a shame that the last race went this way for us.”

“The variety of boats all racing together, the location, the weather and the atmosphere is unique,” commented Ed Dubois, designer of fourth-placed Moonbird. "The race organisation by YCCS is world class and the yacht club is possibly the most beautiful and organised in the world. In common with our clients, we at Dubois feel it is the superyacht regatta for the Mediterranean.”

Fitzroy Yachts were Gold sponsors of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta 2009. Alloy Yachts, Future Fibres and Lufthansa Private Jet were Silver Sponsors of the event. IBS Yachts, Louis XIII by Remy Martin, Royal Huisman, San Lorenzo, Scorpion and Wight Vodka were contributing sponsors.

Overall Classification