Int. ITALIAN DRAGON CUP

SAN REMO 18^th 19^th 20^th May 2007

San Remo YC has re-introduced the Int. Italian Dragon Cup this year.  Many years have passed since Dragons raced in San Remo bay.However, with the up-surge of interest in the class and the substantial Dragon fleet based not far away in Cannes, it was decided to hold a new Regatta in San Remo; which was supported and sponsored by Stabilfin (real estate); Eurotravel; and Grand Hotel Terme della Fratta, who donated the Raffle prize of a 7-day stay in a luxurious health spa in the Med.

The regatta, which was sailed in light airs, was won by Odd Lofterod from the Royal Norwegian YC with 3 straight wins and a discarded 3^rd position.Apparently Odd used to sail in the Olympics against our Poul Richard.San Remo YC were hoping for an entry of 20 Dragons for this new event and were pleased with the entry of 19 from 10 countries: Norway, Germany, France, Monaco, Ireland, Sweden, England, Italy, Estonia and Switzerland.

This 3-day event was dominated by a high pressure system which generally produced a light SE 8 - 10 knot breeze in the morning, a S 5 - 8 knot breeze during the middle of the day, and a SW 10 - 15 knot breeze in the afternoon in San Remo bay.Most of the fleet were in the water on Thursday afternoon and able to take advantage of a splendid 15 - 20 knot wind for practising in the bay, but by Friday the first morning of racing, the wind had lightened with further light winds expected over the weekend.

The 1^st race on Friday morning was started as planned close to 12 noon from the Committee boat about a mile SE of the harbour entrance. There was some chop left over from the winds of the previous week but there was a good racing breeze of 12 - 15 knots. Odd Lofterod in NOR 275 soon took a commanding lead, closely followed by Keese Burkhard GER 962 (Germany) 2^nd, Gerard Blanc FRA 342 (France) 3^rd, and Olaf Sorrensen with Martin Payne crewing in Christina IRL 190, 4^th.David Hall sailing Paul Graves' La Sagesse GBR 679, the only English competitor, finished 7^th .Paolo Manzoni sailing Tramontana ITA 41 was the first Italian boat to finish, in 10^th place.

      

The 2^nd race was sailed very soon after the 1^st race finished.The wind had lightened leaving the choppy sea and difficult sailing conditions.Keese Burkhard was first round the windward mark with a lead of several boat lengths, and it was not until towards the end of the race that Odd Lofterod was able to pass him.Pierre Francois sailing Imagine FRA 347, had their best result of the series finishing 3^rd with Olaf Sorrensen again 4^th.

The 3rd race was sailed after some delay whilst the wind lightened but finally freshened to a reasonable SW breeze later in the afternoon.Odd Lofterod finished well ahead again in this race, with Claus Nilsson SW 324 Extra Bla, 2^nd, Christian Boillot MON 1, Munego YC Monte Carlo, 3^rd and Keese Burkhard, 4^th.

On Saturday morning, the chop had almost disappearedHowever, the wind was very light and variable, and the Race Officer was unable to set a course.Meanwhile, the competitors waited patiently in temperatures of27 deg C in shorts and tee-shirts.Eventually, the signal was give to return to the harbour and to wait for the afternoon breeze.The one and only race of the day, was eventually started around 4 pm about 1 mile SW of the harbour entrance.The windward mark was placed only a few hundred yards off the port lay-line from the start line; which was not picked up by most of the fleet, leading to many Dragons over-standing the first mark.Those who got it right had a good lead at the first mark, with Gerard Blanc Tsuica 2 FRA 342, in first position and David Hall La Sagesse GBR 679 in 2^nd.By the end of the 2^nd run, Christian Boillot and Vincent Jeantet Pas de Cartier FRA 350 were challenging for 2^nd place, but David Hall managed to keep the inside berth at the mark.By the end of the race Odd Lofterod who was 7^th round the first mark, came through to finish 3^rd.

On Sunday, the final day for racing, there was no wind all morning. Dragon sailors were advised to wait ashore and the RO finally abandoned racing at 14.00 hours.Out of a possible 8 races, 4 were completed over the first 2 days.Enough for a series and one discard.Overall result 1^st Odd Lofterod, 2^nd Keese Burkhard, 3^rd Gerard Blanc, 4^th Christian Boillot, and 5^th Olaf Sorenson. The raffle prize for the Health Spa was won by Christian Boillot (MON 1).Full results can be seen (ctrl+click) www.yachtclubsanremo.it/regatedoc/131/classifica/Risultati%20DRAGONI.htm

The Sanremo YC generously hosted a pasta and Champagne party after racing each day.The entry fee also included the Regatta dinner on Saturday evening with wine, which was held at the clubhouse.Jimmy the chef, presented an interesting sea-food dinner entirely composed of fish which he regularly catches himself, a few miles out in the bay.At the prize-giving the President Beppe Laoli, presented the magnificent new trophy for the event, with generous prizes of Yellow gold on white gold models for first 3 places, Half-hull models for next 3, and glass yacht trophies for places 7 - 10.President Beppe Laoli said he was looking forward to YC San Remo hosting the regatta again in 2008.